Septeiiiber 4, 1897.





Record and Guíde





319





VÍESí^^











V





Dn&TEB p FfA). ESTAJE-BuiLDIffc A^rTECmJREXtRJSaíOlDDEOtHJTIOlt

PBICE     PER   VEAR    IN   APVAHCEj^lX   POLtARS.

F-ftĩilÍsheã cvery Saturday.                           .VilMífl

Tt-|.a{'(ÍOSF,               .       .        .        -               CaETLiKRT   1370.

Cowmunleailona shouia be addressed to

C. W. SWEBT, 14^16 Veaey Street.

J. 'I. LINDSEY, Uiiainm Mamiger,

•'Bnlered al llie l'osí-Ojnre at iVew York. X. 1'.. as second-ctass i.ialler."





VOL. LX





SEPTEMliER ■i, 1897.





iisetl iii tlie settlemeut oí aecouuts ia ludia. Tbe gOTerûment
feariiig tbat they will not have tbe funds with wblcb to meet
tbeir hiils, autl doubtless ulso fearing that their embaLTassuient
would deøreelate them if foreed on the market, have susponãed
tbeir nale Eor teii weelis. lu the meantime, tlie goveriiment
inust liud other ways of meetiug their ohligations abroad, if auy
nmture in tbis iuterval, and tbe banlîer and mercbant will have
to reuiit iu the ordiuary way by blU of exchange. Tbe last fact
inay Iiave a tendeney to raise the value of the rupee atiove tbe
arhitrary par flxed at the closing of the mints, and so put India
for as long as this eondition iasts. whieb, in the natural ordei'
of thiiigs, cannot be very loug, on a gold bãsis. However, the
niost important and at the same tlme uufortunate featnre about
tlie suspensiou of tbe oEferings of Indiau Oouucil Bills is in the
intiniatiou that it gives that the usual results of national dis-
aster aud tribulation are about to malĩe tbemselves appareut
iu ludlau fluance aud commeree-





No. 1,5;í8





GIVEN tbe f!K-l lliat we are to have a continued advaueiug
st.ĸ-lí inarlíel, it i:^ u good tbing to see Northwest,New Yorlí
Ccntriil aud otlior itivcstment issues eoniiug to tbe froiit, and
tlie liurely spc-ulatiVL. ones roÍL-gated to tbe ■baeligrfnind. Wîth
the exeeptioii of 'the L'Xbibiiiou of tliis luippy prefereuee Ihere
luis beeu uo abatemeiit of speculative feeliug, aud llic expecta-
tions of tlie iJiiblie for tbe future of railroad and iudustvial
sliares cnilv grow as priees advance. We hope tbat all tbese
Ijright iind' glorioiis beliefs niiiy becomi' fact in due time. but
haviug ou a good many previous occasions seen tbe l)uyiug pub-
lie just iis sanguine as tliey ave now, aud uever haviug yet seeii
the fulfilmeut of tlieir predictions, wo are sceplical now. Tbe
mistakc tliat seems to be beiug made is iu the ĩdea that we
liave .iust turued tíie covuer, aud that iudustrial aiid commer-
cial activity has ouly just begim. As a matter of fact the
eorner was tuvned ovcr tlirec years ago. but it bas talíen tlie
interval to so accuiuulate good featm-es tbat tlic pite is big
enough for the public to see it. aud, it luay be remavlĩed, tlie
vecovery fvoiu depvession is pretty pvonouueed wben tbis is the
case. Ãs we stated at the begiuuiug of tbis public buyiug
moveiueut, ĩliere is uo telliug bow bigb priees will go when the
outsider eonu's iu, Ihe advauee being ouly limited by tbe credit
tbe banlîev is wilĩing to give; but assuredly the meu wbo regu-
late tlioir operatious by cousiaevaílons of values aiid who
bought iu tbe depresson have veaĩixod. AVbat is left for the
publie in tbis easc m;iy be easiĩy iiuagined- It is eveu hinted
pretty strongly tbat the liigh prices ave 'bviuging iu,vestmeut
shares on the mavlíet, the ownevs being siitisfled that they wiU
be abltí to bny them baclĩ agaiu with advautage. Cbeap juoney
wiU of course líeep divideud aud iuterest payers stroug aud iii
favor, withiu certain limits, as lotig as it lasts; aud, fov tbe
vest, ílierc is the buoyauey of public feeliug aud a desive on the
piU't of tlie brokers aud llic bauks to avail tbeiuselves to the
tull of an oppovtunity to do big business, such as they have not
seen fov a loug tinie.





RAPID TRANSIT fov New Yoviĩ City has met with obsta-
cles iu so many direetious, that a set-back move or less
ought not to be suvpvisiug; but it is surprising, consideriug the
unanimity with whieh tbe public ĩs demauding a solution of the
tvausit pvoblem, tbat oue of these set-backs sbould come from
a municipai depavtment. The Pavk Board doubtless did wbat
it thougbt to be its duty iu refusing to appvove the pĩaus for
the South Fevvy extension ot; Ihe pvoposed vapid tvausit rail-
road, but its members seein to have been aeting on sueb puvely
seutimeutal grouuds that their action eaunot command tbe ap-
proval of our citizeus. If it could be iucoutestably proved tbat
íhe coustructiou of tiiis extensiou would kiU soiue of tbe treea
i(i Battevy Park, whieh is by uo meaus the casc, their vejeetiou
of the plaii wouid stiU be eoudemned. Thcve cannot be a
doubt what the prefeveuce would be if the publie weve offered
the loss of a few trees ov four moutbs' delay of thĩs impovtaut
work, espeeially seeing tbat the worlî is stiU iu the preliminai-y
stages. Rapid tvauait bas bad to fight sentiment for years, aud
appareutly it is stili seutimeut, aud tbat only, tbat has cveated
the latest danger of new deĩays. The Pariî Board is eom-
posed of able aud publie spirited meu, who must have become
by reason of their experience aud intevests fully alive to tbe
uecessity for rapid tvausit, and it is to be boped that they wiU
be induced to reeonsider tlieir deeision. It is havdly liktíly tbat
men of tbeir calibre cau take so nan-ow a view of their duties
as Pavk Gommissiouevs tliat a pvoblematieal risk to a few
trees and shrubs wiU cause tbem to delay tiie prospects of au
împrovement that is so iutensely and geuevaUy desived as the
vapid transit vailroad.





