Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXY.





NEW YOEK, SATUEDAY, MAECH 13, 1880.





No. 626





Published Weekly by

Cbe Ecal (Estate Eecorl) l^ssoctatton.

TERMS.
ONE  YEA It. in advance.. ..SIO.OO.

Communications should be addressed to

C.   W.   SM^EET,

Nos. 135 AND 137 Broad'awv.





BUILD UP THE WEST SIDE.
Would it not be well for several owners of West
Side property to talk less of the future grandeur
of that section and build more.    Improvements
I e absolutely necessary, and now is the time for
a few enterprising  men to set to work  and go at
it.    We know of two owners ready to form part
of any combination that may be f jrmed lo begin
at once and build.    Tlieir efforts simple and alone
would be fruitless, as it requires several owners
to buill up one or two blocks, but they are willing
to co-operate with others so as at least to make a
beginning.    The necessity for the immediate con¬
struction of houses west of the Central Park was
forcibly broughc to our notice during the past
week by a gentleman now residing in Brooklyn,
and anxious to change his domicile to this city.
He does not wish to live in Harlem, but in the
vicinity of the Park.   Upon  enquiry of several
up-town agents, he found that there were no suit¬
able houses to rent in tho locality he had selected,
and hence made up his mind to remain in Brook¬
lyn for the pi'esent.     Enterprising owners will
lind it to their immediate pecuniary advantage to
build along the Eighth avenue, or the cross streets.
It is of no use to say that this or that street is not
in a condition for immediate improvement.    The
Department of Public Works is disposed to come
to the rescue of owners wherever and whenever
the proper application is made therefor, and the
Boardof Aldermen are in a mood just now to
stand by the Department.     Combined action is
all that is required on the part of a few owners to
start the ball.    The shanties of the disti-ict will be
removed by the fir^t of May,  but they might as
well remain if their removal is not to be followed
by immediate improvements.    Only a few weeks
intervene, and if anything is to be done at all in
the line of building after May 1st, now is the time
to make the necessary preliminary combinations
and preparations.





SECOND SOBER THOUGHT.

It is a matter of satisfaction to The Record
that several of the leading dailies, which for
weeks past raised the cry for five cent fares,
have during the past few days seen the hollow-
ness of that cry and embraced, the views so
elaborately set forth in these columns several
weeks ago. True, the change of base on the part
of the Heraid especially, was very much like that
of a skilful acrobat, sudden, sharp and decisive,
but in the field of common sense there is always
plenty of room for a repentant sinner.

All the arguments printed in The Record
have since been used with effect, not only in Al¬
bany, but elsewhere, and whateyer may be the





ultimate fate of the bill pending in the Senate one
thing i-i sure, there is very little chance that any¬
body will ride, for some time to come, from the
B.ittery to Harlem for five cents, except during
the commission hours.    Should the bill pass and
be signed by the Governor, we understand that
the elevated railway companies will at once ap¬
peal for protection to the Supreme Court of the
United States on constitutionat grounds, because
the new law would impair the obligation of the
solemn contract entered into between the State
and those holding the franchise, which is specially
forbidden by Federal law.    It is to be hoped,
however,  that Governor   Cornell,  even   if   the
foolish bill p.■^s> the Senate, will stand between
constitutional rights and popular clamor—if such
thei-e be—for in the Senate, at least, it cannot be
passed over his veto.    This would save litigation
and remove all barriers which now impede the
progressive construction of the roads on the upper
part of the island.    The people of the annexed
district will be virtually deprived of rapid transit
to the lower part of the city if the companies are
driven into expensive litigation.    Already there
is a partial suspension of work  on  the Second
avenue line abuve Sixty-fifth street, and with the
slow methods that characterize all our law courts,
there is no telling how long the citizens of the West
Side will be deprived of additional facilities and
termini for which they are clamoring, and which
the managers of the road are willing to give them,
if they are only let alone.    It is to the interest of
propertj^ owners on both sides of the Harlem that
the Manhattan Railway Company be permitted
to work along, as it has begun, exploring regions
of the city hitherto unoccupied, and -satisfying
hundreds and thousands of our citizens by fur¬
nishing them with a mode of quick transit, un¬
paralleled in the annals of travel, either in this
country or abroad.





