JIffarch 3,
RECORD AND GIIJDE;
'35 J
tell.
ESIABUSHH)^ iHPiRPH Sm'*'1668.
'bt^ufi 10 f^L Estate,BuiLoijfc j^jtprfrTEffnn^MoJsafMDDraai^iDit
Bt/snfess Alto Themes of GejIer/A llfto^*!.:
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS.
- . FubUshed every Saturday.
Tblbpuons, Coetlahdt 1370,
Oonununlcatloiie should be addreased to.
C. W. SWEET. 14-16 Veaey Btieet.
/ T. UNDSEY, Business Manager.
"B-ttered at thi FMt-0ffl>6 at Ifeio Tork, K. T., aa gecond-elaes matter,".
Vol. LXV.
MARCH 3. 1900.
No. 1668.
Ti'to Iniex to Volvtme LXIV of the Record and Guide,
cyosriag the period betiveeii July Ist aad December Slst, lb99,
il â– na:v reditf for delivery. Frioe, $1. This Index in
iti eitlirjsJ fjrm, is nam reoogaized as indispensable to
â– eosrj oas eiiya,j3.l or interested in real estate and building opera¬
tions. It covers all transactions—deeds, mortgages, leases, auction
.sales, bailiing plans filed, etc. Orders for the Index should be sent
atonos to the ojhee of publication, 14 aad 16 Vesey Street.
IT Is said that the confidence ot the investor has been shocked
and destroyed by the partial revelation of tbe inner work:-
ings that have wreclced Third Avenue railroad. By this time
the mind of the investor ought to be hardened to such things,
fieeing how much experience he has had in that line. The same
thing waa said when Atchison was forced into the courts
through the misconduct of its officials, but it is well to bear in
mind that the present representative of the Atchison security
that sold at 15 as a result of that fact, is now at 65. The Third
Avenue business is now being as overdone as the Atchison cal¬
amity waa in 1863, The professional element, who nappen to be
in control of the market for the moment, have always prefer-
-ence for the short side, and are, with the assistance of the daily
papers, making the most and worst of every unfavorable fea¬
ture, and little or nothing of the favorable ones. The increase
of loans aud consequent decrease in the surplus reserves of the
t)anks, which find a natural explanation in the purchases of
government bonds in anticipation of the enactment of the cur¬
rency bill; the congressional report on trade combinations, and
the prolongation of the struggle in the sugar trade, are all used
to obscure the benefits that will result from tue currency bill
as soon as it becomes a law, and the completely satisfactory
â– condition of general business as revealed by the traffic returns
of the railroads, and the maintenance of high prices for com¬
modities. As a result of the turn of affairs in South Africa,
London has been this week a considerable buyer in our market,
and has materially helped to sustain the general railroad list.
When the new currency law takes effect it cannot fail to create
activity in the security markets. The provision for refunding
the debt alone would be sufficient to do that, as the quotations
lor the new 2s., when issued, already show. The facilities it
will afford for the increased issue of bills by the banks, and its
recognition of silver as the basis for the currency of low de-
noipinations, are each calculated to have a stimulating effect in
many directions. However, while the public keep out of specu¬
lation and the traders continue to hold their present gloomy
views, quotations must suffer for the time being, no matter how
fcrillir.nt may be the prospect for the future. It is also a fact
that with the prospect what it is stocks cannot fail to be a good
Iniy on the breaks produced by an unjustifiable pessimism.
^" HE suggestion that Madison Square Garden be taken for
^ the new uptown post office has aroused opposition, on the
ground that the city needs such a building for holding large
gatherings, great shows, etc. It is true, if the garden is turned
to other uses than those which it has hitherto found unprofita¬
ble. New York will probably be the only great city in the civil¬
ized world that does not possess a building suitable for large
gatherings or spectacles; but it is also highly probable that, if
this should become the case, the necessity for such a building
would soon become apparent, aud private enterprise would
quickly supply it, though in a location where it could be made
to pay. That Madison Square Garden has not been a success
has been due primarily to the fact that the first cost for land
and building was too great for the business to which it was to
"be devoted. Had the enterprise been established in an accessi¬
ble position farther north, it would have reaped a satisfactory
pecuniary reward. This proposition holds good to-day. Id
order to save the garden from the improbable fate of a post
office, it has been suggested that the city purchase it and go into
the "show" business, but this suggestion is received with a smile
or a frown, according to whether the recipient holds one of the
two views, the cynical and the sombre only, that are apparently
held in this community on the matter of municipal ownership In
general.
