Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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414: The Real Estate Record April 29,1882 to pay. It is notorious that investments in New York real estate do not, on an average, pay more than 5 or 6 per cent. Any agita¬ tion which would render this kind of prop¬ erty insecure as an investment, would result in a grievous additional tax upon the general community, for if capital is frightened away from real estate to stocks and bonds, there will be fewer houses built and those in the market would command a far higher rental to make up for the insecurity. WALL STREET. The stock market still wants a leader. The bears as yet as a general thing still have command of the street, but thei'e are many reasons which render selling short somewhat risky. We have very easy money, a heavy immigration and a number of other factors which ought to advance prices, but of course there can be no decided upward movement expected until there is some assurance that we shall have good crops. So far the condi¬ tions of weather and growth have been fav¬ orable, and if these indications continue good, a buying movement will in time re¬ sult. It may take thirty days to create a decided impression for or against the new crop, but if the indications should be favor¬ able by the early part of June, an active rising market may come with the advent of hot weather. Tlie weak points in the mar¬ ket are the suspicion there may be a fight among the coal roads, and the heavy falling ofl compared with last year of the East- bound freight business. If any stocks should have real prospective value, it is those of the Northwest. Indeed the entire country north of Kansas and west of the Mississippi is growing so enormously, that with a fair average crop there ought to be a large addition to the price of the shares of the railways which have a monopoly of that region. Northwestern, St. Paul & Omaha, as well as Rock Island will profit very lai-gely this coming season, provided the crop is a fair one. But it is difficult to find a bull argument for the Vanderbilt stocks east of ihe Mississippi. Lake Shore will be subject not only to the competition of the New York, St. Louis & Chicago, but when navigation is open, the Welland canal will tell as a competitor, now that its depth is twelve feet. Indeed much of tlie depression ia the trunk lines is due to the great com¬ petition which will take place in the grain trade when the Welland canal can be used by large sized boats. Barges caiTying 700 tons of coal will hereafter be able to get through the Welland canal; they could not carry more thau 500 tons heretofore. Then the time is fast approaching when the Dela¬ ware &, Lackawanna, the Ontario & West¬ ern, and the New York, West Shore & Buf¬ falo will be active competitors for the busi¬ ness now monopolized by the New York Central and the Erie. The immediate out¬ look for the stock market is very puzzling, but the growls of the bears are on the whole drowning the roars of the buUs. up the time [of courts, and yet we have be¬ fore us the example of Pennsylvania, in which money lent on land or houses is. col¬ lected promptly or the property confiscated, without the machinery of mortgage suits. If default is made in thojpayment at the time specified, execution issues without de¬ lay, and a sale by the Sheriff follows. In this State our. laws are codified in such a way as to retain the old forms, while in Pennsylvania the common law practice has been retained and th^ forms gotten rid of. Why not assimilate some of the laws in this State relating to real estate, to those in force in Pennsylvania? In the latter State mortgages are almost unknown, and a sim¬ ple judgment costing $1.25, which has all the effect of a mortgage, takes its place. The machinery in New York, by whicii en¬ cumbered real estate passes into the hands of a creditor is cumbrous and costly. It in¬ volves the employment of lawyers and takes MINING INFORMATION. The declaration of the seventy-eighth 50 cent, monthly dividend by the Ontario, calls attention to a class of mining stocks in which there is very little speculation, but which are reallj- the standby's of the market. Ontario was put on this market at $20 a share, the original subsrib- ers have received back $39, and are in possession of their original certificates. The mine is good for many years yet, though one peril constantly menaces it. It is situated in a canon, surrounded by hills, and, as the workings increase in depth, the springs of the lakes and streams in the neighborhood are being tapped. Immense pumps have so far kept the mine so that it can be worked, but it may become a cistern with plenty cf good ore in the lower levels. Among the other steady dividend-payers are the Home- stake, Father de Smet, Deadwood, Terra and Standard of Bodie. These properties have all fulfilled expectations, but the stocks are not active, as they are looked on as steady dividend- payers, and the element of doubt is limited, which is so essential iu speculative transactions. Still it is the experience of California operators that dividend hunters e^sentually get "stuck." When] the mining fever first began to rage it was pointed out in these columns that owing to the imperfection in our laws there would finally come a harvest for the lawyers in litigations which would ensue as soon as people found they lost money, and that promoters could be called to account. New York needs a well-guarded law under which mining corporations can be organized, and which will admit of assessments. The companies are now organized under the general manufacturing law, and under its pro¬ visions promoters and others are held to a strict accountability. A glance