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RECORD   AJÎÍD   GUIDE





September 28, 1907





Points on the Material Market.

The outlook has decidedly improved during the week.

North Carollna pine has undergone soraa sUght readjustment
of vaĩuea.

Shingles are extremely firm, and aU offerings are beĩng taken
at good prices.

Business   is   limited   only   by   ths   amount   of   money   avaU-
able Eor handling it.                                                                  ,

■   If the brick market is the barometer  oE the buildlng trades,
business is picking up.

Turpentine continues easy, but Eor linseed  oil an advance ot
one cent hasbeen made by the crushers.

Spruce is not so active as it was, and while competition m
buslness is keen, the official prices are held up pretty well.

The yard trade in hardwoods is only fair,  but in the manu-

facturing trade reports say that aU hardwood is weU absorbed.

NashviUe,   Memphis,   Cincinnati,   and   other  hardwood   centers

report that the tendency is toward higher prices and that plam

oak, ash, bassvvood and poplar are in good demand and stocks

low,

Sheet metal products, such as rooflng sheets, conductor pqie,
and eaves trough, continue surprisingly flrm in the face of an
appreciable faUing off in trads. Sufficient explanation, how-
ever, Is found in the fact that the mnis are stUI ^three to six
weeks  behind on   deUveries   of  sheets,

" Hemlock continues to 'move freely in the country. distncts
outside of New York City, at a base price of $22 per thousand
for New Tork City delivery. Buyers in the New Jersey and
Hudson River territory and throughout Pennsylvania are ab-
sorbing practically the full output of the mUls.

The  agitation   for  a  un'iform  freight   classification   to   govern     ■
shipments   ín   aU   territory   of   the   United   States   and   over   all
roads is meeting with approba-tion and support.  not only from
shippers who at flrst would appear to have the most vital in-
terest. but also from raUroad managers and claim agents.

The dry color raarket shows little change. and there is noth-
ing of înterest in the situation, Altogether, the trade shows a
healthier tone, especially in greens and yellows, which have
been in fair demand during the week, but other grades are
featureless and business is of a routine character and confined
to small lots.    Prices generaUy are. well  maintained at the old

figures.

The season of faU painting having started in in earnest there is
a heavy caU for both dry lead and lead in oil and, while there
is no quotable change in prices, there is littie obtaĩnafale below
"the outside flgures. Zincs continue active along the old hnes
and business, while of good proportions, is confined to small
lots. Prices are generaUy well maintained, A good demand
for   the  foreign   grades  is   reported,

The lumber yards here on Manhattan ■Island have passed
through an exceptionally dull summer, though this applies with
greater Eorcs to dealers in soEt construction lumber than to the
distributors- oE hardwoods, though there has been no particular
liEe to the retaU trade in hardwoods locally. Wholesale men,
on the other hand, are meeting a very satisfactory demand at
current  prices  for  practically   everything in   the   line   of   Eorest

.product.

The prices Eor wlúch tlie standard grades of Portland cement
are be'ing quoted have not varied for a long period, but the
general market lias begun to show signs of wcakness in sym-
pathy w^ith the tiraes. Cement has been gracious to builders
and 'contractors all tbe season, and tbis attitude, taken with
the many new ways that have been discovered in which cement
can be used, has made a demand for it tbis season much larger
tlvan what an equal expenditure for building construction would
have represented  in cement  output  at  any previous   era.

Business in copper products is only to cover current demand,
because of the uncertainty as to future values. The state oE the
market is refleeted by the following quotations selected from the
Iron Age, which are malntained by base prices:

Sheet copper. 24 cents per pound base; on sheet brass there
are changed schedules that are said to be equal to about 10 per
cent discount from list; seamless copper tubes, 20 cents per
pound base; seamless tarass tubes, 22 cents per pound. faase;
bare copper wire, 201/4 cents per pound car lots at mill; brass
rods, 1S% cents per pound, base; brazed brass tubmg, 2oVi
cents per pound, base; tobin bronze, 26 cents per pound, base;
tobin bronze rods. 26 cents per pound, base; eopper rivets and
burr.= 45 and 2^^ per cent. discount; yeliow metal sheathmg,
18 cents per pound, base.  and  yellow   metal rods  19  cents per

pound, base.

Hudson Blver brick prices have taken a decided upward turn
since last report, under a brisk buying movement which has
taken up the surplus of the previous week and invited further
heavy shipraents, Material dealers beĩieve that this advance is
' a prophecy of a permanent change for the better, for the whole
list of bullding materials, and a sign that building funds are a
little easier to obtain. For several weeks the requirement for
common tarick has been large, though the price level continued
low unti! this present rally, owing to previous excess ship-
ments Eut it is not thought that the improvement m the
market wiU cause any eonsiderable change in tbe plans of íhe
manufacturers, 'many of  whom iiave  counted  on   Closmg  down

next week,





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Building Operations.