The Week Reviewed.
WHY NOT A BUILDING FOR THE BOARDING HOUSE AS WELL
AS THE HOTEL. BUSINESS.
•* p' HE brokerage reports disclose little, if any, effort on the
*â– part of the real estate market to shake off the lethargy
which settled down upon It about the middle of last month.
The dealing this week was concerned chiefly with sites for
elevator "apartments and private houses. Half a dozen of the
dwellings sold were of the better class, including a couple on
the old Columbia College site by such builders as Charies Buek
and John T. & James A. Farley; and as a body occupy the
leading position in a commonplace budget. The buyer of No. S6
and 58 West 47th street proved to be Walter Reid. Jr., who haa
leased from the plans for twenty years a 10-story apartment
hotel, which he purposes to erect on the site. The lessee is tho
proprietress of a boarding house. This lease suggests the ques¬
tion—Is there any essential difference between an apartment
hotel and a boarding houae? The distinction appears to lie
chiefly in the matter of private baths, and in the term of the
rent; and even this distinction is not always clearly marked,
for there are apartment hotels which let some rooms singly
with baths in common. But, conceding that there is a differ¬
ence, the fact remains that a large part of the tenantry in Man¬
hattan consists of boarders, and that for this class no special
type of housing exists. It would seem reasonable to suppose
that builders might profitably erect, in established boarding
house neighborhoods, a limited number of buildings designed
for single adults and childless couples in moderately easy cir¬
cumstances. Certainly a specially designed boarding house ol
this kind would be a more promising venture than a flat draw¬
ing its tenatory from families similarly circumstanced.
The lassitude of the real estate market is reflected in the Sales¬
room. The sales at auction since the first of January aggre¬
gate only some ?G,800,000, as against the corresponding aggre¬
gate last year of $10,900,000, round numbers. The only event
of importance has been the Contoit sale; a large proportion of
current offerings consists of new 5-story flats foreclosed, nota¬
bly in Brons, as a result of hardened credit in building mater¬
ials. In these circumstances the partition sale by Philip A.
Smyth, next Tuesday, of part of the Lippman Toplitz estate will
prove interesting. The offerings comprise investment and spec¬
ulative holdings, selected with reference to supposed market
conditions. Judging from the brokerage reports, the vacant
lots, all of which are ripe for improvement, most of them with
elevator apartments, will probably sell at top figures; the re¬
ception which the improved real estate shall receive will serve
to show whether there is any investment capital at ail in the
market, for the offerings are of a nature to induce competition.
So also are several improved parcels scheduled by Bryan L.
Kennelly for Wednesday, and a number—all below 40th street—
booked by Richard V. Harnett & Co., for Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday. Next week, therefore, will be the most import¬
ant week in the auction room since the beginning of the year.
Tbe past week, in a partition sale by D. Phoenix Ingraham. tho
infiuence of the rapid transit contract was apparently present In
the high price paid by Mahoney Bros., builders, for No. 2 4th
avenue, a 4-story store and loft building on a deep lot. Tho
premises, which brought ?41,020, is located near the Astor place
station of the underground road, and, as it brings a rental of
13,000, will carry itself until the near future shall decide what
form of reimprovement will be most profitable.
---------*---------
SOMEHOW or other the American is likely to spoil his best
work by overlooking a little detail that becomes great
In consequences. For instance, on rainy days such as we have
experienced lately, the citizens have to take, a shower bath in
stepping into and from our street cars and ferries, when a very
little thought and ingenuity, and expense, it may be added,
would save him from this additional soaking. Why must the
roofs of cars and decks of ferries be drained over the entrances,
instead of at another part? Wiiat would be said of an archi¬
tect who provided a sloping drain over tho doorways of hia
buildings?