February 28,1885





The   Record   and   Guide.





211





Supposinir a Case.

I/ooking at tlio amazing development of the western portion ot the
Unite<l States since 1840, one can hardly help wondering what would have
been the situation to-ilay had the great ileposits ot gold and silver been
placed iu tho Alleghauics instead of in the Rocky Mciuntains and Sierra
Nevadas, and boon discovered '2'*) years earlier. Would it have been for
the permanent good and advancement of what is now the " American "
nation that the early colonists should gather this immense treiLsure ! Would
it have earned them an independence .sooner by attracting a hundred told
greater immigration, or would it have tended t<i rivet closer the bonds of
foreign control bv exaggerating tlii' estimate ot value placed on the.se
colonial posst^ssions ? Spain ran against the tre.i.sures ot Mexico and South
America and the Darien Isthmus wliile seeking a short route to India m
the interest of peaceful commerce. Her adventurous explorers thereupon
became transformed into a horde of freebooters who plundered and fought
alternately among themselves and the native races, whole tribes ot whom
were enslaved and exterminatiKl by hard work in the mines. Many of
the surviving conquerors returned to Spain laden with riches and all
telling tales of a wonder land beyond the .sea. The Spanish sovereigns,
who were eager to mutch the growing maritime power of England, for a
time clung to the hope of oiieuing a new highway to the Orient, but finally
jcined in the gold hunt aud sought to colonize tropical America and drain
its treasures into the Spanish Trea-sury. Now after the lap.se of 400 years
Spain holds not oue ot her gold producing colonies and not one of them
h.is yet recovered trom the blight of the gold hunters' rule,
though long independent of foreign control. Tho first colonists and ex¬
plorers who entered what is now the domaui ot the United States were in¬
spired with the hope ot repeating the discoveries male by Spaniards farther
south. Being totally disappointed in the.se expectations they were sup¬
planted by new comers who were filled with other ideas. Religious zeal and
a determination to cultivate the soil or to promote commercial euterprises
gave them fortitude aud stabihty. In tiie hard straggle with adversity the
different colonies were finally drawn into a clo.se union from which grew a
mighty nation able to absorb the gold .and silver of the far AVest without
quarrelling over tho division of the spoil. It is very hard to guess what
would have been tho result had the gold fields of Califoi-uia beeu scattered
along the Atlantic instead of the Pacific slope, but it is safe to say that Mr.
Bltuid's silver bill aud the metallic cuii-ency question would have stood upon
very different footings from tho.se which they now occupy. Again, it was
the fhscovery of gold iu California which once more revived the old
projectfs of a short cut from tho North Atlantic to the Pacific and led to
the construction of the Panama railroad. Antl now, with the growing
impoi-tance of the Pacific trade,'two great ship canal projects are attracting
the attention of the commercial world. AVith the gold fields on the opposite
fide of the continent would these canals have been consti-ucted long ago. or
would thev still be projects for engineers t<i amuse themselves with by tigur-
ing out curious estimates as to the probable cost and time ot construction;
AVould Secretary Chandler now be threatened with an investigation tor
sending a survey party to Nicaragua, or would the utter impracticability
of both canal schemes have bosn long ago demonstrated ?—St. Louis Re
publican.

Natural Gas.

Natural gas has almost revolutionized the manufacture of chimneys at
Evans & Co's. factory at Pittsburg. After considerable trouble the proper
heat has been secured m the furnace, and glass is made in eighteen hours
insteatl of twenty-four, as required by coal. A working turu heretofore of
five hours' duration is now only four. Not a particle of coal is used in the
works.—Age of Steel.

The Petroleum Trade of India.

The increase iu the imports iuto India during 1S81, which consisted mainly
of American kerosene oil, has boen really enormous during the flve years, as
wUl be seen from the figmes given below:

Gallons.                                        Its.

