September 29, 1917





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





397





MR. CLINTON V/. SWEET, FOUNDER

OF THE RECORD AND GUIDE, DIES





WE deeply regret to announce the
death, on September 24, of Mr.
Clinton W. Sweet, whom the readers of
the Record and Guide will remember as
the founder of this paper, and as its
owner, until the year 1912. Mr. Sweet
suffered from nervous disorders, and
had been under the care of a specialist
for some time past.

In spite of failing health for a great
many years, Mr. Sweet kept actively
identified with many business enterprises.
He had the versatility of interest, the
flexibility of mind, and the indefatigable
initiative, which have always been the
characteristics of the American busi¬
ness man at his best.

He was born in Wappinger Falls, N.
Y., in 1841. The Record and Guide was
founded in 1868, when he was 26 years
old, and he brought to the idea which
lay behind the new paper all the energy
of a young man's interests. Up to that
time it had never occurred to anyone
the value of publishing a weekly paper
which contained faithful transcripts of
all public records affecting titles to real
estate. The Record and Guide conse¬
quently marked an innovation among
American  trade  publications.

Mr. Sweet always took a broad view
of the way in which such a paper as the
Record and Guide should serve its read¬
ers, and he insisted from the first on
associating with the paper the best edi¬
torial force. For many years he was
assisted in his work by David Goodman
Croly, who at a later period in the his¬
tory of the paper assumed its complete
editorial  management.

During the course of Mr. Sweets
ownership the Record and Guide ex¬
panded from one species of work to
another, until it furnished to different
classes of readers a most complete
series of services of real estate views
and expert opinion, which has continued
unbroken in reliability and complete¬
ness, and integrity of purpose for half
a  century.

In order to further increase the value
of the Record and Guide to real estate
interests, the Real Estate Quarterly was
founded in 1899. Five years later the
first edition of the Real Estate Directory
of Manhattan was published, which sup¬
plied the missing link.

Early in its career, the Record and
Guide also took an interest in the iiii-
provement of architectural standards in
the City of New York, and it was in the
habit of publishing critical articles on
new buildings, chiefly from the pen of
Montgomery Schuyler and other spe¬
cialists in architectural design. In
1891 this phase of the work of the pa¬
per  was   developed   to   such   an   extent





that it was considered desirable to es¬
tablish a special publication to carry it
on. and the Architectural Record, pub¬
lished first, as a quarterly, and subse¬
quently as a monthly, was the result,
from which in turn the Sweet's Archi¬
tectural Catalogue was a natural and
logical  evolution.

Of late years Mr. Sweet ceased active
business connection with the Record
and Guide and the affiliated publications.
He devoted the whole of his time to the
business of manufacture, under the
name of Sweet, Orr & Company, Inc.,
with which he was also identified when
he was a young man, and with which
he has been connected ever since. This
firm was founded in 1871, and the forty-
five   vears   of   successful   operation   of







CLINTON  W.  SWEET.

the concern is based on merit. Mr.
Sweet held the unique position of being
looked upon, not only as the head of
the leading concern in its line, but also
as the father of the union-made gar¬
ments.

All those who were associated with
Mr. Sweet in his varied interests^ can
testify to his unusually sound business
judgment, to the fertility of suggestion
which he was constantly throwing out
and to the unfailing kindness and con¬
sideration in his treatment of his as¬
sociates and employees, as well as to
the high standard of private conduct
and public service which ran throughout
the whole of his business career.





The  Coal   Situation.

Editor of the Record and Guide:

The coal situation is not a hopeful
one. While the steam sizes used in
office buildings seem to be coming into
the city in fair abundance, the pros¬
pective car shortage later on, due to
the movement of troops and supplies
to and from the training camps, will
have a marked effect on the coal supply.
Moreover, the attitude of the mine
owners in not accepting with a great
deal of cheerfulness the prices specified
by the Government will also teiid to
keep production down. Accordingly,
we are advising all those who make in¬
quiries to fill all available bunker space.
We note with some surprise that
Tenement House Commissioner Mur¬
phy has refused permission to store coal
in the yards of tenement or apartment
houses. We understand that he has
been somewhat influenced by a state¬
ment of the Merchants* Association that
the coal situation was not bad. While
it may not be bad at present, it has
every indication of becoming very much
so as soon as the cold weather sets in.
The   whole   situation   is   particularly





QUERY DEPARTMENT





This department !a Intended to be of eerr-
Ice to all Interested In the real estate market,
whether as broker, agent or property owner.
The readers of the Record and Guide are In¬
vited to send In questions on matters per¬
taining to real estate, building and building
management, though legal questions will not
be answered In thia column. Questions should
be stated as fully but aa briefly as possible
so as to allow Intelligent answers. Arrange¬
ments have been made through which the
questions will be answered by a Committee
of the Real Estate Board, Including the
following:

B. A. Tredwell, real estate broker.

Frederick D. Kalley, real estate broker.

