Real Estate Record

AND   BUILDERS'   GUIDE.





Vol. yi.





NEW YOKK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1870.





No. 146.





Published Weekly by

TIIE REAL ESTATE RECORD ASSOCIATION.

.. !.'         . TERMS.

Ono year,in advance......................$6 00

All communieationa should be addressed fco

105 Bro.a-uway. con. OK Pine stbkkt.

The Recouu is regularly maUed to subscribers every
Friday night at eleven o'clock, and should be deUvered by
the Post Office aufchorifcies on Safcurday morning early.
Any subscriber nofc receiving his paper in due season may
rely upon ifc fchafc fche fault is entirely w-ith the canier, and a
complainfc lodged eifcher wifch the Post Office aufchorifcies or
afc the Recobd office w-ill remedy fche inegularifcy. Any
carrier deUvering fche RECORD later than Saturday moming
ia remiss in his duty.





THE BEOADWAY TJNDESGROUKD EAILWAY.

Wbcile tlie pent-up inhabitants of our city-
are longing for some sure and rapid mode of
transit from one end of the island to the other;
while people are busy suggesting all sorts of
schemes as' to how the difficrdty cart' he over¬
come, it is both ludicrous and vexatious to know,
that the problem ?ias been solved, and that
nothing now deprives us of the long-desired
object but the granting of such a charter by
our Legislature as vrill enable it to be carried
into full execution. But few of our read¬
ers, in spite of all that has been said and
written upon the subject, are proba,bly
aware that we have actually had a comfort¬
able passenger car running smoothly and
safely under Broadway for some months past.
The distance is certainly not very fai", being
only from Warren to Murray street—a length of
some 300 feet—but quite enough to prove to
the most scientific or imleamed the perfect
feasibility of the plan, and that it is just as
ea,sy, by the sanie appliances, to go from the
City Hall to Harlem in 15 or 20 niinutes.

W^e recommend all those who have 25 cents
to invest for a charitable fund to go and take a
ride under BroadAvay, by the car of the " Beach
Pneumatic Transit Company," the entrance to
which is under Devlin's store, at 260 Broadway,
comer of Warren Street. No one can -visit it
without being astonished that a work of such
magnitude and importance could have been car¬
ried on below the most crowded portion of the
city, with its busy thousands constantly pass¬
ing to and fro, not only perfectly unmolested,
but- utterly unconscious that such a -vvork was
even in progress. Descendii^ into the hand¬
somely furnished office, the visitor is conducted
by wide folding-doors on the right-hand side to
a large and beautiful waiting-room or " Sta¬
tion," well furnished with sofas and settees,
and adorned.with pictures, a fountain, and even





a piano. The rear end of this Station leads
directly, by a short flight of easy stairs, to the
brilliantly Hghted tunnel, nine feet in diameter,
—the base of which is twenty-one feet, and the
summit consequently twelve feet, below the sur¬
face of Broadway, low enough to avoid all
interference with the sewers and water and
gas pipes of the city. Neatly fitted to this
tunnel is the passenger car, of the same circular
shape, prettily and comfortably finished, and
capable of holding ten people. Front and rear
is a platform Avith breaks, like ordinary street
cars. Seated in this car, fche visitor is literally
blown along, as smoothly as he might be in a
boat on sfcill water, at the rate of seven miles
an hour, by a strong blast of air, Avhich is sup¬
plied by a gigantic bloAving machine called an
"aeoler." This speed, could, of course, be
quadrupled easily in any long distance, but
running just now only from Warren to Howard
Street—a lengfch of some three hundred feet—
greater rapidity would be inconvenient. We
found the. atmosphere agreeable, thoroughly
well ventilated, and entirely free from all the
dust and dirt inseparable from above ground
traveL As to the accidents incidental to all
railway travelling, this system would seem to
preclude even the possibility of such occurring.
The Company claim that their BroadAvay Rail¬
way demonstrates the foUoAving points:—

1. That they can build railAvays under the
streets without invading private property;
Avithout interfering with private vaults; and
without serious disturbance of the water pipes,
gas, sewers, or the surface of the streets.

3. That they can effectively operate railways
under the streets -without shaking the adjoin¬
ing buildings; without subjecting the passen¬
gers to foul and poisonous gas, cinders or dust,
and Avithout'detentions from snow, ice, or storm.

