September i6, 1899.





RECORD AND   GUIDE.





DEVÔttQ P FlEfvL ESTAJE.BuiLDIf/o AflGKlTECTUR.E,KoUS£HOLD DECOEÎATlOrr.

,B^Jsl^/E;ss Aifo Thèmes of Gt^Eil&L iNtERfs-i,

PRICE    PER    YEAR    IN    ADVANCE    SIX    DOLLARS.

l'ubtished every Eatnràay,
TELEPHONE,                                                    Cortlandt 1370.

<!0KQOiu3ications sliould be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street,

J. 1. LWDBBX, Business Manager.

" Entered at the l-'ost-OSice at New York, N. T., as second-elass malîer."





397.1!





T'o!. LXIV.





SEPTEMBER 16, 1899.





No. 1644





THE gênerai business situation, which continues to be quite
good, must not he judged by what is occurring in Wall
atreet just now. A variety of spécial causes are at work to lower
quotations, the most potent of which is the over-speculation
"Which put non-dividentl issues and issues that can see no show of
dividends into investment figures. This spéculation was for a
long time propped up by the confidence of the public in the out¬
look and Iow rates for money. Now that under commercial and
industrial demands money has advanced, and rates are likely to
remain high fer some time, thèse weaklings will invite bear
opérations until their quotations are more consistent with their
intrinsic merits. This, coupled with its sympathy with foreign
juarkets, gives our market an unsetlled appearance. Tt is notice¬
able, however, that good things hold their own, owing to a satis¬
factory condition of things generally away frcm the centres of
stock spéculation.





ALTERNATING hopes of peace and fears cf war in South
Afriea keep the European eschanges in an uncertain tem¬
per, and the comparatively h'igh rates for money, coupled with
the probability cf still higher ones this fall, discourage spécula¬
tion. Financial France appears to be satisfied with the impres¬
sion created by the Dreyfus verdict, notwithstanding widespread
and openly-expressed foreign disgust and indignation, judging
from the fact that since it was rendered government bonds bave
advanced. The question for the moment is in danger of resolving
itself into one of the personal liberty of the convict, while the
more Important one of universal justice and truth is heing lost
sight of. The first can, doubtless, be disposed of by the exercise
of the pardonîng power of the Chief of the State, but the second
will surely recur until it has found adjustment in the punishment
of the oppresEors and perjurers, or cf the people who sustain and
abet them. The évidences of trade activity in Great Britain are
many, but the chief may thus be summarized: Increase in for-
■eign trade, for seven months, 1.7% in imports, 12.9% in exports
and 4.6% in re-exports; increase in freight on railways, S% for
first half of year; increase of 600,000 tons cf tonnage engaged in
coasting trade; increase of 14% in clearings of London banks and
large increases of those of pBovincial banks; the favorable re¬
ports of the Board of Trade cîi' emplcyment, both in regard to
the numbers employed and the average wages paid and in a
steady growth of government revenue. Thèse things bave been
accompanied by advanees in the prices of staples, particularly iri
metals, wool and cotton. It îs stated, also, that while the tren-d
of prices o£ materials has naturaily told upon tlie cost of manu¬
factured articles, it has not absorbed any considérable araount
of the increased wages which bave been paid to the unusually
large number of workpeople who are now finding regular em¬
ployment. The Russian officiai trade returns of 1898, just pub¬
lished, disclose a considérable advance in manufactures, and that
Prench, Belgian and German capital is exploiting thiS' field very
profltably. Notwitlistanding crop failures, the exports of grain
-were larger in 1S98 than in 1S97, owing chiefly, however, to the
good prices obtainable. Regarding the improvement on the Paris
liourse, it ought to be mentioned that the décision of the govern¬
ment not to call l'arliament together before the regular time for
their meeting bas a good deal to do with it. German capitalists
are reviving their uneasiness over the downward movement of
■quotations for government loans. The government is blamed for
forcing récent conversions on tlie moneyed public, but the main
cause of themomcnLarydiscreditcf lowinterest-bearinggilt-edged
issues îs the abnormal industrial development oc a people of lim¬
ited capital, or as Herr von Miguel put it, the want of a larger
învestment class, as in Britain. The balance sheet of the Crédit
Anstalt, whosô shares eonstitute the standard security of the
■yienna bourse, and which hâve advanced materially recently,