would have to be proved to uphold the title, and
that the court might hold that an attorney had
no power to waive anything—that his duty was
to watch and to defend. In the case of Lyon vs.
Lyon, 67 N. Y. 250, the Court of Appeals held that
an attorney could not waive an irregularity after
judgment, and consent that the clients should be
bound by the decree. An extension of this rule
might.break up the practii^' of attorneys st.pula-
ting away the defence of their clients before judg¬
ment, and throw upon the party seeking to up¬
hold the rule, as in that case, the necessity of es¬
tablishing the attorney's authority. Secondly,
the process of constructive service of the summons
by publication has, beyond doubt, been taken as
against many defendants who were entitled to
personal service. The carelessness of attorneys
and their unwillingness to take trouble has no
doubt, in tnany cases, led thera too readily to
resort to the order of publication. In such cases
the party thus irregularly served is not bound by
the foreclosure, and still retains his interest in a
lien upon the property foreclosed. It may be
very difficult for a lawyer now examining a title
to ascertain the facts, but a great risk would be
run if a mistake of this sort were made.

These are two only of the many questions de¬
manding a critical investigation in the examina¬
tion of a judgment record in foreclosure.





CARELESS FORECLOSURES.

During the past seven years there have been a
great many foreclosures, and many lots are now
held and offered for sale by. parties who n ake
their title through such foreclosures. They are
therefore receiving a sharp scrutiny from the
lawyers, who are examining titles on the sales
now making. All the rules of law surround,
with thei protection, a purchaser who takes title
by deed from his vendor, but this is not so strong¬
ly the case with a title taken by hostile proceed¬
ings from the owner. Questions of regularity
are more carefully looked into, and if there is any
outstanding interest in a person who is not made
a party, or an infant or absentee is not brought
within lhe jurisdiction of the court, a serious
ques ion may arise.

Two classes of these questions ore now receiv¬
ing attenti n. First: whether the common prac¬
tice can be upheld, where an attorney appears
voluntarily for a defendant, and waives service
' of notice of the ordinary proceedings in the pro-
g^ess of the action. A client is bound by the acts
of his attorney in performance of his duty to pro¬
tect the client's right; but is ho bound by his
waivers and consents ? If a case should arise
where a defendant had suffered an injury and
the attorney was not responsible, it might be that
the authority of the attorney to appear for hina





MARKii:T  Rh^VlKW.

REAL ESTATE MARKET.
^f" For list of lots and lioascs for sale
see pages iv aud v of advertiseluentm.

Considerable property was offered at public sale
during the past week, but whetner it was the storm
that made itself felt on Tuesday, as well as on Thurs¬
day, the total result is that the transactions of the
week in the Exchange Salesroom were not of the
most cheerful kind. Of course, there are always ex
ceptions. and so there were during the week, but-
taking at this closing day a survey of the market
there appears to be somewhat of a pall hanging
over the energies of buyers, and a languor that aside
of the weather, betokens a desire on the part of
some.capitalists to wait for something new to turn
up. As to sales of speculative property at auction,
we merely record the fact that during Tuesday's
storm, Mr. Harnett withdrew from sale the twenty-
six lots on Lexington avenue, One Hundred and
Second and One Hundred and Third s reets, arter
having te.sted the views of bu3'ers, who were not
disposed to come up to the ideas of the owners of
property. They are now^held at private sale. Some
valuable business property, on Greenwich and Reade
streets was withdrawn on the same day by A. H.
Muller & Son. The same flrm sold, however, on
Thursday, by order of the executor. No. 39 West
Twenty-eighth street, for $23,000. The well-known
Mr. Plaiiiiiff was also around during the week, and
of course, secured sundry bargains, but the most
notable one was the sale of 236, 238 and 240 William
street corner of Duane, by A. J. Bleecker & Son
This property now rents for 82.700 per annum, and
was disposed of by order of the Executor for S23.200.
The sugar refinery block, on Water and Cherry
street, including machinery, also was sold by Mr.
Camp at a far lower figure than anticipated.. This
same auctioneer disposed of thirty-six acres of land
at McComb's Dam to Fordham, for $100,250, to Mr.
Thayer, representing it is said, the plaintiff. This sale,
however, it is rumored, is preliminary to tbe sale of an
adjoining strip of land, all of which we are told is now