Robert R. Ralney, real estate broker.

B. E. Martin.

William  Douglas Kllpatrlclt. builder.

H. H. Murdock. architect.





Question No. 272.—The owner of a private
dwelling in Matihattan, leases said dwelling
through a broker to a tenant for a period
of oiie year, and the lease gives the tenant the
option of renewal of lease for an additional
year unless the property is sold before Sep¬
tember 1, 1917, which prevents the owner from
renting said dwelling to another tena7it than
the one in possession. The tenant has given
the owner a notice in writing that he v:ishcs to
renew tlie lease for the second year as 2cas his
privilege according to the original lease, made
September 30. 1916. The question is. is the
broker entitled to anotlier 2^2 per cent, com¬
mission for the second year, although no new
lease has beeji made? The lease also contains
the clause "that should there be a renewal of
the lease the onmer will consider same as hav¬
ing been effected by the same agent."     C. C.

Answer No. 272.—No. The commission
for a lease of less than three years is
11/2 per cent, of the average yearly
rental. Having collected 2>1 per cent,
on the first year's rental, the broker is
not entitled to another comniission
according to the rules of the Real
Estate Board.

Question No. 273.—A broker negotiated a
lease for three years with an option for an
additional three years. At tJu; expiratioti of the
first three years the tenant availed himself of
the option and, through the same broker, re¬
newed the lease for the additional three years.
In the mean time the broker had severed his
connection xoith the firm by whom he w.as em¬
ployed when the lease was origi^uzlly made. Re
now claims the commission for renewing the
lease. The commission in the first instance was
paid to the firm. Is the broker entitled to the
commission for renewing the lease in accord-
ance with the terms of the option clause? What
is the rate of commission in this  case?

BROKER.
Answer No. 273.—Inasmuch as the
option was part of the original lease
negotiated by the broker for the firm
for whom he was working, the commis¬
sion should go to the firm through
whom the original lease was negotiated.
As a matter of equity, however, it seems
that the firm should make some division
wMth the broker for the services in
arranging the renewal. The rate of
commission in this case is 1 per cent,
of gross  rental.

Question No. 274.—Do all existing liens auto¬
matically become due when a foreclosure action
is instituted against a piece of real estate?

J.  C.
Answer No. 274.—No, they do not.





bad for apartment houses for the rea¬
son that very few of them have enough
bunker space to store more than a
month's supply, or, in some cases, only
a week's supply. In the downtown
office building section it is a remark¬
able fact that even some of the prin¬
cipal buildings can store not more than
a  week's  supply.

Possibly the situation may change
when Mr. Garfield's committee begins
active operations, but I am rather jn-
clined to be pessimistic than otherwise.
In short, we look for a hard winter in
the coal business.

GEORGE W. MARTIN.





RECORD    AND    GUIDB   IS    IN    ITS    FIFTIETH





Cost of Labor.

Editor of the Record and Guide:

Will not the cost of labor be reduced
when the enormous numbers of work¬
ing men, formerly employed in the
building material industry, but to-day
fighting in the trenches or working in
factories producing munitions of war,
return to their former positions or be¬
come unemployed? There will then be
no scarcity of labor, and it seems from
precedents   that   the   wages   will   drop

YEAR   OF   CONTINUOUS





because of the demand for emplo^^ment.
If so, why will not the prices of pro¬
ducts do the same?

No one will buy any product of some
other man when it is within reason to
expect the price will be reduced in a
short time. Would that not be foolish
indeed? Yet at a mass meeting held re¬
cently those manufacturers who spoke
were positive that no lower price could
be expected, but made no explanation
at all. Perhaps they forgot that the
average investor stands in ignorance
concerning facts leading to their
decision. Since this ignorance does
exist, however, it must be cleared away
before the investor can be expected to
put out his capital, or before the banks
will consent to make loans to the
builders. There is certainly no con¬
fidence to-day that the present prices
will continue in the future.

I am sure that when this uncertainty
is removed that even the poor deliveries
will not hold back orders for large
amounts of building materials so badly
needed to start work on about sixty
per cent, of the plans filed and approved
that  are to-day standing still.

ROBERT V.  BANKS.





PUBLICATION.