December 9, legg.
i:COKD AND GUIDE.
87/
ESTABUSHED"^/^CH£i¥.'^ 1868.
Devoted P iW- Estwe.BuiLoif/G %afitecture.KouseiIoud DEGORATiorf,
BiJsitJESS Aflo Thèmes of GïHeRaI- INte^est.
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS.
Publiahcd every tahirday.
' Tel£phoke, Cortlandt 1370.
Communkatlone ehould be addreeaed ta
C. "W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street.
/. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.
"Entered at the Posi-Opioe at New Sorle, N. S., asseeand-clan» «laifer."
Vol. LXIV.
EKECEMBER 9, 1899.
No. 1656
WHILE neitlier the persistent deeliaes in ttie industrials, and
sympatîietic movements in otlier issues; tlie revived de¬
mand for money from the interior, nor the flurries in other mar-
Itets â– wblcii hâve marked the week can he overlooked or regarded
â– wlth any sort of satisfaction în their relation tO' the immédiate
future, there are more agreeahle features of the situation which
it is well, at the same time, to hear in mind. The really en¬
couraging circumstance-of the situation is the comparative
strengtii of prices—judged one week from another, if not day
from day—in spite of the indifférence of the spéculative pubîic
and profesional activity against priées. To these, perhaps,
ought to he added the uncertainties regarding money,
though they are likeiy now to soon disappear. Since Iast sum¬
mer there has been a considérable ail-round décline; in par¬
ticular cases this décline has been quite severe—in the Transits
and Industrials for instance. The close of the old and opening of
the new year ougbt to make same additions and improvements to
the list of dividend payers, and unless some' unloreseen caiamity
transpires this fact alone ought to open the way to a new up¬
ward movement, one at least affecting those issues that receive
tangible benefits from ths good business that is being done
throughout the country. If the promised eurrency législation
matures, and of tbis there is every iikelihood, it ougbt also to
hâve a very distinct influence on prices, in tbat it would remove
the most probable cause for scares that bas existed in onr midst
for a good many years. Tbe signs—Treasury receîpts, postal re¬
turns, railroad earnings and reports from trade centres—all point
to a continuation of the industrial and commercial activity that
has characterized the présent year, Europe may see the bloom
coming off its boom, but we bave not ended our innings yet.
ABROAD the pinch of money continues to be felt, though
there are also there signs that the financial year will be
brought to a close without serious difiiculty. The advance
of the Bank of England rate to 6% probably marks the
extrême point of pressure, The last time tbe rate touched
this point was in 1S90. Shipping interests bave been
greatly benefited by the growth in business; so much
BO tbat six navigating British companies hâve made ad¬
ditions to their capital aggregating $12,500,000 during the
current year, while there bave been also large additions
made to tbe capital of ship building and allied interests,
The Board of Trade October labor report says that the gênera!
Btate of employment remained good and tbe precentage of un¬
employed members returned by the trades' unions was lower
than at any similar period since 1889. In France dissensions
over tbe British-Boer war bave caused tbe dismisal of tbe man¬
ager of the French Bank of South Afriea, and the résignations of
the chairman and two otber directors. The controlling interest
based its action on the ground tbat the bank had no right to take
eides, Berlin explains that the tightness of money there is part¬
ly due to the fact that many institutions bave provided for de¬
mands tbat wili come upon them at the end of the year, and that
this will relieve the market later on. German iron is as active
as ever, but building opérations give signs of declining; the price
cf brick has been reduced 10 or 15%, and there is a failing off in
the demand for cément, which had been regularly increasing for
many months before. The growth of wealth in Germany is re¬
markable. Based cm income tax and other returns, tbe increase
in the past four years of business activity is estimated at, say
$375,000,000, Corresponding witb the growth of wealth is the
growth of the flnancial business of the Empire. Austrian officiai
flgures, of money are now given in crowns, the new eur¬
rency unit, Instead of florins, with the result that the
sums look very large, The Austrian erown, according to
the U. S'. Treasury table, is worth 20.3 cents, while , the
florin was worth abotit 70c. Thus tbe budget recently laid.
before Parliament with its receipts of 1,585,811,822 and expendi¬
tures of 1,585,403,933 crowns looks immense. It is increased, ex¬
penses having grown iu all directions to be met by increased tax¬
ation. Australia is steadily recovering eommerciaily. The rev¬
enue returns of the four principal colonies fer the September
quarter show moderate, hut on the whole satisfactory increases.
