June 22, 1912
RECORD AJSHD GTJIDE
1353
LAW DEPARTMENT.
Enjjineep na Arbiter
On August 17, 1906, John J. Young
entered into a contract -with the City of
Ne-w York for the regulating and grad¬
ing of Washington avenue, in the Bor¬
ough of Queens. This contract -was
a-warded to Young on proposals after
competitive bidding upon printed speci¬
fications which were made expressly a
part thereof. The expense of the public
improvement in question was to be met
by assessment on the. property benefited
thereby. The street in question was to
he graded between Vernon avenue and
Academy street. Over a portion of the
route there was considerable excavating
to be done to bring the street to the pre¬
scribed grade.
For a considerable distance the street,
some sixty feet wide, passed over low-
iying marshy lands, parts of whieh were
covered with water at hig-h tide. The
surface of the street as graded was con¬
siderably above the level of the marsh
over -^v'hich it was to be carried by a
causeway or embankment of earth. The
contract was a unit contract; that is, the
work was divided into respective units
for which respective prices were fixed in
accordance with the quantities embraced
in each unit. The proposals for bids
stated these units approximately only,
and provided for approximately "S0,000
cubic yards of earth filling (furnished)."
The contract as awarded to Toung con¬
tained a clause that he should be paid
"for all emba.nkment, in excess of exca¬
vation per cubic yard, the sum of ninety
cents."
It appeared on the trial that when the
contractor came to construct the embank¬
ment within the street lines across the
marsh large quantities of the deposited
material sank below the surface of the
marsh, and upon which further deposits
were required until the embankment be¬
came firmly bedded and was carried to
the required grade of the street. The
contractor and his assignee, the plaintiff,
rlaim that tbe measurement for purposes
rif payment should be from the bottom
nf the embankment, where it found a
firm base, to its top, where it reached the
general grade of the street; while the city
eng-ineer certified only to a measurement
of the embankment from the former sur¬
face of the marsh to the grade of the
street as completed. In so doing the en¬
gineer considered certain clauses of the
specifications as controlling on this point,
and unless his interpretation of said
clauses is palpably erroneous—for by the
contract he was made the arbiter of all
controversies arising from claimed am-
bis-uities.
The Appellate Division of the Second
Department has just held in this case
that -where, pursuant to the terms of :±
regulating and grading contract, the en¬
gineer is made the arbiter nf al! contro¬
versies arisin.a- from claimed ambiguities
in the contract, his interpretation of its
clauses, unless pa.lnably erroneous, is
conclusive. It was further held after a
consideration of the clauses in question,
that the action of tbe engineer was right
and tbat the complaint ^-as properly dis¬
missed.
-—Pollowing closely on the recent suc¬
cessful sale of the Van Cortlandt estate
holdings, it is announced that there Is to
be a sale of 479 lots in the same general
location, but just beyond the city line.
The nroperty to be offered is known as
the Murray estate tract, having its prin¬
cipal frontage on McLean avenue. The
.^aie will begin at twelve o'clock sharp on
Saturday, June 29, and will tae held under
a large tent.
^Thomas .7. O'Reillv has secured from
the New Y'ork Life Insurance Company
for Paterno Bros, (.Joseph Paterno, presi¬
dent and treasurer) a permanent loan of
51,130,000, for a term of five years, at 5
per cent, on the biock front on the west
side of Broadway, between 115tb and
116th streets. The plot was acquired hy
Paterno Eros, from the Clark estate a
couple of years ago, and improved by
them with two high class 12-story apart¬
ment houses.
—It is understood that within a week or
so applications are to be filed at the
Queens Building Bureau for the .erection
of over .^100,000 worth of model dwellings
for workingmen in a section that is about
to be developed for factories and homes
for the workingmen.
—The permits sought for private dwell¬
ings last week in Queens were the small¬
est in number for the entire year.
' Apartment Rents in Paris.