1878-79..................................       3,7r.'j,(;r4                                           27,17.1ia

1879-SO        ...............................        7.888,^47                                           48,19,079

1880-81    ..............................      10,0(iO,0-2(i                                     48,70,.58O

1881-82           .......................        9,8S.3,0W                                     50,40,:K(i

1882-83.................................     21,059,(;tiS                                     92,93,12:1

The quantity imjxirted has increased in the.se five yeai-s by 458 per cent,
and in the same period the average value has fallen from Rs 0-11-0 a gaUou
to Rs 0-7-1 a gallon, or by SS.4 per cent. Almost all the kerosene, says the
London Grocer, came direct from the Umted States, only a small quantity
being imported from thence via the Straits, and a much smaller (juantity
still from England. The low range of prices ot imported kerosene oU has to
some extent interfered with the development of the oil-bearing tracts on the
coast of Arkau. The company formed U i w( irk the oil weUs in the islands on
that coast has beeu somewhat cripple. Ihy tbe clica|«iess of the imported oU,
and also by the lack of adequate uia<-liiiiery for refining. Such machinery,
however, is now at work, and the obstacles in the way having been to a great
extent overcome, the production of oil in Burma has largely increased.
The Commissioner of the Arakan Division writes: "Petroleum ought soon
to take a prominent place in adding largel)' to our export resources. Dur¬
ing the past year shipments of crude oil have been interdicted at Calcutta
and other jiorts under the provisions of the ijetroleum act. A further cause
for non-shipment of the oil in a crude state is that a refinery has been set up
at Kyouk-Phyoo, and that the raw article is being turned out in a refine<i
state" which makes it fit for Eurojiean (-onsumption. A second stUl larger
refinery is in course of construction, and it is believed than the out-turn will
soon be sufficient to compete successfully both as regards price and quality
(in these parts at least) with refined oil imiiorted trom America. Other
companies are in course of formation to work the Ramree oil fields, and it
may now be fairly said that a new industry has been develojieci in Arakan
which wiU bring wealth to the country and add materiaUy to the importance
of this pt)rtion of British Burma." Close ou (100,000 gaUous of petroleum
produced in Burma were shipiied coastw ise from ports in that province
(Akyab and Rangoon) during the year 188-.i-83. It is belived that the pre¬
sent year wUl see a further large developuieut of the trade. About 193,33H
EJillons of the quantity stated were the produce of Arakan wells, the remain¬
der being petroleum from Upper Burma brought down to Rangoon, and
thence largely shipped to Calcutta, where it is extensively used for mill
machinery.—Oii. Paint and Drug Reporter.

Improvement of Business at St. Louis.

Those who have read our manufacturing items from week to week have
not failed to discover that in several important branches ot local business an
improvement has been in progress for weeks past. Looking back to last
summer, and comparing the conditions of things then with what it is now,
the full extent of the improvement may be understood. Theu the machine
shop proprietors had only enough work on hand and hi view to jiLStity them
in keeping their doors open; the roUing mills and forge works had barely
enougn to do to keep the swaUows out of their stacks, and in all cases not
enough; the barb wire manufacturers had probably '.i5,000 reels ot unsold
■wire in their wai-ehouses; chain makei-s were complaining ot a small, Ufeless
business, and glass manutacturei-s were afflicted with a settled melancholy.
In several other branches of manufacture, including all foundries except
those devoted to the production of pipe or rtructure iroui'., there was pro¬
nounced dullness, a dullness, moreover, which had apparcnUy come to stay.
If these things are fully considered when The Age of Steel of this week is
rtad it n:u6t apptar clear .hat important changes for the bettei- have taken
place jn tbe ijiaustries refei ed to.j It wiU be noticed tbftt the JBehibftcber





Forge and Rolling Mills Company are now running all departments of their
extensive works with upwards of 200 men iu their pay; that a siuular estab¬
lishment—McDonald's—is a^in in operation after a protracted stoppage;
that the chain and h.anie makers are crowded with orders; that tho outlook
for an-liitectural foundries and pipe works is excellent; that the barb wiro
manufat-turers are rapidly falling behind their orders; that the glass trade
issl(j\vly improving; and so on and so forth. Theiie changes have been
lirought about so slowly, with one or two exceptions, that a great many
business men have not been apprized of their full meauuig. And then, some
.sort of an improvement was anticipated as whiter drew to its close, making
it an easy matter in off-hand opinions t(5 refer the changes to ordinary causes.
AA'hile we are not over-burdened with high hopes as to the near-by spring
trade, it must be saiil that there are many promising signs cropphig out in
different jmrtsof tho country. Our ob.-iervations with respect to certain
branches of business in aud about St. Louis may be applied without appreci¬
able loss ot meaning to other centres of industry, notably Chicago, and to
Joliet, in so fa'" as the scope of its industries will permit. On the whole, we
regard the outlook as having vastly improved siuce last year, and while not
exactly expecting such a thing, we would not be surprised to wake up soma
fine spring morning and find the country big with business.—.4£/c of Steel,





Sales of the AVeek.
New York Conveyances.
Kings County Couveyances.
AVestehester County Conveyances.
New York Mortgages.
Kings County Mortgages.
Assignments Mortgages. New York.
Assignments Mortgages, Kings County.
Projected Buildings, New A'ork.
Projected Buildings:, Kin.c^s County.
Alterations of Buildings, New A''ork.
Alterations of Buildings, Kings County





Record   and  Guide.

