Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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244: The Real Estate Record. March 19, 1881 park, the owners of which have had the same experience, and San Francisco another. It may be that these enterprises were started prematurely and that the projectors did not allow for business disasters, or were involved in debt at the very beginning. Solvent as¬ sociations for buying property in mass and reseUing to people who want pleasant homes in desirable locations, have been reasonably successful. This is true of Larchmont and Huguenot Park, one to the nortli and the other to the west of New Rochelle. Tiiere is a great deal of money to be made from this time forth, by wise investments in real estate, by capitalists or comj)anies in which the property is divided up into building lots and money advanced to those who wish to make permanent homes for their families. But these enterprises want individual heads. Co-operative associations rarely succeed, Mount Vernon in Westchester County being one of the very few exceptions. UNFORTUNATE NAMES. Let sensible folks say what they will, peo¬ ple who invest in securities are very apt to believe in luck. If they note the fact that disaster generally overtakes the enterprises in which certain names appear, they are led to believe it is better not to have anything to do with new companies in which these same operators turn up. Take the mining interest, for instance. Certain gentlemen have come to the fore in the organization of the stocks called in our local markets, and people who have invested on the strength of these names have lost their money. Of course, there is a liability to hold these operators responsible for the losses, and honest men have often been called swindlers because of mistakes they have made. At any rate a great many superstitious people would prtj- fer not to have anything to do with com¬ panies which have come to grief under their management. Among the gentlemen who have figured for the past two years in one or more unfortunate enterprises are the follow¬ ing : George Roberts, William M. Lent, Ex-Senator Chaffee, Senator John P. Jones, William Brandreth, Ex-Gov. Taber, Drake de Kay, A. H. GiU, Mr. Moffat, S. V. White, Supt, Keyes, George Daly, Generar.Dodge, Mr. Havemeyer. The public will recall these and other names in connection with the former man¬ agements of Chrysolite, Little Chief, Hukill, Freeland, Little Pittsburgh, Bodie and other properties, investments in which have proved unfortunate. We judge these and other gentlemen have been roundly cursod by certain exacting investors, who have prob¬ ably called them harsh names and wished they had never heard of them or their mines. We, however, take a charitable view of things, knowing the tmcertainty of mining. Of course, all of these gentlemen must have lost immense fortunes for their mistakes in judgment. If their friends suffered for being in the same boat with them, they can mingle their tears in common. Still, super¬ stitious people wUl probably avoid any min¬ ing company in which these gentlemen have anything to do, either as ofllcers or manipulators. Indeed, the impossibility of the investing public keeping track of every new mine listed wiU give special value of their endorsement by certain names. For instance, it is the same group oH operators. with Mr. Haggan at the head, who have listed on this market the Homestake, Ontario and Deadwood Terra mines. These have paid dividends for so long a period and have to all appearances been so well man¬ aged that they have inspired confidence among investors, and any new ijroperty that they would endorse would be promptly taken up at high figures. People who value their reputation and whose names are associ¬ ated only with good properties can make large fortunes on this niarket. For investors will follow names before they invest in mines. But mine promoters who have been mistaken, unfortunate or worse, must not expect to gain credit in the mining stock market. CONDITION OF THE MARKETS. The outlook is mixed. It is evident that a monetary stringency of some kind is fear¬ ed, and so we have a dull market at the Stock Exchange, in which the variations are but slight. Judge Bond, who was elected President of the Reading road, is supposed to have certain affiliations with the Pennsyl¬ vania Central, which may rietach the Read¬ ing from the coal combination. This fact has doubtless had much to do with the weak¬ ness of the coal stocks during the past few days The coal properties are dangerous ones for investors to touch, in view of the patent fact, that there is practically no limit to the coal laroduction. it is within the power of the companies, which now own the anthracite region; to, within a year, double tlie anthracite product, and thus supj)ly three tons for every two which could be consumed. There must be an agreement faithfully observed, or the coal trade, as far as the