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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 7, no. 170: June 17, 1871

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ms EAL Estate Record AND BUILDERSV GUIDE. Vol. YIL NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1871. No. 170. Published Weekly by THE REAL ESTATE RECORD ASSOCIATION. TERMS. One year, in advance...................... $6 00 AU comUiunicationB shonld he addressed to 7 AND 9 WARREN STRKET. No receipt for money due the Real ESTATE RECORD vrill be acknowledged unless signed by one of our regidar collectors^'Hekry D. Sshth or Thomas P. Cummings. AU bills for collection will be sent from the office on a regu¬ larly printed form. TURKISH BATHS. That most luxurious and effective of all ap¬ pliances for the promotion of health—the Turkish Bath—has, within the last few years, become so far established among us that we may now consider it as a fixed " institution," re¬ quiring nothing more than further development towards perfection. Although there are seve¬ ral places of the kind in New York, where one can obtain a purifying bath on the most ap¬ proved Turkish principles, there can be no doubt that these estabhshments yet fall short of what are to be found elsewhere. What we need is something upon a far grander scale than has ever yet been attempted in this city;—a place that would be frequented as much for its luxu¬ rious accompaniments as for its health-dis¬ pensing qualities, such an one, for instance, as the celebrated " Hummaum Baths'," in Jermyn street, London. On descending into this splendid building and paying for his ticket at the office,—about 80 cents of our money,—the visitor, after being first divested of his shoes—so iscrupulously clean must the floors be kept—is introduced into a very spacious and lofty domed space or chamber, dimly lighted from above with stain¬ ed glass, and built ia the Turkish style of archi¬ tecture. It is surrounded by large curtained recesses for undressing, supplied with broad and most luxurious sofas and pillows. AVhile in this stately oriental compartment, the continual cool splashing of water, the dim mysterious light, the dusky and stalwart forms of the sham- pooers, gliding noislessly about the polished marble floors, and the swathed and turbaned bathers lounging dreantiily in every direction, af¬ ter their ablution8,produce oifthe senses an inde¬ scribable effeist of repose and enjoyment. From here the visitor passes into the various cham¬ bers provided" for sudatory purposes, aui heat¬ ed up to diffierpnt degrees of teinperature. But it is after going through the processes of purification, and when, wrapped up in huge coarse sheets, the bather returns to the vault¬ ed space to cool off leisurely: that he' feels. while reclining on his large lounge, smoking or sipping his coffee or iced sherbet, the fulness of bodily enjoyment. It is in this after ar¬ rangement that our baths are so deficient. This particular establishment has been pronoimced, by distinguished Turkish visitors, as not only equal, but superior to anything of the sort in Constantinople,—^the buUders having seized all the salient good points of the Oriental Baths and improved upon them. With the rapid tide of local improvement on which this decade has entered, let us hope that New York will very soon, in this respect also, rival anything of the kind to be found elsewhere. POLYCHROMY. Some months ago, and before anything of the kind had been seen in New York, we drew attention in these columns to the question of decorating our buildings, externally as well as internally, by the aid of varied colors, known as Polychromy. We alluded to the fact that the tasteful Greeks, in their palmiest days, were in the habit of using it, and that even the chaste Parthenon was not considered above being in that manner. How much more reason have we—especially in omamental iron struc¬ tures, now coming so much into use—for avail¬ ing ourselves of this simple mode of decora¬ tion. An iron front needs painting in any case, to protect it from the weather; aM since the material mi^i be painted, why no't-boldly treat it by such artistic and varied combinations and contrasts of color as shall delight the eye, in¬ stead of perpetrating a pretence and a sham, by painting it aU of one color, in imitation of stone or marble ? Never was .a fairer field presented for carry¬ ing this art to perfection than in this city, where we have not only largely entered upon a style of building peculiarly adapted to such treatment, but where the brightness of the climate, added to the inherent love of gayety and display in our people, would seem to spe¬ ciaUy invite it. Paris is far ahead of us in this respect. Even in the murky atmosphere of London the architects there have made use of painting and gilding, in external decoration, to an extent that never has been attempted here. How beautiful our main thoroughfares might be made to look, by a larger use of Polychromy, can be, seen by the only two specimens of any consequence that have been yet attempted. We allude to the store of D. Appleton & Co., on Broadway, and the more recent one of Marshall, Johnston «fe Co., immediately ad¬ joining it. Both of these, if not perfect ex¬ amples, are certainly very pleasing objects to look at, and far more satisfactory than if they had been painted in imitation of stone or marble. ' Such an edifice as Lord & Taylob's upper store—^which we have always considered the richest iron front in the city—^if well deco¬ rated in this maimer, might be made to produce a really gorgeous effect. In unskiKul hands such a mode of decoration can, doubtless, very easily degenerate into meretricious vulgarity; but no true artist in color could fail in making it add immeasurably to the gay and beautiful appearance of our city. NewYork Island has an area of tweniy-two square nules and twenty-nine miles of water front, about three-fourths of which stretches along the Hudson and East rivers, and the re¬ maining one-fourth upon the Harlem river and Spuyten DuyvU creek. The streets, roads, and avenues measure four hundred and sixty mUes. Two hundred and ninety-one mUes of these are paved; one hundred and.sixtyrnine mUes are unpaved. Nineteen thousand gas-Ughts are burned every night at the, public expense to light this area, water front, and extent of streets. Beneath the surface of the city there are three hundred and forty. mUes of Croton water pipes and two hundred and seventy-five mUes of sewers. If we- accept the last Federal census, the number of our constituents is nine hundred and forty-two thousand two hnndred and fifty-two. One thousand horse railway cars, two hundred and sixty-seven omnibuses, about twelve thousand licensed vehicles, and quite as many more private vehicles continuaUy traverse the thoroughfares, and subject them to increas¬ ing wear. It is claimed that forty thousand horses are constantly stabled or used within, the city limits. On the 26th day of May last, relieving officers of the ordinance squad, stationed on Broadway, opposite the City HaU, were instructed to report the number of vehicles that from seven o! clock a.m. untU seven o'clock P.M. passed and repassed; and they reported 16,246, exclusive of omnibuses. These specimen statistics imply how great a city we have to care for, keep in repair, sustain by taxation, protect by policemen, firemen, or sanitary regulations, and make provision for in respect to its more important future. During the ten months preceding May 1, 1871, two hundred and eighty-four mUUon doUars' worth of foreign inerchandise, exclusive of specie, was imported into this city. During the same, period. Nev/ York City paid the Govemment one hundred and twenty millions of doUars for duties on imports, and the value of exports, exclusive of specie, was two hundred and fifty- one TmHions.—Extract from Mayor HaU''s Mes¬ sage. ' MECHANICS' LIENS AGAINST BUILDINGS IN NEW YORK CITY. June. 10 Fifty-first. ST., s. s. (Nos.'18 and 20). HenryPieringagt. J.P. 01m- . stead etal........................ $646 87 10 Fifty-seventh st., n. s., 206.5 e. 1st av. Joseph. E. Redman agt. Jas Flack....................____ 95 5T 12 FOKTY-SIXTH ST., S. S. (NoS. 130 TO 144 W., inclusive). Alva C. Mason agt. R. R. Codling.._______....... 650 OO 13 Fifty-second st., n. s. (No. 443 W.). AUan & Stevens agt. G. Ritz...... 203 43: 13 Forty-sixth ST., N. s. (Nos. 305 and 307 E.). James Thompsoa agfc. —. Arnen........................... 1,000 OO