Price, ?G per year.
STATISTICAL CONTENTS.

Mechanics' Liens,





New A'ork.
Alechanics- Liens, Kings County.
Satisfied Meciianics' Liens, New A'ork.
Satisfied Mechanics' Liens, Kings Co.
All General News about Eeal Estate.
Board of Aldermen.
Board of Assessors, &c.
Legal S.ales, New A'ork and Kings Co.
Kings C>>unt.y Lis Pendens.
Recorded Leases.

Building  Slaterial  Market  and  Quota¬
tions.





Business Failures.
New A'ork Judgments.
Kings County Judgments.
New A'ork Chattel IMortgages.
Kings Couuty Chattel Mortgages.





Real Estate Chronicle.

Price, $5 per vear.
STATISTICAL CONTENTS.

I Mechanics' Liens, Kings County.
I Mechanics' Liens, New York.
1 Satisfied Judgments, New York.
j Satisfied Judgments, Kings County.
New Jersey Cons., Mortgages, &c.





Price for Both Papers, S3 per year.





Real Estate Department.

The hopeful feeling in real estate continues. The majority of traders
really believe that the spring season wiU be a good one. Trausactions as
yet are neither large, numerous nor important, but withal the tone of feel¬
ing in the brokers' offices is good, almost buoyant. There were two signifi¬
cant auction sales this week, one on Wednesday and the other on Thursday,
and they told very well the condition of the market. On AVednesday,
resiifence property in the Ninth Ward was offered aud to the surprise of
every one attracted a throng of eager bidders, aud brought excellent prices.
This property, it will be remembered, is in an old and unfashionable part ot
the city. There is no prosjiect for a quarter of a century to come that it
will be needed for anything but residence punxises; butthe fact remains
that it was in demand nt good figures. AA'^e have before noticed that Seventh
and Tenth Ward property on the east side has been in high favor
with investors for the last two yeai-s. There seems to have been a luU in
the uptown movement of population, and tor a time, at least, purchasers ot
pro<luctive property thmk there is a margin in modest, low-priced residences
near the business centre ot the city. AA^orkingmen, especiaUy, prefer doivn-
town property, as they can save car fare. It is these considerations which
make such a demand for Ninth Ward property. Indeed, some of the shrewdest
dealers are now picking up cheap residence property wherever they can get
it below Fourteenth street. On Thursday fhe O'Connor estate was sold, but
all or nearly all the parcels it is understood were bought in by the heirs.
There was a large attendance and a great deal of interest in tho sale, many
of the most notable real estate people in the city being present; but tho
bona fide bids were not satisfactory to the parties uitcrested and hence the
purcha.sers were the heirs. The really valuable property, which would have
commanded high prices three yeai's ago, proved not to be in dema'ad at all,
judging by the bids of the investors who were present. Four of the par¬
cels were hotel and lodging-house property and the prices offered showed
that capitaUsts are a little dubious respecting the future value of hosteh-ies.
There seems to be a suspicion that for the present at least New York has
all tbe hotels the traveling public requires.

Evidences continue to accumulate that the building movement will remain
active for a year or two. This is show-n by a quiet demand for vacant lots
on the lines of improvement. High-priced vacant property is not in favor,
but lots suitable for modest residences cau be sold if the streets or avenues
are iu a condition for immediate improvement Some dealers will not be
surprised it quite a furore for well-located vacant property Is developed
before the season is over. The stoppage ot apartment-house building wiU
increase the demand for lands suitable for residence purposes.

No sales were held at the Exchange Salesroom on Saturday or Monday.
On Tuesday pai't ot the Rutland apartment house on the southwest corner
of Broadway and Fifty-seventh street was sold under foreclosure, to sat'
two second mortgages of $26,-352 and J26,640.  The flrst mortgage, on V
o\ °r $-127,000 is due, is held by the New York Life Insurance Con-
On he sa»e day foreclosure sales of East Forty-eeventb «nd Ope P