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November 17, 1906
RECORD AND GUIDE
805
ESTABUSHED"^ ft^BpH BV^ 1866.
Ita^pRfA,L Estate,BinLDijfe ARCt<iTE(mjR.E,Kcnjs£Hou)DEcaEiAnorf,
Bi;sii/ess AifoTHEHES OF GeSer^I IKterf^T.,
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS
Pablijhed tVerp Saturday
Communications should ba addrosaod lo
C, W. SWEET
Downtown Ollice: 14-16 'Vesey Street, New York
Telephons, Cortldudt 3157
Uptown Ollice: 11-13 East 24th Street
Telephone. Madiaon Squar* ig»8
"Entered al tha Tost Offlce at New York, N Y,. as lecond-ctasM mailer."
Vol. LXXVIIl,
NOVEMBER 17, 190G,
INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS.
Advertising Section,
Page Page
Cement ....................xxv Law........................xl
Consulting Engineers ........x Lumber .................xxviii
Clay Products...............xxiv Machinery ....................iv
Contractors and Builders ......v Metal Work ..................xx
Electrical Interests.........xviii Quick Job Directory.........xxix
Fireproofing ..................ii Real Estate ...............xiii
Granite ....................xxviRoofers Se Roofing Mater'Is.xxviii
Heating .....................xvil Stone .......................xxvi
Iron and Steel...............xxii Wood Products ..............xxx
COMMISSION houses in Wall Street this weelc were com¬
pletely taken by surprise by the strength of the mar¬
ket. They had adjusted themselves unanimously to the be¬
lief that "Wall Street â– was in for a protracted decline extend¬
ing to the close of the year. The customers of such houses
largely acted upon this belief and liquidated their long
stocks, reducing the bull position to the smallest propor¬
tion of the year. Big interests are never slo'w to act when
8uch a commission house state of mind presents itself and
quietly took up the stocks that were being thrown overboard.
If the advance should continue with the large short interest,
we may see even higher prices before Christmas. In this
column we have persistently and frequently pointed out the
exceptional position of St. Paul stock. It has again sprung
into leadership, having between Monday and Wednesday of
this week recorded an advance of uine points, and it is
always possible because of its light capitalization that it
may sell very much higher than even Northern Paciflc. To
put It tersely, the capitalization of St. Paul is only about
one-third of that per mile of Northern Pacific, yet Northern
Paciflc stock sells higher than St. Paul, though the latter
is quoted with the rights and dividends added. Since St.
Paul was selling at 150, rights at say 10 per cent, aud
dividends of Sy2 per cent, have come oil the price, and the
stock sells at a comparatively low figure. Another feature
of the market this week which is somewhat puzzling has
been its strength in the face of high money rates. As a
financial writer and authority says, "The men who are mak¬
ing the market and on whom the burden rests most heavily,
have made provision for carrying their stocks that insure
them a 6 per cent, money rate at the very highest. They
have considerable time money, and In addition have organ¬
ized pools into which they have admitted high banking ofli-
clalB as members." What follows is, of course, obvious
money liecomes scarce. The banks then act in the interest
of stockholders and not of the officials, and call loans in the
general market to lend to the pools at 6 per cent. Thus
the more the pools absorb the less money there is for the
broker, and trader to use at 20 per cent., which explains
the apparent illogical action of the stock market that it
should rise with high call money.
should be the best that can be aiforded, and should be arranged
for the purpose of building up that section of the city. Such a
service ought to do more than merely meet existing needs. It
should anticipate future needs, and in this way accelerate the
process of building and the access of population, Moreover, the
Interborough Company has as much interest in accelerating the
improvement of Washington Heights as have the property
owners. People who live as far away from the heart of the city
as is the upper part of Washington Heights necessarily use the
rapid transit system more frequently than do people who are
more centrally situated, and the closer habitation of that
part of the city will mean a profitable trafiic over a part of
the Subway system, which can scarcely pay at present. That
company has consequently as usual pursued a very short¬
sighted policy in failing to use the third track for the pur¬
pose of running express trains, and the Rapid Transit Com¬
mission under the leadership of tbe Mayor was fully justi¬
fied in "ordering" the early installation of an express ser¬
vice. It is curious that a company to whose interest it is to
keep public opinion favorable should persist in provoking
public resentment on every possible occasion. In the present
instance its ofiicials have waited until an improvement ia
the service was forced upon them, instead of yielding imme¬
diately to a Just demand; and the consequence is that they
will obtain no credit for an improvement which they opposed
until the end.
