September 19,1691





Record   and   Guide.





339







ISKO)'*^ fWKCH 51'-^ 1868.





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BasiriESS Atto Theme? of GeSeivI 1>t£i\est

PRICE, PER YEAR IIV ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.

Published every Saturday.
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Communications should be addi'ossed to

C. W. SWEET,  14 & 16 Vesey St.

J. 1. LINDSEY, Business Manager.





Vol. XLVIII





SEPTEMBER  19,  1891.





No. 1,227





Subscribers should see that they are supplied in this number
with a copy of the " Northern Railroad of New York Supplement."

THE EXHIBITION OF ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS.
One of the handsomest and most complete displays of architect¬
ural drawings vnll be opened next week in the exhibition halls of
The Record and Guide, at Nos. 14-16 Vesey street, to which all
who are interested in architecture are cordially invited. The exhi¬
bition is free. There are on view over two hundred perspectives of
the latest work done by all the leading architects of New York City.
So excellent an opportunity for any one io familiarize himself vrith
tlie best work of the day has not before been offered.





AT about the time when the gloomy-minded had confidently
predicted injury to the com crop by frost we are favored
with specially good weather for that cereal almost to the extent of
a supplemental summer. It may now be expected that the gloomy-
minded will in a few days be predicting injury to the corn crop
from want of frost. Meantime stocks are advancing so rapidly that
favorable opinions are hardly expressed before they are verified.
There has been a brisk movement all along the line now, and the
Grangers have entered on the second stage of the advance; this is
not quite so extensive as the flrst for the very good reason that the
first rise included a recoveiy from over-depression as
well as some discounting of the situation. Still it promises
to be substantial. Everyone knows, or should by this time
know, the immense influence a great crop has on the business of
the country, and, combined with an unusual demand for cereals from
abroad, that influence is correspondingly increased. Everyone
knows, too, that stocks have not yet discounted all the good there
is in the situation, nor will they for some tune to come. We must
of course, have reactions at some time or another, and the greater
the pace the more speedily we will come to the point where a
decline will be in order; but a reaction of any moment is no(,
as a rule, heralded by such jumps in prices as we
have seen for two or three days, but rather by hesi-
tatory and indecisive fluctuations. Hence no important decline
need be expected necessarily because of any increase iu values yet
seen. The tide is so strong in one direction that it would seem
that should any one attempt to stem it, let him be ever so powerful
individually, he would deserve only a pair of long ears for his pains.
The crowd for the time being is pushing one way and the indi¬
vidual does not count at all. Still the movement is rapid and can¬
not go on for ever and a week, hence we,may see a change, though
there is now no waiting for time, tide or the opinions of
newspapers.





"^rO small part of the strength of the present buying movement
-^^ in the stock market apparently comes from London, and
operators on this side are depending more or less on that centre for
support and assistance in the work of putting up prices. It has
been believed, and with reason, that since financial conditions are
insecure the world over, with the almost single exception of thib
country, English investors would turn their eyes in this direction
for the next few years, particularly since their holdings of Ameri¬
can securities are less now than ihey were a couple of years ago.
Inview of this expectation, it is interesting to note what the English
financial authorities have to say upon the prospects and standing of
American issues. The Economist certainly cannot be charged with
any prepossessions in favor of our railroads. Some of its recent criti¬
cisms have been not only severe, but un j ustly severe. Yet the Econo¬
mist recently, in an article on the wide fluctuations of our railroad
stocks, said : "The future, however, is of more interest than the
past, and what investors now seek to know is whether American rail¬
way shares are becoming more worthy to be regarded as investments,





or, in other words, whether they are likely now to eujoy greater
stability and prosperity. We are inclined to thitik they are, for
several reasons." These reasons are that tho most virulent com¬
petition is exhausted, that the State Legislatures are beginning to
be more fair to the transportation interests, and tbat the local
trafiic is being'more consistently and successfully developed, and in
closing it recommends particularly the purchase of bonds. This
is an interesting indication of the trend of English opinion; and vt e
shall doubtless see in the future substantial effects from the
increased confidence.





