118





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





January 27, 1917





|j»,REAL ESTATE             g^ BUILDERS                         Industrial   Commissionership.

^                                 •—         --                     missionership up to the present time has

Devoted to Real Estate                         ,           i       j-              ,              ,,,,,,

BuUdinaConstructlonandBuildinfiManagement     '^«'-"" handicapped greatly  by the lack of

in the Metropolitan District                     a member who has practical knowledge

Found<:dMarch2i.iS68. by CLINTON w. SWEET          "f   building   Construction,   safety   to   life

Published Every Saturday                      problems, and other technical and engi-

By THE RECORD AND GUIDE CO.         ll!:?or?.^ir'u'"^r '          constantly  come

belore   it.    With   me.xpcrienccd   persons

F. T. MILLER, Prraident                           promulgating   orders   lor   improvements

w. c. STUART, vicc-Prcj'i t General Manacer            )n buildings and no Competent appellate

J. w. FRANK, Secretary A Treasurer                   jurisdiction,   tactory   ovviicrs,   for   more

119 West 40tli Street, New York                  than two years have sullered untold an-

(Teiepbone. 4S00 Bryani.)                           iioyaucc  and  large  cxpeiise  without  at-

,7-------—---------------------------------------------------      taming    proportionate    safety    for    the

Entered at the Post Office at Kew Tork, A". T.. as      workers     ^

second-class matter.'*                                     ,^,       /.            ...            ,        .     r

---------------------------------------------------------------          ine Commission has also before it at

Cojyriciit. 1916. by Tlie Record and Guide Co.               the   present   time   a  great   deal   of   con-

structive  technical work in the prepara-

TABLE   OF   CONTENTS '         'i°"  o*  codes  for  regulating  the  opera-

—^_„         tion of dangerous machinery, mines and

(SECTION  O.VB)                              quarries,      artificial      light,      dangerous

Problem   of   Housing   Industrial   -n'orkers,            trades,  wood  alcohol  and  Other  poisons

Part Three;  Lawrence Veiller........... Ill      used in the trades, aisles in factories and

Legal  Xotes  Affecting Realty..............  112      steam   boilers.    In   the   past   such   codes

Digests ot Recent Legislation.............. 113      have  been  drafted  by committees  com-

Measures Affecting Real Estate............ 114      posed  of  representatives 'from  operating

Coal   Situation   ........................... 114      and manufacturing concerns, and by this

Difficulties ill Getting Mechanic's Liens; J.            method   special   interests   have   unavoid-

wT?\   r      'k    ;•■:.....;■;;....."'      ^bly obtamed favoritism.    It takes time

Service to  be  Given  by  Janitor:  Catherine            ♦„   a:.___               i         i           j           ,     i

Shields and  Clare R. NelsoA.   ..    .        116      *°  discover  such   evils,  and   much   harm

Editorials   ............................118      '^   likely   to   result   before   they   can   be

Query   Department.....'...!....'..'.!..'.!!!.' 119      corrected.    With   a   high   grade,   experi-

Real   Estate   Review..................  ! " fO      "^"ced technical man on the Commission,

Bronx  Board  of Trade Luncheon.......... 1^1      '""ch   more   desirable   methods   of   pro-
Building Trade Employers' Association Din-    "       "dure m preparing such codes, could be

ner   ....................................122      followed.

Xew Provision  Plant for Harlem.......... 132          i" case of a disaster like the Triangle

--------                                       Waist Company, or the Diamond Candy

Building  Material  Market................. 131      Factory,  which  is  liable  to  occur again

Classified   Buyers'   Guide...........■....... 142'    ^"y day, it would be a tower of strength

Current   Building   Operations.............. 131   -   to  the   Commission  and  the  Administra-

Departmental   Rulings..................... 141      tion  to  have  a  man  thoroughly  familiar

Leases   ................................... jog      with   safety   lo   life   problems,   on   the

.Xew and Useful Appliances................ II7      Commission.

Personal  and  Trade  Notes................. I34                                                        =^

Private Sales ot the Week................. 122                   Downtown Office Renting.