A ehrcnically pessimistic correspondent at Buenos Ayres, com¬
menting upon tbe failure of his own dismal prophecies, saysS
"The threatened crisis is eonjured for a time and, materially, the
prospects of the busy season now at hand are very good, the rise
in tbe price of the country's two great staples, wool and wheat,
are making a considérable and favorable différence in tbe num¬
ber of millions of dollars that will go to its crédit in Europe next
year."
The Realty Market.
THE week's reports show that the moderate improvement in
the brokerage business which became manifest a month ago
was founded upon conditions that are likely to remain operative
during the season. This improvement was due to a resumption
of spéculative activity which was interrupted during the summer..
The body of the reports is made up of transactions in dwellinga
and medium-priced flats and tenements, tbat is, residential hous¬
ing, which normally constitutes the bulk of tbe dealing. In
addition, the reports contain a fair number of transactions in
vacant and antiquated properties, bought hy building loan opera¬
tors and spéculative builders for improvement. The market is
merely resuming the character which' it possessed before the
annually récurrent summer dullness, so that, by any just stand¬
ard of comparison, it cannot be said to be "broadening," al¬
though it is taking on a show of activity aiong the familiar
spéculative lin-es. Investment activity cannot be expected so
long as the minmum interest rate on time money is 6 per cent.,
while net rents remain below that figure. On the otber band,
the money available for building loans is amply abundant,
for the average profits on this class of opérations exeeed any¬
thing which the gênerai loan market has to offer. It is true
that the building movement can continue only up to the point
where it no longer yields a profit, but this point bas apparently
not yet been reached, despite the rise in constructional cost
The exploitation of the electrical elevator in residential hous¬
ing is a matter of too récent origin to show signs of exhaustion,
The new elevator apartments may deplete the older type, but so
long as tbey continue to fill up builders will be able, at the
very least, to trade tbem off for lots or antiquated premises, in¬
cluding enough cash to start a new opération.
It has heen suggested that the extraordinary building statis¬
tics of this year hâve been reached in large part by the filing ot
an unusual number of plans which bave never been started, and
also that the rise in constructional cost has caused hundreds of
opérations to be abandoned in various stages of incompletion,
According to Superintendent of Buildings Dooner, leaving out o(
considération tbe districts affected by the new fire limits, there
never was a year in tbe history of the department when so few
of the plans filed were not aetually started; the reports of bis
inspectors submitted at the beginning of tbis month revealed
ouly some thirty opérations in Manbattan where work had been
interrupted, and in most instances the interruption was caused
by inability to obtain iron promptly. Tbe reports for Bronx had
not been received tbis week, Weak builders may bave been
"wiped out" as a result of hai'dening crédit on the material mar¬
ket, but their opérations are apparently promptly continued by
others,
It is learned that the Board of Estimate and Apportionment
will be asked next week to make an appropriation of ?30,00O
with which to purchase for the Register's Office the Bridges col¬
lection of maps and surveys, The request is to be made in the
form of a pétition, signed by real estate lawyers, and will be th©
second pétition on the subject presented to the city authorities,
the first having been submitted many years ago, shortly after tho
collection came into the possession of its présent owner, The
collection consists of over 5,000 maps, surveys and field books,
and contains a very great number. of surveys that are not on
file in the Register's Office or in other eity departments, and of
whieh no duplicates exist, although copies of many of them were-
originally deposited in various city departments. The compre-
hensiveness of the collection may be inferred from the fact that
the "Descriptive Index of the Maps on Record in the Offlce of
the Register of the City and County of New York," published by
Adclf Dengler in 1875. comprises less than 1,500 titles.
The founder.of tbe collection was Wiilliam Bridges, city sur-,
veyor in New. Tork, wbo died about 1812, leaving two sons, B.'
W. and Joseph F., to coutinue his business, as partners. Josepli