CURIDSITY is vife as to wliat nijiy underlie tiie suspension
of sales of ludian Couucil biils, tbough tbo uiatter is a
vevy simple oue. and ongbt uot to avouse suspieiou of lateut
maievolent iuteutions on the part of the rulers of Indla. Cuv-
rent coinmeut on tbis matter recalls tbe extvaordinai-y tbeories
that weve put put to account fov tlie elosing of tlie ludiaii mints
In 1893, also a luove of transpareut reason. The ludian miuts
were closed to prevent the fall in the vaUie of tl|e rupee, wbicb
would othevwise have beeu a cousequence of the vepeal of tlie
purebnsing clauso oE the Sheriuan silver act, tlien Qiiite appav-
eutly bievitablo. The Indian financinl officevs thought aleo that
the closlng of tbe mlnts migbt cveate a seavcity of vupees, aud
to pverent that scareity fvom i-eacbiug alavralug pvopovtious at
nuy time, they undevtook to issue tbem for gold at an equiva-
lcnt of 32 ceuts pev vupee or Ijetween 2 or 3 eeuts aDove theiv
tlien ciuoted vaUie. They thought, too, tliat in tbis way the In-
dian govevumeiit uilgUt accumulato a gold resevve, becaiîse it
undertûoli to sell vupees for gold, not to redeem thein iu gold.
The Indlau mlut has uow been closed aomethiiig ovev four
yeara, dui'lng whicU tinie the value of tUe rupee bas been sus-
talued and even advaneed a llttle. tUe quotation belug abont %
of a pemiy UlgUer uow tUau in 1893, but the demand has uever
HBut tUeni up to the polnt wUere the govevnment would have
liad au opportunity of supplyiug them for gokl. The suspen-
(jion of sales of council biUs indicates an embarvassed eonditiou
of the ĩudiau treasury, and it is somewhat surpvising, cousid-
evlug tlie tribulations iaid npon tlio countvy tliat this has uofc
beeu appavent líarUer. Witli cvop failuve suffleient to cveate
famiue aiul ijlague, II is not suvpvisiug îhat the national rev-
enue deeliin's. ('nnncil ImUs ave sold In London to raise fuuds
witli whirh tu nu'et tlic obligaiious of tlie Indiau govevumeut
Ihere, aud they ave bouglit by bíiiikovs find mcrebants to be





THE   TOMBS   FOUNDATION.

When bids were maâe on tĩie sub-contraot for preparing the
ground to receive the foundatÍDn of the new prísou to be erected
on the site oE the old Tombs buUding, on Centre street, between
Leonard and Fra.nkUn, the bidders probably reckonea on having
to puU out oE the swampy soil many hundreds of piĩes. which
would have required much Ia.bor and the assistance of heavy
machinery. At any mte, popular desci-iptions of the historic o!d
landmark assert that the structure was built on piles, and it has
for years been common talk among those who were thought to be
informed that the cracking oE the walls oE the huilding was due
to the gradual rotting or sinking oE the suppositioual piles. The
contract went to Joseph W. Cody. of No. 53S West lllth street,
When the foundatlon was reached by him, he discovered that the
heavy stone structuve rested, not on pilen, hut on a double flooring
of band-hewn whlte pine timbers, 14x11 and llsl6 incheB, iaid
croaswise uuder the entire bullding. It was fvirther founã that
Iheaetlmbera.whichhaveremained in thegroundsome siĸty years.
were iii a atate of perfect preaervatlon—a clrcurastance that bas
attracted the attentlon of expevts in the bullding trade. The ex-
cellent condition of the timbers is explainahle on the ground that
they were submerged in water and protected from the destructive
effeets of atmospheric actlon. Water on the slte in íiuestion seeks
Its level 9 feet below the curb, whiie the Umbers lay at a depth
of 14 feet. Thc'ir sonndueas after sixty years of aervice may be
taken to indlcate one condition under whlch modern pile fQunâa-
tions wlll remain practlcally Indestructible.

In thls connectlon it may not be wlthout interest to recflll some
hĩstovicai facts relatlng to the slte oE the old TOmba, and to the
origln of the name û£ that faanous prison. The region bounded by
Elm Eaxter Pear! and White stveeta was orlginaiiy occupied by
a lake called by the Dutch Kalchhook, or Sheĩl Point, from a de-
nosit 'oE decomposed shelis on its western shore- This name
was abbreviated to Kaich, Caltech, CoIIeck, or Colleet; under the
English the water became popularly known as CoIIect Pond. The
lake attained a depth oE fiEty Eeet, and had a navigable outlet
Into the Norlh River. As the population of the city began to
break the barrier oE Wall street, projects were formed for obllt-
eratin- the pond, but It wag not until 180S that the work was
jrdert"aken under circumstances that have a famiĩiar and modern
aspect The Bmbargo Act had destroyed Amerícan shippmg, and
the discharged aailors held a mass meeting which domanded puh-