360





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





September 22, 1917





of the small size coal in New York,
should get together and organize and
insist upon their fair proportion of the
product. This has been done in New
England and other sections of the
country, and it is about time New York
woke  up and did the  same."

George Chapman, General Manager,
Fifth Avenue Building Company: "Per¬
sonally I feel that it is a mistake to try
to fix the price of coal by Government
regulation. I believe that the coal
trade as a body could be counted on to
handle the situation in a reasonable way,
taking into consideration conditions of
supply and demand, both here and
abroad. Labor and other factors must
have a bearing on the price. Although
we may be sufferers from advancing
fuel costs, this does not, in my opinion,
justify a demand for regulation by the
Government, any more than a shortage
of desirable space which is daily becom¬
ing more apparent, would justify the
Government in setting a maximum rent¬
ing rate per square foot for our offices.

"We must all save coal, and the best
way that I know of is to put "Daylight
Saving" into effect. On November 1,
sunrise is about 6.30 o'clock, and sunset
about 5 o'clock. As many stores and
manufacturing establishments do not
open until 8 o'clock and offices at 9
o*clock, we are wasting from an hour
and one-half to two hours and one-half
of daylight at the beginning of the day.
Like all other waste, this must be made
up somewhere, and we are accomplish¬
ing this at the end of the day by burn¬
ing thousands of tons of coal to produce
current to illuminate the dark hour or
more, from sunset to closing time."

C. A. Flynn, of Douglas Robinson-
Charles S. Brown Company: "Instead of
easing up, the coal situation has re¬
cently become more tense. Looking in¬
to the next five months brings us face
to face with a more serious coal short¬
age than we have ever met. I base this
on the following facts:

"The diminishing production at the
mines, car shortage, present freight tie-
up, increased manufacturing throughout
the East, the extraordinary demand by
our Government for coal, the anxiety
of everyone to stock up their coal bunk¬
ers to protect their interests through
the coming winter, and low coal reserve
in the bunkers and yards around New
York.

"These reasons account for the short¬
age, not only for office buildings and
apartment houses, but for all con¬
sumers   of   coal."

Arthur C. Bang, of E. S. Willard &
Company: "It is difficult to make any
prophecies as to what the conditions
will be during the coming winter, as
even those directly connected with the
sale of coal are in a quandary. I be¬
lieve there will be no coal famine in
New York City next winter, but that
there will be a scarcity, and high prices
will maintain. A number of people
have filled up their storage capacity
during the summer months, and this
will tend to somewhat relieve the situ¬
ation. Coal in large quantities is hard
to obtain at the present time, and some
sizes are practically out of the market.
Wherever possible, coal, even in small
quantities, should be accumulated be¬
tween  now and  winter."

J. C. Rennard, of the New York Tele¬
phone Companv: "It is my personal
opinion that the present situation in
the coal market is due to the old law of
supply and demand, and that the un¬
usual conditions in this respect are the
result of the world at war. Government
regulation may improve the situation
somewhat by reducing the speculator's
profit, but it is not believed that any
material change will be effected until
the unusual conditions disappear."

William M. Shackford, of Daniel,
Birdsall & Company: "The coal situ¬
ation is a serious one and economy in
consumption is the keynote of its so¬
lution. In the first place in buildings,
both apartment and office, where elec¬
tricity is manufactured on the prem¬
ises, economy of light should be one of
the   first   thoughts.     Everybody   knows

HFCORD   AND    GUIDf)





that every kilowatt of electricity con¬
sumed means a certain amount of coal
consumption.

"Another means of saving is for fami¬
lies to combine, two or more, living in
the same house or apartments. The idea
is to have two or more families live
where only one lived before. Another
saving can be made by the elimination
of hot water supply in office buildings.

"From conversations with members of
the coal trade, I gather that the product
is about at the top price, but, owing to
the scarcity of labor in the coal regions,
and other reasons, best not mentioned,
there is going to be a scarcity of the
article, rather than any higher prices."

P. F. Jerome, director of the National
War Work Council of the Y. M. C. A.:
"We are hoping that the new com¬
mittee appointed by President Wilson
will quickly establish an equitable
price control system, so that the serious
situation concerning prices and de¬
livery of coal in New York City will be
quickly settled. It seems hardly pos¬
sible that the fiuctuation in the prices
of coal delivered in New York which
we experienced last year can be al¬
lowed to happen  a2:ain."

L. T. Smith, of Pease & Elliman:   "It





seems to us that coal is going to be held
at a higher price during the coming win¬
ter than during last year. Car short¬
age is one of the principal reasons.
More coal was mined last month than
for the same period in 1916. In one in¬
stance I find that an operator who is
supposed to receive sixteen cars a day,
has been obtaining on an average of two
or three cars a day, although he had
labor ready to load whenever cars were
procurable."

