June 27, 189G





Record  and  Guide.





1097









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. Dieted pRfJkLEsTAiE.BuiLDiffc Ap.ci<rrE(rTui\E.KousE«oiDDEQaF5\Tic»IL'
Busii/ess Alto Themes op GEjfci^l Ij^tei^esi.^

PRICf,   PER   YEAR,   IN   ADVANCF,   SIX   DOLLARS.

Published  ererg  Sninrdng.
Telephone,       ._--..      Cortlandt 1370
Communications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 14-10 Vesey Street.
J. T. LINDSEY, Bnsiness Manager.

" Entered at the Post-offlce at New York, N. Y., as second-class matter."





Vol, LVII.





JUNE 27, 189G.





No. 1,47G





The Rkcord and Gviim will furnish you with daily defailed reports
of all building operations, conipiled to suit VOIJK business spec'ifically,,f'o)
14 cents a day. You are thus kept informed of the entire market for your
goods. No guesswork. Every .fuel verified. Abundant capital and the
thirty years' exgerience of TDK Kkcori) and Guidi.; ffiifflraHfce the com-
plelenrss nnd authenticity of th'is service. Send to 14 and 16 Vesey street
for information.

EVERY recent effort to lift prices on the stock market has
been met by li(|iiidatioii, and as a conseqncnce has had to
bo ab.andoned. This not only di.sconrages bulls at home, but
keeps foreigners ont of the market. No one will buy in face of
such a direct intimation that prices will be lower. The more
prominent, though not necessarily the most important events of
the week have had a depressing tendency, especially the closing
of the testile mills which, if anything, ought to be toned u]! by
the nomination of a man of William McKinl(»j''s political prin¬
ciples. There is little or no attempt on tho part of men Avhose
word is of weight to impart encouragement; ou the conti-.try,
they prefer to picture the future, nnder the contingency of
the triumph of silver of course, m the gloomiest colors imagin¬
able. For instance, take the published remarks of President
Ripley, of Atchison, as a sample, aud it is no longer a matter of
surprise that the rank and tile in trade and comnierce refuse to
take any step toAvards discounting the fiitine from tlie brighter
side. Tlie silver men seem to be having their day .and making the
most of it, but it is very diflicul t inileed to conceive that the views
held by the blatherskite from South Carolin,! Avho addressed a
meeting at the Cooper Institute two evenings ago, can convince
the thinking portion of the Avorking classes of this country.
The uproar the silyer party is making is ouly showing the gold
party the size of tlie task it has to perform, and while business
drags and meu are inclined to despondency there is an under¬
current of faith in the future which canuot fail to assert itself
for good before long.





NEWSPAPERS, inimical to Turkish rule, are again seeing
danger to Europe's peace in the policy of the Sultan, but
as Europe—meaning the statesmen who control her destinies—
has as good as declaied that no matter Avhat is doue within the
Turkish dominions peace shall not be disturbed, the danger is a
remote one. It may become acute if a few more atrocities create
]iopnlar excitement, but it will liaA'e to be a, very decided moA'c-
ment that comuels the governments to act. Tho only charit.ible
conclusion to form from the official admissions of tho horrible
state of affairs within the Sultan's dc minions, brought about
directly by his acts, and the declared jiolicy of inaction, is that
the Powers tliink it better to wait until murder, torture, rapine
and pillage .instify their ending the rule of the Turk forever by
partitiou of his doniinions. But, as eA'eryone knows, it will bo
iu this A'evy mattev of partition tliat the danger to Europe's
peace Avill arise. Still, partition becomes each day more aud
more inevitable; tho Turk is irreclaimable, .and it is only a
question of hoAV niucli of his loathsome barbarity Europe will
endure befoie feeling compelled to act. The federation of
Great Brit.ain and her colonics is received with a gieat deal of
scorn by those A'-ho caunot see beyond present conditions and
means. This question has been raksed seriously, and while
the Federalists do not e.xpect to liud a radical so¬
lution for it for a good many years to come, all
their suggestions being tentative in character, they, by
keeping up organization and a.uitation, are iu a position to take
advantage of the changes which time must bring about. Mean¬
time, they have, of course, to endure much ridicule. Loudon
continues commercially aud tinancially actiA'e. New enterprkses
are beiug continually brought ont, and it is said the princip.al
Barnato interests are to be consolidated into ono gigantic con¬
cern. The old-time British private banks are doomed to ex¬
tinction, owing to their inability to keep up with the times.
Thirteen of them have recently beeu formed into one limited
liability concern with a c.ipital ot .$30,000,000. These banks
had an authorized note issue of about $3,000,000.   Tho right





