Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXVI.





NEW YOEK, SATUEDAT, NOVEMBEK 27, 1880.





No. 663





Published Weekly by

TERMS.
ONK Y£AK. in advance....SIO.OO.

Communications shoidd be addressed to

C.   W.   SAVEKT,
No. 137 Broadway





The purchase of several parcels of real
estate by leading capitalists during the past
week, reflects the opinion, now steadily grow¬
ing among investors, that vacant lots or im¬
proved property, in and around Manhattan
Island, yield better and more permanent
returns than ordinary securities. Real estate
is, indeed, just now, the very best purchase
in om' markets, as, notwithstanding the con¬
siderable increase df activity, there has as
yet been no corresponding increase in values,
with every prospect of higher rates after the
New Year has been turned. When gentle¬
men like Mr. Fish, the President of the
Marine! Bank, Congressman Hewitt, Mr.
Munoz, the shipping merchant, and Mr.
Iselin, the banker, put their surplus fund in
real estate, all within a few days of one
another, we may indeed look forward with
confidence to the infusion of still more new
blood in the market. Again, every builder,
who sells a block of houses, such as, for
instance, Mr. Hewitt has purchased, of
course is at once looking around for new lots
of ground, as he cannot afford to sit idle, and
between the slight resumption of speculation
already noticeable, and the actual demand for
lots requu'ed for immediate improvement, the
continued activity must ere long be accom¬
panied by higher prices.





THE USE OF THE PARKS BY THE

WORLD'S FAIR.

It appears by the following section of our

State Constitution,  that the city of   New

York is prohibited from  giving away  its

property for the use of a private corporation,

and that the Park Commissioners will base

their opposition to the use of Central Park

by the World's Fair upon this section :

Art. viii. Section.H. No county, city, town or
village shall hereafter give any money or prop¬
erty, or loan its money or credit to or in aid of
any individual, association or corporation, or be¬
come, directly or indirectly, the owner of stock in
or bonds of any association or corporation, nor
shall any such county, city, town or village be al¬
lowed to incur any indebtedness, except for
county, city, town or village purposes. Tnis sec¬
tion shall not prevent such county, city, town or
village froni making such provision for the aid or
support of its poor, as may be authorized by law.

And, yet, it is claimed that the Museum of
Natural History and the Museum of Arts,
both belonging to private corporations, are





actually located in the Park by and with the
consent of the department. It appears, how¬
ever, that everything turns upon the word
'give" in above section, and that the commis¬
sioners may " loan " the use of the ground
for the purpose intended. In how far the
seeming difficulty may be overcome, it is ap-
I)arent that the use of the lower end of the
Park will certainly not be granted. A small
portion of the north end of the Park above
the reservoir may possibly be ceded temper,
arily, but, then, the fair grounds may have
to spread over Morningside Park, and the hill
that stretches from One Hundred and Tenth
to One Hundred and Twenty-second street.
That such a movement is contemplated by
some of the commissioners is apparent by the
anxious study they have made of the plans
for Morningside Park, recently prepared by
I. Wrey Mould, and the further fact that
all the authentic maps of that section have,
during the past few days, been removed to
the headquarters of the International Com¬
mission ,in Broadway.





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC.
We have repeatedly pointed out the ten¬
dency to vast riailway combinations wliich
might perhaps sometime include the entire
railway system of the country. The latest
and most startling of these combinations is
the syndicate which has been formed for
completing the Northern Pacific road with¬
in three years. Drexel, Morgan & Co.,
August Belmont & Co., Winslow, Lanier
& Co., Seligman & Co., and Morton,
Rose & Co., of London, have agreed
to form a syndicate and furnish $40,000,000
for the completion of the Northern Pacific
road in three years time. So much has been
told by the newspapers—^but this does not
tell the whole story. From private sources
we learn that the new combination wiU in¬
clude the Oregon Navigation Co., the North¬
ern Paciflc and the St. Paul & Milwaukee.
Mr. Mitchell, of the St. Paul company, is to
take a seat in the combined board. Among
the gentlemen largely interested is Mr. George
Pullman, D. O. MiUs, Henry Villard and the
other large operators, weU known in con¬
nection with the St. Pauls and the Oregon
Navigation Co. Of the $40,000,000 loan,
more than half wiU be placed abroad though
the subscriptions will be made in New York
City. Immense quantities of iron have
already been contracted for, much of which
will go around Cape Horn. The grade of the
Northern Pacific is completed to the YeUow
Stone, and the rails are laid to within thirty
miles of the great National Park. Next
summer, it is supposed, that a large business
will be done in conveying parties to that
most extraordinary of aU the regions of the
world.   By next spring we shaU have two





Unes to the Paciflc ; for, by January, it is an¬
nounced that the Santa Fe road wiU effect a
junction with the Southern road coming to
meet it from New Mexico ; and in three
years time we shaU have three weU equijjped
trans-continental Unes. It is almost safe to
predict that, by the year 1884, every raUroad
in the country wiU be a part of three, or at
most four, great combinations of roads. The
three Unes from the Paciflc to the Atlantic
being the great stems or trunks, to which aU
the other roads wUl be tributary. How in¬
credible aU this would seem  twenty-five

years ago.

««>

HINTS, POINTS AND FORECASTS.

The impression is prevalent in the street
that the late "boom" in the, market was
not originated by Jay Gould. Indeed, it is
believed that he was unprepared for the
advance in prices. His own stocks were
steadUy sold down upon every advance.

The real authors of the boom are said to
be D. O. Mills in conjunction with Boston
and the CentralfPacific people of San Fan-
cisco. In other words it is aUeged that dur¬
ing last summer certain EngUsh capitaUsts
had put up large sums of money for building
raih'oads in this country, in connection with
the new line to the Pacific, and tributaries
thereto. This transfer of capital from
Europe to the United States for the purpose
of buUding raUway property, occurring
simultaneously with the demand for Ameri¬
can securities is the real cause of the drain
of gold to this side, as weU as the sharp
advance in high priced raUway stocks. Jay
Gould was not a party to these negotiations
and was not prepared for the great advance
in Central, Alton, BurUngton and the other
high priced stocks.

It is predicted that Delaware & Hudson
wiU be selling at par within sixty days.
The road is said to have a surplus of $3,000,-
000, has no floating debt and is doing an
enormous business.

The point has also been given during the
past week to buy Canada Southern for $90.

Lake Shore $130 and Michigan Central
$135, are the figures.

Omaha preferred, it is said, wiU go to $95.

Erie is on the cards for $55,

A very prominent New York Central Rail¬
road official says, there wUl be no scrip div¬
idend on Central, no doubUng of the stock
and no increase of dividends. He says aU
the surplus money wUI be used in making
improvements and providing terminal facUi¬
ties in the city of New York, and it is nota¬
ble that every advance of the stock brings
out a great deal of " long " stock.

Marietta & Cincinnati, first preferred, is
said to be good for 30, but we don't advise
any one to buy it.