StatisUcs of Plans Paed.

The following is a table of the new buildlngs and altera-
tions projected for Manhattan and the Bronx with the estl-
mated cost, for the past week and also for the corresponding

week  oE  1906:

1907.               1906.

No. of the new buildings in Manhat-

tan   and  the Bronx------'........                47                   30

Bstimated cost of new buildings.. $779,094 $1,731,450
Total  estimated   cost   of   alterations

for Manhattan and the Bronx..         $93,420        $177,675





New York Ai-chitect    to Plan Hanunerstein's  PhUadel-
phía Theatre,

_Wm. H, McEIEatrick, oE 1402 Broadway, Manhattan, has
been appointed to prepare plans Eor the new opera house which
Oscar Hammerstein is to buiîd at the southwest corner of
Brbad and Poplar st, Philadelphia. The dimensions oE the
plot are 240x160 ft„ and it is considered an admirable site for
a large theatre or opera house, having a frontage on tliree
streets, béing one square south of Girard av and the Hotel
Majestic. Att the office of the architect on Tuesday it was
learned that the plans woutd not fae ready for figuring for some
weeks yet. Mr. Hammerstein is aĩso côntemplating the erec-
tion of an opera housé in Chĩcago, to cost nearĩy $1,000,000.
A site on the south side of Michigan av. near 12th st, as a suit-
afale location, îs under consideration, but it is not thought
■probable that this projeet wiU be undertaken, untU the final
completion oE the Philadelphia strueture. McElEatrick & Son
have designed as many as seventeen playhouses in Manhattan,
ten in Brooklyn, and scores in other cities and countries.







I





New Business Stnictwre Opposite the Waldorf.

34TH ST.—Benj. W. Levitan, No. 20 West 31st st, will make
plans for the erection of a fireproof iron front 6-sty business
building to be built at No. 11 West 34th st, adjoining the new
McCreery store and Riber's drug store, opposite the WaldorE-
Astoria. In 34th st the structure will have a frontage oE 25 ft.,
runnjng back 126 ft, in depth. and also a 12-ft. strip through the
block to 35th st. AIl deliveries to the building will be through
the 35th st entrance. The total estiraated cost of the huilding
ĩs placed at $400,000. No building contracts have yet been
awarded or flgures taken. Mr. Bobert Smith, of B. Smith &
Co., ladies' outfltters, of No. 52 West 14th st, is the owner, and
will occupy the premises. establishing a high ciass miUinery
store. to include ladies' and children-s outflts, Work wĩU be
pushed as soon as plans are complete.





University Place Alteration.

UNIVERSITT PLACE.—David M, Ach, No. 1 Madison av, is
arehitect for large improvements to be made to the old MaiUard
Building southwest corner of University pl and 14th st, pur-
chased this week by Mr. J. L, Post (cloaks and furs), No. 76
Bast 14th st. The structure covers a piot 34,3x103 ft., is six
stories in height. and it will be renovated for Mr. Posfs own
occupancv. The interior alteration wiU be elaborate and no
money ^W be spared to make this one of the finest mercantUe
cloak and fur establishments in the city. The Riehard L.
Walsh Co., 100 William st, has the contract for remodeling the
exterior, and no other eontract has yet been given out.





Pollaid  &  Steinani  Plan  Auother  $500.000   Apaitment
House.

5TTH ST,—Messrs, PoUard & Steinam, No, 234 5th av, are
completing plans and specifications for the eonstruction of an-
other-handsome 12-sty high-class elevator apartment house, to
be erected at No. 136 West 57th st by a corporation of which
P MoL Merrill, 259 5th av, is secretary. The cost wiU be m
the neigbborhood of half a ■million dollars, The same owners
and architects have already completed plans, and Wm. J, Tay-
lor 5-7 East 42d st, has the general contract for a similar
bui'lding at No, 130 West 57th st, to eost another $500,000, (See
also issue Juiy 27, 1907.)

Coutract for Second National Bank.

5TH AV —The George A. FuUer Company this week received
the general contract to construct the new 5-sty bank and ofSce
structure which the Second National Bank (now at 5th av and
"^.^d st) ■is about to build at the northwest corner of oth av and
'>Sth st on a plot 38x100 ft. For the site the bank is said to
have paid the Charles M, Goodridge estate in the neighborhood
of $1.000,000, Messrs. MeKim, Mead & White, 160 5th av, are
the a'rchitects.    (See also issues Aug. 3, Sept. 21, 1907.)

Office aud Lott Building for Second Avenue.

''D AV —Operations wUI be started iramediately for the erec-
tion of a fireproof high-elass office and loft building. to cover
a plot 22x100 ft., at No. 43 2d av, for wbich Architect Frederick
Ebeling 420 East 9th st, 'is now preparing plans. The struc-
ture wiU be seven stories in height. and wiU contain elevator





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