William J. Demorest, of the Park
Avenue Operating Company: "The coal
demand was tremendously mcreased by
the large consumption by industrial
plants due to war orders. While the
amount of coal mined was increased, the
mine owners have had labor difficulties,
many of their employees going to muni¬
tion plants. To offset this, wages were
increased with only partial success.
Freight car shortage made matters
worse. This latter condition has a direct
bearing on delivery of coal to New York
City. These and other things 'do their
bit' toward making trouble. We are
looking for relief through Governmen¬
tal regulations, and if this is not forth¬
coming, building managers will have a
hard time of_it this winter."





LEGAL    NOTES    AFFECTING     REALTY





Prepared by Committee on Real Estate Laws of
Real Estate Board, Samuel P. Goldman, Chairman





T N an action for specific perforrn-
■*■ ance it appeared tliat the plaintiff
gave a real estate agent the exclusive
sale of certain lands. The agent made
a contract of sale, as vendor, with the
defendant and another, as vendees, and
received the whole of the purchase
price, except what was to be paid in the
future upon a note secured by purchase
money mortgage to be delivered upon
delivery of deed conveying good title.
The agent informed the plaintiff of the
sale and the terms thereof, but remit¬
ted only $500, leaving a balance of $1.-
397.60, still coming to the plaintiff from
the $2,500 received by the agent. But
the plaintiff was not aware that the
defendant had made this payment in
full. Subsequently $300 more was paid
by the agent to the plaintiff. After the
plaintiff learned the true facts concern¬
ing the payment to the agent, he
brought this action against one of the
vendees, the defendant, for specific per¬
formance of the contract so made by
his agent. The defendant counter-
claimed for like relief. The Minnesota
Supreme Court holds. Tones v. Blair,
163 N. W. 523, that the plaintiff by
bringing this action adopted the con¬
tract made by the agent on his behalf.
It was the only contract upon which
an action could be based. He was to
be considered as the undisclosed prin¬
cipal. No point could now be raised
by the plaintiff from the fact that the
contract had two vendees. He elected
to assert a cause of action against the
one only and that one did not object.
.By bringing this action after full knowl¬
edge of what the agent had done, the
plaintiff ratified and adopted his acts
in toto. and must bear the loss arising
from   the   agent's   misappropriation   of





es are liquidations of assumed respon¬
sibilities incurred after the date of sub¬
sequent or junior incumbrances placed
upon the mortgaged property.

Marketable   Title—Incumbrances.

A vendee who is entitled only to a
marketable title can only demand such
title as a reasonably well informed and
intelligent purchaser, acting upon busi¬
ness principles, would be willing to ac¬
cept. A vendee is entitled to receive
a title free of judgment and tax liens;
but he cannot elect to rescind and treat
the contract as rescinded on the ground
that there are incumbrances on the land
if they are of such character and amount
that he can apply the unpaid purchase
money to the removal of the incum¬
brances. This can be done where the
amount of incumbrance is definite, does
not exceed the unpaid purchase money
due, is presently payable, and its exis¬
tence is not a matter of doubt or dis¬
pute, or the situation is not such with
respect thereto as to expose the vendee
to  litigation  on  the subject.

An easement of a telephone com¬
pany to maintain its line over the land
visible at the time of making the con¬
tract does not render the title unmark¬
etable, as in such case the purchaser is
presumed to have taken its existence
into consideration in fixing upon the
amount of the purchase money. Sachs
V. Owings, Virginia Supreme Court of
Appeals, 92  S.  E.  997.

Building  Restriction.

In a suit to prevent the erection of
an apartment house in violation of a
restrictive building agreement entered
into by propertv owners, the New Jer¬
sev Court of Chancerv, Fisher v. Grif¬
fith Realty Co.. 101 Atl. 411, held the
evidence insufficient to warrant relief,
the   character    of   the   locality    having





part  of the money paid by the vendee,     greatly changed  since  the  execution  of





even though the agent had no author
ity under the written contract of em¬
ployment to make a contract of sale or
receive   the   purchase   money.

Mortgages—Future   Advances.

Where a contract for advances or for
the assumption of future obligations ac¬
companies a mortgage, the Pennsylva¬
nia Supreme Court, holds. Land Title
& Trust Co. v. Shoemaker, 101 Atl. 335,
that it is not essential that the engage¬
ment as to advances be placed on rec¬
ord or expressly referred to in the
mortgage. In such a case there is a suf¬
ficient consideration for the mortgage,
and the lien of payments made under
the contract relates back to the date of





the mortgage, even  though the advanc-
IS   IN   ITS   FIFTIETH    YEAR    OF   CONTINUOUS    PUBLICATION





the agreement, so as to render it ap¬
parent that buildings of the class con¬
templated thereby would not be built
upon the land and several buildings hav¬
ing already been erected thereon con¬
trary to the intent of the agreement,
making   enforcement   inequitable.

Month   to   Month   Tenancy.

The New Jersey Court of Errors and
Appeals holds, Breidt Brewing Co. v.
Weber, 116 Atl. 382, that under a lease
of a saloon at a rental of $100 a month
the letting is one from month to month,
and the fact that the tenant annually
applies and pays for a license in com¬
pliance with the lease does not have
the legal effect to change the terms of
the  letting  to  one  from  year  to  year.