THE exasperating delays to which the local passengers of the
Vanderbilt lines have been subject throughout this summer
has, at all events, had the good effect of directing public attention
to the matter; and so fast and free have been the criticisms
showered on the management, that it is doubtless getting ready to
mend matters so far as it can. Indeed, Vice-Presidenc Webb has
said to a reporter "that elaborate and carefully prepared plans were
under consideration for the relief of the congested suburban traf¬
fic," including a four-track bridge over the Harlem with entirely
new approaches. Such an improvement would doubtless help to
prevent much of the delay which now takes place in
the uncomfortable tunnel and elsewhere; but quite
obviously it would by no means meet adequately the needs of the
present traffic, much less that of the future. The fact is, to use the
emphatic but by no means exaggerated words of the Evening Post,
" that everybody who lives above the Harlem River and has occa¬
sion to travel by the New York Central, the Harlem or the New
York & New Haven Railroads is aware that the ' terminal facility,'
known as the ' Grand Central Station,' has completely broken down
and that the epithet ' Grand' applied to it has become more or less
ridiculous. Not only is it inferior to the great stations of the lead¬
ing capitals of the world but it is equalled by those of many second-
rate provincial lines." And it follows from this inadequacy that
these corporations must do something more than build a bridge over
the Harlem if they wish to make their service at all adequate to
their traffic. What this crying insufficiency is may be gathered
from the fact that after each has discharged its passengers it has to
go back six miles on the main line, to be broken up and made up
over again, and Las to be brought back six miles to resume its
place in the time table. No wonder the New Haven Road is tryiog
to find a southern outlet by means of the 2d avenue elevated tracks.
It has been evident for some time that the Central officials do not
intend any further enlargement of their present station. With any
such intention in view they would never have permitted the erec¬
tion of the large storage warehouse lately put up between Park and
Lexington avenues, 43d and 44th streets, on land formerly occupied
by the company. It would be too expensive. Everything points to
a shifting of the principal terminus north of the Harlem. After this
is done, however, the difficulty of distributing the passengers
throughout the lower half of the oity punctually and effectually
will remain; and in order to compass this end, we do not see
what better means the corporations coidd adopt than the controlling
of the second route laid out by the Rapid Transit Commissioners.
Such a connection would seem to be e,3sential to the proper working
of their system. There are several minor ways, however, in which
the service can be improved immediately. One is the uniform
utilization of clean and neat cars; another is to follow the example
of the New York & Northern and to burn only hard coal. It is
peculiarly unfortunate for Westchester County and the 23d and
24th Wards that they are served by corporations that are very
liable to neglect their manifest duties to their patrons.





THERE have been some rejoicings in the Mugwump camp over
what is known as the downfall of Hill. According to Sara¬
toga dispatches during the past week, the Democratic convention
passed completely beyond the Senator-Governor's control. He was
opposed to the nomination of Flower, but could not prevent it; he
vsfas opposed to the nomination of Sheehan, but Chairman Murphy
forced it on him ; he was in favor of straddling the silver question,
but the Croker and others insisted on the adoption of a flat-footed
declaration in favor of " honest" money, so-called. In all the
matters, other interests dictated the action of the convention; and
as the New York machine is his only support, it has been loudly
stated that the end of Hill as a political power has come. It
may be so; but every presumption, every argument
from the man's past career, every circumstance of the
ostensible defeat argues a very different conclusion. It will
be admitted, we suppose, that very possibly the correspondents
may have been deceived by a lot of carefully-prepared lies and
incidents, that a little comedy may have been staged for the pur¬
pose of turning the campaign in another direction from that which
it was taking and of eliminating Hillism as an issue. Obviously it is
to the Governor's interest that the virulent attacks to which he has
been subjected should be discontinued ; his candidacy at the Demo¬
cratic National Convention would be materially strengthened
theieby,  aud the   only  way   in   which  this  could be   done