There are apartments in Paris (I mean
"flats") rented for as much as $20,000 a
year—which is close enough to New Tork's
present limit of $22,000. They are, of
course, in the Avenue des Champ Elysees,
which means a good deal in terms of dol¬
lars and cents. A first-rate apartment, in
a good part of Paris for Americans, with
all of the American conveniences, can be
had for from $1,000 to $3,000 per year. A
fairly good fiat, in the same' superior
quarter, can be had for $800, but it will
face a courtyard only, and will be small
and dark. These flats, renting at from
$1,000 to $3,000, will be smaller than simi¬
lar New Tork apartments in number of
rooms. The rent will not include heat,
light, telephone, or constant elevator serv¬
ice. The servants' rooms will be detached
in the distant, unchaperoned, and un¬
healed attic. There will be no servants'
bath, no mail-chute, no intercommuni¬
cating telephone and no adequate central
heat.
The New Yorker pays, all other things
heing equal, no more for his housing than
the Parisian does, while he has many
more conveniences, and many more ways
of reaching the ci^y hy the numerous
transportation lines. Add to this the al¬
most unlimited choice and range of prices
•possible in New Tork, and the balance is
very much against the French. In Paris
the apartnient hunter must take what he
can find or stay in the pension with the
inquisitive spinsters. In New Tork he
can pick and choose according to street
and light and quarter and convenience—
a dozen different landlords competing for
his tenancy, and all within whatever limit
he sets upon his rent appropriation. And
this is why it is easier to be housed In
'New Tork with the all-round dignity
which has regard not only to oneself, but
to those one comes in contact with in life,
than it is in Paris, all other things being
equal.—James Edmund Dunning In "Re¬
view cf Reviews."
DIVIDEND NOTICE.
Fulton Trust Company of Keiv York-
149 Broadway. N. T. City, June 20. 1912.
40th Conseeiitiv* Seni'-.4nrninl DiTiilenil.
By resolution of the Board ot Trustees a
(iividend of Five Per Cent, is payable on July
1 Ji)12, to Etockliolders of rpcorii st the close
of business 3 P. M., June 24, 1912.
Charles M. Van Kleeck, Secretary.
Wants and Offers
AM Defective and Unmarketable Titles
Cured under Torrens System
Real estate owners are now^ resisterinp;
titles under Torrens Lnw^. Consultation
Free. MATTHKW J. WHKELEHAN, OF¬
FICIAL EXAMINER, 220 Broadway. Tel.
2024 Cort._______________________________________
YOTTNG married m.-in, thoroughly famil¬
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Dositlon in an established reai estate of-
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YOUNG MAN, 23, best referencfs, 6 yrs.
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WANTED—Pronerties, sale or rent; send
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DTJFF Se CONGER. Madison Ave.. Cor. SS.
"WANTED, experienced renting man for (mld-
townl store and !ott section. BOX 5, Record
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FOR SALE, unbound Record and Guides. TV:
years to date, at great sacrifice. M. LIS-
SAUER. 5&4 Park Ave.__________________________
FOR S.-VLE, 29 complete volumes ot Record
and Guide, .January. 1SS9, to June. 1903;
morocco bindinR: good condftion. Arldress
ROOM 1404, 32 William St,, New York City.
REAL ESTATE ENGINEER.—Civil Engineer
â– who has for the last flve years sppcialized !a
the develnnment of real estate seeks position
with established concern operating In this line.
Take charge of work from survey to comnle-
tion. Experienced In rock excavation. Con-
rr><-fQ p-nr-ir a 'jpecialtv. Han dra-w house plans.
CHARLES B. ANDERSON, 24 Dean PL,
T'nngbkepQ'iie. N. Y,____________________________
CLOSING office : will sell bouqd Record and
Guides. 1876 to date complete, set of Manhat¬
tan Atlases, also desk, safe, typewriter, etc.
1451 Broadway, Room 402. Call between 11
and 12____________________________________________
REAL ESTATE, Insuriance, 24, experience
7 years, wide awake, energetic, thoroughly
competent all branches. BOX 99, Record and
Guide.
•^^ ae BROADWAY, NEW-YORK '~— '
My Real Estale Specialty is lo obtain for anyone
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Expert for Richmond Borough
We Co-operate With Brokers
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