has been issued, and shows tbe largest receipts for a half year
since 1881, Encouraged by the improvement ln business the bank
has decided to increase its capital from 40 to 50 millions of florins.
Japan has promulgated a new patent iaw, to th© benefits of which
foreigners are admitted, cn the conditions that when not domi-
ciled in the Japanese Empire the applicant must appoint a dulj
credited ag:ent within six montbs. The value of the Australian!
gold production for the year is expected to reach $80,000,000, as
compared witb $66.000.000 last year, $55,000,000 in 1897 and $45,-
000,000 in 1896. Argentina's foreign trade reporta for the first
haîf of the year show not onJy increase as compared with the
corresponding haîf of last year, but a favorable export excesa
of $21,500,000. The eurrency conversion scheme recently intro--
duced into Parliament excites ridicule out of doors, because of
the alleged impossibility of obtaining the necessary supply oC
gold to make it effective. In spite of the good trade, the monie-
tary outlook is unsatisfactory and excites some anxiety.





ILLICIT    INTERVIEWS—NO. I,

SOME CASUAL REMARKS OVERHBARD, REGARDING THE NEW/
BUILDING CODE.
By prying open a door, acaling a flre-escape. crossing three roofa,
and sullering greatly in  eye  and  ear owing to a drafty  and  incon¬
vénient  key-iiole,   our Gentiemanly  Reporter  is able to give   to  our
readers the following authentic aad abaoltitely "exclusive" interview:-
Citizen (putting aside his newspaper)—Dear me, this is out-^
rageous!   What are we coming to?

Old Builder—Bigger headiines, if you're referring to anything;
in the paper.

Citizen—Ko, no. Hère, read that article on the new Building
Code.

Old Builder—Don't need to. The modem press is strictly a
labor-saving device. Any man over thirty-five knows pretty well
what any particular newspaper will say about any particular
subject. By that time ycu've caught the journalistie "point ot
View" and "method" and understand it—or ought to. It's a men¬
tal trouble.

Citizen—I should think ycu'd take the matter seriously. This-
building code may put you ouL of business.

Old Builder^Pshaw!    l've worked under bui'-ding laws for »

quarter of a century.                                                                 .       '■

Citizen^But not like this cne.

Old Builder—Precisely the same.

Citizen—Oh, no.

Old Builder—Oh, yes. That new ccde^—l've read it—alters somë^i

détails—more or less sand in your mortar, a higher or lower fa«-

Itor of safety fer your iron, a story more cr less in yo^ur nonsr

fireproof, collapsable flat,   It's the old law bettered in some par-

ticulai-s, doubtfully altered in others, carried too far bere, not far

encugh there.   Faulty in many spots, no doubt.   But don't let tho

Daily îtoarer lead your innocence to imagine that we hâve ever

had a perfect body of rules, or that any gentle critic or associar-

tion of pious critics could produce one for us.

Citizen^—Eut surely we bave had something heitter thaa thîsîî;
Old Builder—Don't believe it, tho' I can see how the noise
the press is calculated  to create the impression that the n
code in conception, method', purpose and substance is something;
strangely iniquitous, entirely novel and dug full of new dangers.
Citizen—But, my dear sir, political influences are obvious in it.
Old Builder—Political influences would be obvious to a par-i
tisan in the ten commandments.    Why, half the fun would gï^j
out of politics if they didn't give us such a tremendously keeni,
sight for the wrong side of the other fellow's motives and deeds,
There may be "politics" in the new code, but l'd like some am
to tell me how any law can be drafted and enacted; or ajiy gOT
emmental act performed, without "political influences," real an^
imaginary, being "obvious" somewhere.

Citizen—Thè new code, however, favors certain methods
construction,  and  delegates to our  officiais  power that   mightl
amount to tyranny.

Old Builder—Yes. The papers bave juat found that out. Every
building law has done Iikewise. Think a moment and leave tb'
papers alone. A fourteen-story structure isn't dreamed into ex¬
istence, îs it? It is put together by a lot of men, many of whoratj
are in business—the rest think they are. Now, as soon as youi
begin to make laws about construction, in order to enstire safs
work, you are driven to prescribe certain methods and certain
materials, the best you know of (not being a prophet) at the t!me.|:
and straightway in doing this you tacitly name some firm or
firms or some article or some form of labor. Now, suppose youi
wish to avoid the charge cf charitable favoritism {for a price),|
the cnly cther course is to set np certain, standards to wMcb:|
everyone in building shall comply, and then place the care
and jurisdiction over those standards in the hands of certal
people wbo happen invariably to he officiais. Then you lea
that you hâve only changed the evii of your way, and yon