April 28, 1906





RECORD   AND    GUIDE





761







rail.





ESTABUSHED-^ MARpHSl!^ 1368,

De/itjiSi p Rf\L Estate . Suildi?/g ^cKitectijue ,h{ousn!oiD DEooi^notl.
Bifsir/Ess Atfo Themes ofG^iIer^I It^TER,ES-t.

PRICE   PER   YEAR    IN   ADVANCE    EIGHT   DOLLARS

Tubiisfted   eVerg   Saturday

Communications should bo addrcsaed W
C.   W.   SWEET,   14-16  Vesey   Street,   New  York
)                                Telephone, Cortlandt 3157





"Enter'-l al the fast Office at J\cmi Yorl.-. J7". Y, as sccoiirf-cZre.ss maU<r."





Vol. LXXVII.





APRIL 28, 1906.





No. 19S9





INDEX  TO   DEPARTMENTS.
Advertising Section,

Pags.                                               Pass.

Ctment   ....................xxv   Law..........................xl

Consulting  Englneera   ........xvll   Lumbsr.................iitIU

Clay Product!   ...............xxir   Machinery  ...................It

Contractors  and  Builders.......vi   Metal Work..................n

Electrical   Interest    ..........vill   Quick   Job   Directory........sxlll

Flreprooflng   ..................Ill   Real   Estate..................xiii

Granite   ....................nvl   Roofers   Sc  Rooflng Materials,. .x

Heating   ...................ixl   Stone   .....................xxvl

Iron  and  Steel..............xviii   Wood  Products   ............xxix





REPEATEDLY it has been said here that the stock raaiivet
would be entirely influenced by money conditions Cor a
long tjme to come, :ind this is true not only of money conditions
in this country but also in Europe, Our money situation has,
of course, become more complicated by the San Francisco dis¬
aster, which in turn has tended to complicate the money mar¬
ket abroad, and has perhaps imperilled the Russian loan, whicii
bankers had so long waited for a favorable opportunity to issue.
The Pennsylvania Railroad, it would seem, had also been wait¬
ing for a clear flnancial sky, to make an announcement of its
needs. AU these things tend not only to financial disquiet, but
give the now powerful bear party a daily supply of ammunition.
The stoclt market could be easily rallied if it suited the potent
interests who are always in control, but clearly it does not
suit them. Their commissions and charges for accommoda¬
tions grow with disquietude. They have money to sell. All
favorable happenings are allowed to fall fiat. The increase in
Amalgamated Copper dividend, the declaration of a dividend
on the preferred stock of Missouri, Kansas & Texas, and the
remarkable statement of earnings by the United States Steel
Corporation just made, have heen alike celebrated by a decline
in the shares affected. Cotton goes down on a record consump¬
tion, and wheat declines regularly, although by comparison the
cheapest of all the food products. Is it to be wondered at that
professional speculators are confused and losing money? They
may truly say, "The times are out of joint." Providence as well
as Uie exigencies of politics are against them. The market goes
down when it ought to go up, and it behooves real estate oper¬
ators to take heed of such financial phenomena, for beneath
the surface must lie a cause.





THE LONDON STATIST, in its last issue received, is un-
qiialifiedly bullish on all things American. It sees a clear
traclt ahead with no danger signals, except the steam that is
being put on money in this country by the widespread pros¬
perity and universal optimism which leads everybody on one
hand to extend himself and go in debt, if necessary, to do it,
and on the other hand renders it easy to flnd people equally op¬
timistic who will extend the required credit. The ability to go
in debt, which implies a willingness to do so, and the ability to
flnd the people who will trust, is enough in itself in a country
like ours to make a boom, whereas the reverse is enough to
cause a shrinkage and depression, which is another way of
saying we shrink from going into debt, and at the same time
and for the same reasons others shrink from giving us credit.
The talk of sales of stocks and securities on the part of in¬
surance companies in order to liquidate the enormous losses
caused by the San Francisco disaster has undoubtedly had a
depressing influence on the market. The realization may not
malce the matter any worse than the anticipation, as it may be
found to be all discounted. It is said that a combination of
-insurance companies has been formed to hold all their stocks,
and that the banks will furnish the money necessary to carry
lhe stocks. If this be the case, one disquieting element of the
■Situation will have disappeared. The anthracite coal difficulty
Is still iTE statu quo. It does not seem to have occurred to any
of th.e feajicial writers tbat ihe cessation of anthracite coal





mining, if of short duration, might have an uulooked-for effect
on the money market. Employees have put aside money—half
a million having on an average $160 each. This money is the
same as though withdrawn from circulation, and would of
necessity have to be restored to circulation by a suspension of
work, which would call for its use. In like manner the ten
million tons of anthracite coal now stored and carried either
by borrowed money or the surplus funds of the coal companies,
would be sold and distributed, enabling the loans to be paid off
on replacing the money in tiie treasury of the coal companies
to be loaned in the market. A money market based on such
artificial causes could, however, scarcely be considered a healthy
one.





