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January 12, 1907
RECORD AND GUIDE
47
ESTABUSHEE^MARpHSlu^ieea.
De^teB TO RfKL Estate.BuiLDii/c A;ftGifiTECTUi\E,KousEaoiLDE6aRAnof!,
BlTsii/ess AffeThemes of GejJeraI It/TCRpi.
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS
PubUsf)ed eVerg Saturday
CommunlcationH should ho addi'fissed tn
C. W. SWEET
Downtown Otfice: 14-16 Vesey Street, New York
Tolephono, CorthiuiU 3157
Uptown Olfice: 11-13 East 24tii Street, New York
Telephone, 4430 MaillBon Square
''Entered al the I'osl Office al I^eiK York, jV. I", as second-da us maUpr."
Vol. LXXIX.
JANUARY 12, 1907.
No. 202D.
INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS.
Advertising Section.
Page Page
Cement .....................xvll Lumber ......................xxii
Consulting Engineers .........viil Maciiinery .....................v
Clay Products ..................s Metal Work ..................xvl
Contractors and Builders......IU Quick Job Directory........xxlll
Electrical Interests ...........vl Real Estate ..................xl
Fireproofing ..................li Roofers & Roofing Materials.. .xx
Granite ....................xvlii Stone.....................xviil
Iron and Steel.................Ix Wood Products ......â– .........xxii
The Index to Volume LXXVIII. of the Record and I
Guide, covering the period between July 1 and De- j
cember 31, 1906, will be ready for delivery on ^
Wednesday, January 16. Price $1. This Index in |
its enlarged form is uow recognized as indispensable |
to every one engaged or interested in real estate and |
building operations. It covers all transactions— s
deeds, mortgages, leases, auction sales, building plans |
filed, etc. Orders for the Index should be sent at |
once to the oflices of publication, 11-15 East 24th St., |
and 14 and 16 Vesey St. |
ii^^ffi^B a>«ij»
EXTREMELY difficult it is to write about the stock mar¬
ket this week. It is a tangle of contradictions anom¬
alies and paradoxes. Every day it acts in a way calculated
to give the impression that great things are about to ensue
and, lo, in an hour the ticker stops and stagnation follows.
On Monday of this week commission houses were almost
unanimously bullish and for the first time in a long period
took hold with a will. By Tuesday noon they all grew
afraid at the same time, by reason of the market dullness
and threw their stocks overboard. They seemed to balance
between exuberant bull conditions existing in the country
and the dread of something to happen in the financial world,
and so the commission house operators hesitate to take any
decided position in the market. As soon as they buy stocks
they have the shivers, and if they sell "short" they see
ghosts of possible corners. It does appear though, that the
bull side must win. The apprehension growing out of the
fear of Federal investigations, in -other words, corporation
baiting, has the effect of calling a halt on everything in
the way of kiting and promoting, so that there will not be
any bubbles to be pricked and all this may save depression
and panic later on. If money should work easier or even
normally from this time a creeping market upwards should
be a certainty. As it is now price movements are unimpor¬
tant and many speculators fear that'the market may be
left to take care of itself for the time being, which is dis¬
couraging to those who like to see activity one way or an¬
other. Money has unquestionably been plentiful since Jan¬
uary 1, and those of what ia called "the public" who are
in the market do not understand why some brokers should
have had to pay exorbitant prices for loans. Thus the
money question again has had the effect of limiting busi¬
ness. The only fact regarding stocks worthy of mention is
that there is a growing feeling that Atchison may soon pass
under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Another
matter that has caused rejoicing in Wall Street is the an¬
nouncement that the Stamp law which required the same
tax on a sale of ?1 par as on one of $100 par was uncon¬
stitutional.
THE term of the Steinway tunnel franchise having ex¬
pired, the city's engineer found upon investigation
that the work is incomplete, that the underwater section is
pot pierced througb, an4 that the boring has not proceeded
as far as the public had previously been led by bulletins to
think. Much as the population of this congested town needs
this new gate to the suburbs, it is regrettable that the pro¬
prietors do not stand before the city in a better light. If
there is one thing more than another that the American
people have sickened of it is the game of deception and
trickery as practiced by so many corporations engaged in
the business of rendering a public service. We need this
tunnel, but let us have it honorably, and on terms as fair
to the public as to the builders. Now that the franchise
has expired—if there was really a franchise—these terms
should be the condition for an extension of time and the
privilege of finishing and operating the line. Mysteries
should be unveiled and the plans unrolled before the Mayor
aud the municipal cabinet, that a full understanding may
be had concerning the service which the proprietors of this
enterprise propose to render tha public, and the fare which
they hope to exact for it. No answer to the effect that
the fare is already fixed by statute should be accepted, but
a precise and definite agreement should be extracted from
this very secretive corporate body not only iu regard to
tolls, but also pertaining to connections, transfers, train
speed and personal comfort. Upon these particulars es¬
pecially depend a satisfactory adjustment of real estate
elements aud balances between various parts of the city,
and no doubt the people are more anxious about these mat¬
ters than concerned over the weightier matters of finance,
to which the Mayor must also give thought. It would seem
to us as if the city had Mr. Belmont's tunnel project in chan¬
cery, A cartoon picturing the figure of the official head of
the corporation caught in his own tube (trap) is suggested
to our illustrated contemporaries. Another aspect of the
case is the disclosure of the probability that the line will not
be in shape to operate for fully two years, during which
further period real estate interests in Queens must continue
to hold their breath. And not only in that quarter, but in
other quarters also—in South Brooklyn, Flatbush, the
Jerseys—wherever there are expectant speculators discount¬
ing a predicted exodus from Manhattan, there will be a
longer time to wait than has been advertised. We are, in
a word, extremely sceptical of the predictions fixing early
dates for the last stroke of work on any of the rapid transit
Hues now under construction, and of startling losses in pop¬
ulation, and recessions in values and rentals. We have no
idea that any of the changes will be more ab'rupt or
disturbing for this old island city than any that have gone
before. Water will always overflow the living fountain,
but always there will be more people wishing to live here
or required by their business to do so than available habi¬
tations can comfortably contain.
The Message of Mayor McClellan.
THE ANNU.'VL MESSAGE of Mayor McClellan did not re-,
ceive the attention it deserved from the daily news¬
papers. It contained' a number of new recommendations of
the utmost importance; and it outlines a general plan for
the future development of the resources of New York City
and the improvement of its administration which, if carried
out, will provide for almost all the important aspects of our
municipal welfare. The Mayor makes some reference to
every question of immediate moment connected with the
government of the city. He refers to the necessity of equal¬
izing salaries and to the work already accomplished to that
eud by the Commission he has appointed; and he urges the
Board of Aldermen to adopt the resolution already passed by
the Board of Estimate establishing various grades and posi¬
tions and fixing salaries by grade. This is one of the most
important of the many questions connected with the eco¬
nomical administration of the municipal government; but we
are afraid that it is the sort of reform, in the execution of
which no assistance can be expected from the Board of Alder¬
men. His references to the transit problem are brief and to
the point. He states that "the city is now acting and will
continue to act in the best of faith to carry out the provisions
of the Elsberg bill," and he asserts that any statement that
the terms of the Elsberg bill will make the contracts for the
new subways unattractive to bidders is premature and ill-
advised. It was only to be expected that the Mayor would
take this stand; but it is encouraging to find him declaring
so emphatically against the prophecies of evil, which have
been coming from different members of the Transit Commis¬
sion and their counsel. He calls attention to the work that
is being done and planned in order to secure relief from
congestion on the Brooklyn Bridge, to the rapid progress
that is ^t last being made botb on the tunnels, the Black-