railways are concerned, goes to the dogs. It is the coal companies which have been the weak spot in the mar¬ ket. There was also a current rumor that Delaware and Lackawanna would declare 1% per cent quarterly dividend, instead of 3 per cent as expected. Another element of distrust is the precise attitude of the Treasury department. The new Secretary is a factor in the problem of unknown potency. It is unfortunate that this is the case. Prices of securities should be determined by the laws of trade and the course of business, and not by the possibly interested, and often capricious, action of a Government officer. We have a party in this country which protests against central¬ ization, yet no one has thought it necessary to lift his voice against the power wielded by Mr. Windom, to make money easy or tight, and thus put stocks up or down. The bears have made much use of the storms in the West to depress stocks; but it seems St. Paul earned during the year 1880 fully 10 per cent on its capital stock, and can well afford to pay the 1% per cent quar¬ terly dividend just declared. Both the St. Paul and Northwest have lost heavily by the recent storms, but then the spring business will more than make up, as the amounts of freight to be carried are very large. Thirty- eight roads report a business for the month of February, 1881, of $10,645,569, an increase of $463,718 over the same month last year, that is about 4.% per cent. But there was an increase of mileage operated on these roads of 4,137 miles, or 17 per cent. North¬ west earned $957,300 this February, against $1,131,683 February 1880. St. Paul earned $683,000, against $738,749 last year. Illinois Central earned $493,851, against $603,806 last year. This is a bad showing, especially as the mileage on these roads was 3,500 more than last year. The strength of the stock market for the last few days is due to a belief that an ex¬ tra session of Congress may soon be called. Usually, such an expectation would depress values, but as the main object of the called session would be the passage of a Refunding Bill, and as that would mean a cheap money market and possible^ja 3 percent Government bond, it revives the bull feeling in all stocks. Unless there is war in Euiope, an extra ses¬ sion of Congress will bring about an advance in prices beyond anything we have yet seen. From the feeling throughout the country, it is doubtful whether the banks will fare any better in the new than in the last CongrL^-ss. Cotton continues weak. We produced more last year than the world can possibly use this year. Grain has advanced slightly in price, and if there is any threat of foreign war, which is not unlikely, or any doubt about the crops of this country, which is also possible before the season closes, there may be a sharp ad¬ vance in the price of cereals. The action of the Governments of France, Germany and Austria, in discriminating against our hog products, has weakened the whole provision market, forthe doubt raised against the wholesomeness of one kind of meat discredits all other kinds. It is un¬ fortunate that a few careless and over greedy packers should have been allowed to strike such a blow at the commerce of America. If the old system of inspection at the Atlantic ports had been continued, this calamity would not have befallen the country. But Chicago in its eagerness, to take all the profits, has insisted upon direct trade with Europe, and has managed it so badly as to close for some time half the markets of the world against their hog pro¬ ducts. RAPID TRANSIT -IN THE 34th WARD. The completion of the New York City & Northern Railroad Bridge, which is now a matter of only a few days, wiU open a new era in the history of rapid transit, as it will, in connecting the hitherto remote localities of Westchester County with the elevated railroad system of the metropolis, enable the inhabitants of that section to have ready access to the business centre of our city. This bridge will directly unite the Metropolitan Elevated Railroad with the New York City & Northern Railroad above Highbridge, affording a continuous line from the Battery through Westchester and Putnam counties to Brewsters. The New York City & Northern wiU con¬ nect with the Metropolitan Elevated Line at One Hundred and Fif ty-seventh street and Eighth avenue, bearing to the right on a double track viaduct, crossing the Harlem River by the new bridge at right angles to the bulkhead line to the Westchester shore, thsnce swinging round over the tracks of the Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris Railroad strike the high ground, whence it contin¬ ues as a surface road to Highbridge, where it unites with the main line of the New York City & Northern Railroad. The bridge will be five hundred feet in length and is composed wholly of iron, rest¬ ing on massive granite piers. The super¬ structure will consist of two deck spans one hundred feet in length, uaibed by a huge