3. That they can contract and operate rail¬
ways under the streets that shall be secure
from accident, rapid for transit, and safe for
passengers.

Most assuredly, any Company that can speed¬
ily supply pur population "with a mode of transit
embracing all these advantages would, in so
doing, confer a vast amounfc of public good;
and that the present Company are capable of
fulfilling all they promise is sufficiently guar¬
anteed by the proofs they have already given of
their skill and enterprise.





THE NEW COUET-HOUSE.

Whatever faults architectural criticism
may have hitherto found with the New Court¬
house, that building most ceriiainly, in aU its
details, has so far adhered - to what is usually
recognized as a rigid plassical style of architec¬
ture, that any tampering with it, in any of the
more fantastic style§, would only be likely to





produce a hotch-potch of absurdity. In these
remarks we allude to the rumored question of
placing a Mansard roof over the whole build¬
ing, in lieu of the central dome which was
originally contemplated by the architect. It is
to be hoped that such a change will not be at¬
tempted. We all knoAV the iiicturesque'beauty
of a well-designed and well-applied roof of the
kind, bufc ifc is not every where and to everything
thafc it can be successfully used. Had the de¬
signer originally intended any such covering to
his building, he certainly would not have placed
a cornice of the same form and solid dimensions
as the present one around it. It would have
been something lighter and more in keeping
than the regular architrave, frieze, and cornice,
which go to form an orthodox classical entabla¬
ture. We have seen many attempts to convert
a building, after its erection, frcm fche original
intent of the design, but rarely one that did not
end in artistic failure. The incongruity is sure
to make itself felt in one way or another. If
the question be one merely of expense, we can
hardly imagine that the public would be satis¬
fied, in a building that^has already cost so very
largely, to see it at last utterly ruined in ap¬
pearance for the sa-ving of a few thousands of
dollars.





MECHANICS'   LIENS   AGAINST    BUUDINGS

IN NEW YOEK CITY.
Dec.

23 ElGHTY-THIKD  ST., N. S., 13 HOUSES,

bet. Sth and 9th avs.   James Shan^

non agt. John Carlin.............       ^1725

23 POBTT-NINTH   ST.,   N. S.,   i   HOOSES,

commencing 250 e. of Sth av.  E. A.

Bradley et al. agt. Sam'l Stewart..       600 00
27 Forty-fifth st. , s. s. (Nos. 550 and

552 W.).   Joseph Jakeway agt. J.

B. Vanderbeck...................         32 CO '

27 Forty-third ST., n. s. (No. 329 W.).

Thos. Maher agt. EUzabeth Taylor        30 00

27 FOBTT-SIXTH  ST.,   N,   S.,   4 HOUSES,

commencing,100 e. of 2d ay. Fran--
cis McNamara agt. William H. Ar-
noux.............................    2,057 50

27 Forty-third st., s. s. (No. 410),
befc. 9th and 10th avs. William
Martin agt. Mrs. Grant...........       773 43

29 Fifth av., e. s., 70 n. 21st st,
James W. Duncalf agfc. Miller &
Doe..............................      299 90

29 Same property. B. N. Blaokwall

agt. ---------.......................        64 00

29 Jane st., n. s., com. 125 e. Hudson
St., running 50 ffc. John Eitel agt.
Frederick Lutz...................         12 00

29 Same property.   Ferdinard Rie-

del agt. Frederick Lutz..........         23 34

29 Same property. Henry Wearroll

agt, Frederick Lutz...;...........         16 63

29 Same property.   John Rauscher

agt. Frederick Lutz,.............         47 00

23 Lexington-AV. and 78th st., s. e.
cor. Henry Brann agt. John Mc-
Glyn et al........................         68 50

23  Lexington av. and 83d st., s. e.

cor. S. R. Scotfc et al. agt. Fran¬
cis Conrad.......................         62 00

24  Laurens st., w. s.  (No. 181).   M.

' H Howell agfc. Jos. Frick.........         86 50

29 Ludlow st., e. s. (Nos. 16 & 18).
Bradley and Currier agt.. Joseph
Lauer-..........;.......-......'....    1,800 00