Real  Estate Xotes...................              1.30          t-i                                      -    1          ,      t^      •    , .

Statistical Table ot the Week..........!!!! 130          ^''^ announcement that the Equitable

Trade and Technical  Society Events.......  141      Building,   through  the  consummation   of

Wholesale Material Market................ 1.32      another lease, is now  filled, at a rental

■                                                                                aggregating   approximately   $3,000,000   a

APPELLATE    DI'VISION    OF    THE      -'^^''.'   '^  ^"   interesting   commentary  on

SUPREME COURT                         renting conditions in office buildings in

A* ., I ,_    r 4.1.    A       II       T^-  • ■                "^'is downtown section.    The building has

At a term of the Appellate Division of      1,227,000  square   feet  of  rentable  space,

the Supreme Court held in and for the      which   has   been   absorbed   within   very

First Judicial Department, in the County      lecent times by desirable classes of ten-

of New  York,  on  the   19th  day  of De-      f"'^'   ^°,'"'^  ?^  '^^  '^''S^''  ^^^^^^  having

,        iQifi                                                          htew  taken  for  long  term.s.

cemoer, lyio.                                                             jj  j^   difficult  to  reconcile  the  recent

Present:    Hons. John Proctor Clarke,      sales  at  foreclosure  of  several  of  New

P. J.; Chester B. McLaughlin, Frank C.      ^'ork City's well known skyscrapers with

Laughhn,   Francis   M.   Scott    Victor   t'      ''''^  excellent  conditions  now prevailing

n^,„i;„r^  \x7.,ii.    Tl     JO    -^il    A,e     „ d.'      '"  many other buildings of similar type

Dowling, 'Walter Lloyd Smith, Alfred R.      i„ the immediate  neighborhood.    Invesr

Page and Vernon M. Davis, J.J.                     ligation  would  probably  show  that  the

In  the   matter  of  the   designation   of      more   modern   types  of   structures  have

newspapers required by Rule 86  of the      ^'^^"  successful,    and    those    buildings

General Rules of Practice.                                ''i'"'' ''°"'^'" large areas of unoccupied

_,      .                 ._   .                                           othce space may attribute the vacancies

lhe Appellate iDvision of the Supreme      to the failure on the part of the owners

Court  in  the   First  Department  hereby      1° respond to the demand for the modern

designates   the   following  newspaper  as      ^"^ up-to-date quarters to which present

having  a  circulation  calculated  to  give      '^^■' P-'og'-'^fi^'e  business  men  have  be-

...          .        t ,      ,         ""»i-<:u   LO  give      come accustomed.

public notice of legal publications as re-          The increase in the cost of m.anaging

quired by the provisions of Rule 86 of the      the building, the advance in the cost of

General  Rules  of Practice  as amended       '^03.\, of labor, of supplies and equipment

to take effect December 19   1916             '      '"•''y ''^ve been  responsible to a  degree

RFrnpn    AMr>    riTrriW         ui- t.  j      toward the inability of these buildings to

KliCUKD   AND    GUIDE,   published      meet their obligations, and their incapa-

in the County of New York.                            city to yield a reasonable return on the

A Copy.                                                              investment.

ATTTtjun \xr A r^oT^ A T^T.   ^,    ■              The demonstrated success of the new-