No. 201S
THE residents of Washington Heights certainly have had a
grievance against the Interborough Company for its fail¬
ure to establish an express service between Ninety-sixth and
One Hundred and Forty-fifth Streets. Here is a stretch of over
two miles in which all trains run as locals, yet which is equipped
for expresses, and if a passenger bound to the lower part of Man¬
hattan could board an express at One Hundred and Forty-flfth
street he would save at least four minutes on his journey. Such
a saving is an extremely important matter for all residents of
Washington Heights living north of One Hundred and Forty-
fifth street. That section of the city is a new one, and Is
rapidly Increasing in the number of Its Inhabitants. Every im¬
provement in transit accommodation which it can obtain places
It in a better position to attract residents in competition with
other new districts of New York. The service which it receives
WE PRINT in another coluran a number of photographs
exhibiting the condition of the city streets within a
restricted area. These pictures, however, as will be seen in
subsequent issues of The Record and Guide are really typical,
and exhibit the utterly disgraceful condition to which our
thoroughfares have been brought by municipal mismanage¬
ment and the callous disregard of public convenience on the
part of corporations permitted by the grace of the city to
use the streets for the purpose of money-making. It may
be particularly pointed out that these pictures are not taken
in remote and unfrequented streets, but on the contrary,
were taken in the maiu, central thoroughfares of Manhattan.
Literally hundreds of photographs might be printed without
by any means covering the actual conditions. Our readers
must therefore regard what we present this week as merely
a few examples of an enormous collection. It is perhaps
hopeless to speak of what conditions like those we illustrate
mean to the City Beautiful. In spite of art societies and
the efforts of enthusiasts good and bad, New York City
seems at this moment to be following a haphazard career
without any determinate guidance to secure a fine appear¬
ance. New Yorkers will probably be more sensitive when
we suggest how great is the inconvenience occasioned hy
the up-torn, lumbered and obstructed condition of our
streets, and the readers of The Record and Guide are no
doubt already experiencing in a great many cases how great
is the loss entailed upon property owners. We shall print
from week to week a series of these pictures and invite
selections for the camera.
THE recommendation of the State Railroad Commission that
the car mileage of the surface railways In Manhattan be
increased 10 per cent, this winter has been received in the way
such recommendations are usually received. Of course the oper¬
ating department of the railroad will do its best to carry out the
recommendation; but its ofiicials have the utmost doubt whether
their efl"orts will prove to be successful. More cars would not
mean better service, because the additional cars would clog the
operation of the system. It must be frankly admitted, of
course, that there may be some truth in this contention, and
that nobody but an expert who Is perfectly acquainted with the
actual conditions can tell how much truth the contention holds.
The congestion of the street traffic in Manhattan undoubtedly
makes the problem of operating the system of the New York
City Railway Co. one of enormous difficulty. Unfortunately,
however, the record of the railway company Is such that no con¬
fldence can be placed in its protestations. The known facts are,
that the system does not earn at the present time the dividend
guaranteed on its stock, that since the merger strenuous efforts
have been made to reduce expenses, that in consequence of these
efforts the car mileage has been actually reduced in spite of
the increase In traffic, and tbat, finally, enough cars are not run
during other than rush hours to prevent over-crowding. It Is
also known that the officials of the company protested vigor¬
ously against granting transfers at 2.3d street and Sixth avenue
and Broadway, because, as they claimed, it would cause an im¬
passable congestion at these points, and that, when such trans¬
fers were forced upon the company, none of their dreadful anti-