DIFFICULTIES in rebuilding San  Francisco  will  not  arise
so   much   from   the   scarcity   of   materials   as   from   the
scarcity  of  labor.    It  is  true  that  all  the  important building
materials,   excepting  only   wood,   are  expensive   in   California,
and that the inadequacy of the supply of brick and good build¬
ing   stones   will   force   San   Franciscans   frequently   to   adopt
probably some form of concrete construction.    Still, in the mat¬
ter of good materials au imperative demand will open up some
kind of an adequate supply.    When it comes, however, to ob¬
taining a sufflcient number of competent mechanics, the ob¬
stacles will be much harder to overcome.    There have always
been plenty of carpenters in California, because of the almost
universal  use  of  wooden  buildings;   but masons,  and,  indeed,
all  the mechanics  connected  with masonry and  fireproof con¬
struction are scarce,  and  very highly paid.    This  was one of
the reasons why San Francisco continued to be built so largely
of wood.    The cost of masonry construction was so great that
the value of property  had to be very high in  order  to make
masonry buildings pay.    It remains to be seen whether in the
present emergency any adequate means can be taken to  dim¬
inish  the labor cost of the several different kinds of flreproof
buildjng.   A great deal will, of course, depend on the attitude of
the unions.    Thelocal organizations of mechanics have in the
past had it very much their own way, and they have used their
advantage  to the very  limit.    No one  can blame thera for so
doing;   but  they  probably  overreached  themselves  by  pushing
their demands on their employers too far.    They diminished the
demand for their services by discouraging people who would like
to  have built masonry  instead  of wooden structures.    In  the
present _ emergency,   they   will   not  be   expected   to   take   any
smaller wages  than  they have been getting  in  the  past,  and
the necessity is so great that the business of San Francisco
can afford to pay these high prices.   But in case they attempt
to  talte advantage  of  the local  calamity and  to  extort still
higher rates of wages,  they will be  making a grave mistake.
The   need  for   new   buildings   is   so   imperative,   and   it  is   so
essential  that these  new buildings  be substantially and econ¬
omically built that if the labor cost becomes exorbitant it will
pay the local employers to scour the country for the supply of
mechanics which they need.    The local unions will, it is to be
hoped, co-operate with their employers in the task of rebuild¬
ing the city in a substantial manner, and at a cost whiph will
not be too great.   On condition that wages are not lowered, and
that none but uniou labor is employed, they should encourage
the   immigration   of    competent   mechanics,   and    issue   union
cards to such men without making too many difficulties.    They
would in this way not only be assisting their neighbors to re¬
store the shattered city, but they would be providing for them¬
selves a better chance of subsequent steady employment.
,------.------—«----------------

THE neighborhood of Thirty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue
has continued to be throughout the current season the
most interesting part of the central area of Manhattan, from
the real estate point of view. But the activity has not been
speculative. Almost every transaction recently announced has
concerned parcels which had been held for speculative purposes,
and which have now finally passed into the hands of the busi¬
ness flrms who will occupy them permanently, Rogers, Peet
& Co. have taken over the old Broadway Tabernacle plot, and
have obtained one of the choicest corners in the city as the
site for a clothing store. Acker, Merrall & Condit have leased
the former site of the New York Club, and have secured in
this a new store in an extremely advantageous location for
their business. The Bankers' Investing Company has disposed
of part of its property on Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth
Streets to Oppenheim, Collins & Co., which means the estab¬
lishing of a handsome ladies' furnishing shop on the street. .
As notes of subordinate interest, it should be added that
"Huyler's" has rented a shop on Thirty-fourth Street, and
that John Claflin has been enlarging his site to the west on
Thirty-flfth Street.    All   these   transactions   must   have been