at the] legal columns of the daily papers shows how many suits are under way against persons who have been active in organizing mining corporations. When the Bullion Club was in active operation au attempt was made to draft a law that would meet the case, but it was never presented to the Legis¬ lature, as it was known that the lobby stood ready to blackmail the mining interest. The National Mining and Industrial Exposition which Avill open at Denver on the first of next August, win doubtless mark an epoch in the his¬ tory of mining in this countiy. Of course the railroads will encourage a visit to Denver on that occasion by giving lower rates of fare, and all who can afford it should visit the wonderful region in the neighborhood of the capital of Col¬ orado. The country thereabouts is wonderfully pictm-esque. The tourist would do well to spend a couple of weeks in visiting Pike's Peak, the Clear Creek country, Georgetown, the Garden of the Gods, Manitou, the Queen's Canon, and the Cheyenne Canon. We are entering upon an era of immense mineral development, for oui' railway system is now being connected with the mineral regions of the West. George D. Roberts has come to town, and he and his associates have organized a grand raid upon the pockets of the community. He will have the shares of four mines in Lake Valley, New Mexico, to dispose of; indeed the machin¬ ery of the deal has been copied from the State Line programme. There are two centre mines which are supposed to be of exceptional value, and two outside mines that are promising pros¬ pects. It is understood that these properties are soon to be listed upon the New York Mining Board, and it is known that there is already an active private demand for the shares of the com¬ pany. Five dollars a share is eagerly bid for one of the mines of this group, and $1.75 for the cheaper outside properties. It is to be seen whether the mining public will deal in these properties after their unfortunate experience in Mr. Roberts' previous ventiu-es. Wm. M. Lent writes to his friends from San Francisco that at present pi ices Standard and Bodie are a purchase. The Union Consolidated of Bodie which figures so extensively in the newspapers is the worst kind of a cat, it does not deserve to be men¬ tioned. It is situated on a part of the Bodie bluff, in which no mine will ever be found. All the ground north of tho Standard, so far ex¬ plored, has not brought to light any ore that will more than pay the expenses of mining. So far the high pay-ore of the Bodie district has beeu found in the southern two-hirds of the Standard mine and in the northern half of the Bodie.' In the southern half of the Bodie the formation breaks up, and as the northern line of the Stand¬ ard is neared the ore grows lean. BEYOND THE HARLEM. In 1S79 a charter was obtained for the running of a rapid transit railroad over or adjacent to the line of the Harlem River & Portchester Rail¬ road. Under this charter this company were to run half hourly trains, with the usual commis¬ sion hours, within thirty days after the comple¬ tion of a bridge across the Harlem River, which they were empowered to build. Upon the open¬ ing of the subscription books 95 per cent, of the stock was taken by the ofiicials of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Raih-oad Company, who are also the owners of the Hai-lem River & Port¬ chester Railroad, over which this new line was to mn. Property owners along the route of this line complain that nothing has been done towards, accomplishing the object that they had in -view when they secured the charter referred to— namely, the running!|of fx-equent trains for the accommodation of residents in the district through which it passed. This charter, nothing having been done, will expire on May 2d next, but it appears that application has been made to the. Legislature for an extension of two years. A meeting of the property owners in this locali¬ ty was held at 130 Water street, some days since, at which the following gentlemen, representing over five million of doUars, were present: James C. Cooley, President, Edward Haight, Secretary, Chas. D. Burrill, H. D. Tiffany, Frank Watson and William Caswell. The president stated that the officials of the railroad company had been in¬ vited to attend the meeting but have declined, and that they also refused to make any tacit agreement in regard to the running of more fre¬ quent trains, and therefore he moved that a tele¬ gram be sent to Representative Catlin at Albany, to leave nothing undone to defeat the extension of the charter to which we have heretofore re¬ ferred. This motion was unanimously adopted and the telegram sent. It is alleged that the reason the Harlem River & Portchester Railroad Company do not move in the matter, is that they have such a'Jarge freight business that they do not care for the passenger traffic, and consequently run as few trains as is consistent with the terms of their charter. Estimates for paving the following streets will be received until May.Sth, at 12 ii.: Morris, between Greenwich and West; Fourth, between Broadway and Thirteenth; Tenth avenue, between Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth; North William, between Frankfort and Chatham; Rose, between Frankfort and New Chambers; Vandewater, between Frankfort and Pearl; Twenty-flfth, between Fifth and Sixth ave¬ nues; Twenty-sixth, between Avenue A and the East River; Fifty-fourch, between Seventh and Eighth avenues; Avenue A, from Fifty-fourth to Fifty-sev¬ enth ; Tenth avenue, from Seventy second to Seventy- fourth; One Hundred and Thirty-third, from Fourth to Sixth; Sixty-second, from the Boulevard to Tenth avenue and. Ninety-ninth, from Third avenue to ext<-rior street.