ALl-RED WAGSTAFF, Clerk.        er  types  of   buildings  which  have  been

--------                               erected, carry a striking message to the

I, ALFRED -WAGSTAFF, Clerk of     °"'"^.'', °i ,"?^ ,°'.1^,r structure who has
the Appellate Division of the Supreme     Pf^rinitted his building to fall behind in
Court in the First Judicial Department,     t'le procession. , ,. ^
do hereby certify that the foregoing is a        ^''"^ '^ another phase of the down-
copy of the order made by said court     f°"'" /^"""^ 'ionditions which w;ill not
upon the appeal in the above entitled ac-     Y ^^V^^}-^^ '"">' ""t'l 'he new Zoning
tion or proceeding, and entered in my     ^^,?' r^ ?". complete operation. Owners
office on the 19th day of December 1916      ^^■''' ^"'^ it difficult to erect structures
and that the original case or papers upon     ''?"=*' '? ''^'g'^' *° ^^iV"^ °f ^hose com-
which said appeal was heard are here-     P'etca '" the past. There only can be
unto annexed.                                             isolated cases where the really tall sky¬
scraper can be built, provided the law
IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have     as it stands upon the statute books is
hereunto set my hand and affixed the     not declared unconstitutional. Even in
seal of said Court, in the County of New     those cases more ground area than in
York, this 19th day of December, 1916.        the past will be required if economic re-
(Signed) ALFRED WAGSTAFF, Clerk.     turns are desired.   This condition, as has





been pointed out frequently in the Rec¬
ord and Guide, should give those build¬
ings now standing somewhat of a pref¬
erence until such time comes, when ten¬
ants are willing to rent space over a
more  extended area.

Congestion has been the greatest prob¬
lem to be faced. The time will come
again as it came in the past when ten¬
ants will see the advisability of pulling
down the bars and renting space in build¬
ings located in streets adjacent to those
now in special favor. The effect of this
move will be a readjustment of rentals
over a larger area and the bugbear "in¬
convenience," which is now thought in¬
surmountable, will autoir.atically be
overcome.

The principle of one street being in fa¬
vor, to the detriment of those which are
nearby, is unsound. Realty has suffered
m the past from this condition, because
excessive rentals have been demanded
in some structures, while others have
been untenanted, or else leased for
sums out of all proportion to their true
worth. To obtain the best results for
the greatest number, equalization of
rentals must take place, and that means
equalization of property values. It is
not to be understood that it is meant
that all properties will have the same
value but their worth will be on a m.ore
uniform   basis.





Speculation   and   Investment.

"If people get fleeced, the fault lies
either with their ow^ get-rich quick
greed in buying highly speculative or
unsound securities; with going into the
market beyond their depth; with exercis¬
ing poor judgment as to the time of buy¬
ing and selling, or finally with the wiles
of outside promoters or unscrupulous
financiers," declared Otto H. Kahn this
week. While his remarks were directed
primarily toward the more or less unfor¬
tunate "lamb," whose savings are swept
away with every fluctuation in the stock
market, they may also be applied to real
estate.

There is no more justification for any
calamity howling from some people who
have lost money in real estate than there
IS for complaints from uninformed spec¬
ulators who have lost in Wall street. For
some reason people do not like to take
losses on real estate. In the final analy¬
sis, speculation in second or third mort¬
gages, or the purchasing of heavily en¬
cumbered real estate, is closely allied
with buying stocks on margin. In Wall
street it is designated by the name of
speculation, yet in real estate it is dig¬
nified as "investing."

One of the greatest difficulties with
which real investors in real estate have
had to contend has been this lack of dis¬
crimination between investment and
speculation. While the speculator in
real estate has his function, his influence
can in no way be compared to the im¬
portance of the buyer for investment.
The real test of a strong market is not
in the hysterical boom of the speculator,
but the steady conservative buying of
the investor. . When Mr. Kahn says that
people are fleeced "either with their own
get-rich-quick greed or with going into
the market beyond their depth, or exer¬
cising poor judgment as to the time of
buying and selling," he was talking to
the real estate as well as to the Wall
street gambler.





Railroad   Congestion.

i^ailroad presidents hold forth no hope
of relief from transportation congestion
until the close of the European war. Al¬
fred H. Smith, president of the New
York Central Railroad, in analyzing the
reasons for this situation points out the
unusual difficulties under which the rail¬
road   systems   have   been   operating.

The foreign trade of the United States
has increased from $4,000,000,000 at the
beginning of the war to $8,000,000,000,
and domestic trade has increased from
about $30,000,000,000 to $46,000,000,000.
In addition to this enormous trade, there
has developed a great internal industrial
situation in manufacture and commerce
to provide these supplies.    The abnormal