to make this issue ia lost by consolidation, by Ayhich fact llie.
issue power of tlie Bank of En.uland is increased to the extent
of two-thirds of the lapsed is.sue. Tlie Ioav r.ates for money arc
telling upon the reconstructed Australian banks, Ayhich wen
rehabilitated by the issue of preference shares calling for rates
of interest wb;ch seemed at the time moderate, but which
unforeseen events have made it hard to meet. The Frencli
government has been defeated in au attempt to put an import
duty of $2.50 per tou on lead ore. The German bourses are
suffering from recent legislation against dealing in futures aud
some houses are openiug connections in other countries in the
hope of counteracting the effects of the neAV laws. The trade,
throughout the Empire continues to be satisfactory; manu¬
facturers .are .already beginning to ligurc nn the probability of
new taritts in this country. The J,a]iauese have already bu' c
ninety miles of light railway iu Formosa. Surveys are bein •<
made for a line between the two chief towns, Takow and
Anping, and many good roads h.ave been made.





HEATING contractors are complaining bitterly of thestncf
interpretation that is given to the guarautee clause in
their contracts, .and the trade .journals are taking the ((ueslioii
up in a Avay that ought to secuie for it proiier discus.-iion.
From the cases quoted the coutractors seem to luiA'e good cause
for complaint, though being isolated they do not prove the
general practice. In one of these cases a contr,actor, who liad
put a heating plant into a Western school, w.as told ou applyiim
for paymeut that the work would not be finally accepted until il
had stood the test of the winter. When a man does a Joli oi
this kind iu the spring or summer, or even in the fall, it is
hard for him to wait until the followiug winter is over beton'
he can get a tinal .settlement ou his contract. Still, on tho
theory th.at the proof of the pudding is iu the eating, the con¬
tractor for heating supplies must expect that they will be sub¬
jected to a practical test. The best test is, of course, their
manner of Avorkiug iu the very season they arc most iutended
to meet. They are not like a piece of m.asonry or caipentty
that can be pioved by an examination of the materials put into
a .job and a measurement of its extent; but Ayhile such com-
]iarisons are beiug made the contractor may .ask, with .iusticc,
why his should be the ouly work in a buildiug submitted to the
severest test possible, or, for instance, Avhy the plumber's iiipes
sliould not also be tested nuder frost or uuder the greatest
pressure they are required to bear in practical use. It can bn
easily understood that it is a handicap on a man's ability to do
business if the capital employed in every job he undertakes is
tied up for three or four or more mouths awaiting the coming
of severe weather in order to prove the work, and ti> ambitious
enterprising meu this must be a source of irritation aud annoy¬
ance. Where the contractor is a man of standing iu the trade
.and of good credit, .something less than this should be asked of
him. We do not suppo.se th.at tho heating contractor will ask
that the guarantee clause shall be omitted from the contract
altogether. If he is willing to meet the situation fairly he will.
prob.ably, flnd the architects .and owners, notwithstanding tliat
they have been called his "common foes,' ready to give proper
consideration to any reasonable suggestion*. There are other
ways of insuring the jiroper execution of a coutract, besides
holding back payments nutil tho success of the work is jirovrd
beyond peradventure. The best aud most satisfactory pi obablA
is to only employ firms Avho h.ave a reputation to uiaintaiu au'l
can no more afford to put in a bad job than the OAVuer can attord
to have a bad job put iu. There is also the recourse to sureties
who Avould be liable iu au action for damages if the work
jiroved to be othei wise than what was called for by the con¬
tract.   But tho first ot these suggestions is by far the best.





CORLEARS HOOK PARK, formally opened this week,
proves rather than satislies the need for opeu spaces in the
croAvded downtown East Side districts. The appreciation ofthis
resort by the crowded population of tho immediate vicinity is
prompt .and hearty. It is alive with young and old people at
almost all hours of the day, as would also be the ^Mnllierry Bend
Park it it Avere ready. For this reason Comptroller Fitch's
letter to the Park Board urging a more .speedy completion ol
the last-n.amed park receives general apiuoval, although a little
thought will .show that it is not the pieseut board that is to
blame. They have been in office less than a year, including the
long winter season iu Avhich little or nothiii,g could bi^ done.
Mulberry Bend's preseut nusightliuess is oue of the results of
the do-nothing policy of their predecessors, which ended in
their resignation under severe press criticism, and the
appointment of a new bo.ard with Colonel Cruger as
president. The Park Board as now constituted is doing its best
to give tlie public the benelit of the open spac(!s tlmt h.ave been
secured, IE they deserve adviusc criticism at all, it is because,
iu tho instances of these small parks especially, they are de¬
voting too much space to their horticultural and too little to