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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 30, no. 748: July 15, 1882

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EAL Estate AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. XXX. NEW TOEK, SATUEDAT, JULT 15. 1882. No. 748 Published Weekly by The Real Estate Record Association TERMS: ONE TEAR, in advance.....$6.00 Communications should be addressed to €. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Busfaieas Manager. There are not nearly as many first-class private residences in the market as there were one year ago, nor are there more than one-half as many in the course of construc¬ tion, for the purpose of sale, as there were at that time. If there should be a buying movement set in among the large num¬ ber of persons who are now looking for handsome residences, it would be but a short time before there would be an actual scar¬ city in this description of realty. A very large number of builders, who have hereto¬ fore confined themselves to the erection of private houses, have, within the last few months, announced their intention of erect¬ ing apartment houses. By the way, is there no danger of the building of apartment houses being overdone ? WATER RENTS. Commissioner of Public Works, Hubert O. Thompson, has recently issued, under the laws of 1871, Chap. 574, Sec. 5, a set of regu¬ lations establishing a new scale of water rents for this city, which will go into gen¬ eral effect on May Isc, 1883. By way of pre¬ face, we may say that what New York City wants is good water and plenty of it, and if we cannot have it as free as the air we breathe, then let us have it at as small a cost as possible. It is claimed by the Commissioner of Pub¬ lic Works that the large increase in the water tax to be paid upon certain kinds of property, and upon all water closets except those approved by the Department, is not for the purpose of increasing the receipts, but to prevent the wanton waste of water. To our minds it is diSicult ta 'determine what is waste of water, for if it is allowed to run without being applied to any specific use, it will flush the sewers, or help to flush them, and thus assist in carrying off disease-breeding refuse. It is upon the owners of what are termed flat houses that this new scale of water rents will fall heaviest, "Each flat or suit of rooms for one family shall be charged ten dollars per year where they have hot and cold water, stationary wash tubs, bath and water closet, with the privilege of using meter." Under the present regula¬ tions an average flat house, say 20 feet wide and five stories high, is charged a water rent of $10, while under the new regulations the charge will be $50. The effect of such an extortionate charge can have but one re¬ sult, the raising of the rents for apartments, and so will, after all, fall on those who can least afford to bear it. We almost for¬ got to mention that if the owner of the premises does not desire to be mulcted in this way, the Department grants him the privUege of putting in a water meter, which he can do at a cost of anywhere from $15 to $300, and paying for ihe water actually used at the rate of ten cents per hundred cubic feet. The other most notable change in the charges for water rents is in the matter of water closets, which are now uniformly charged $2.00 each. The new regulations say: Water Closets and Urinals.—To each building on a lot one water closet having sewer connection is allowed without charge, each additional water closet or urinal will be charged as hereinafter stated. All closets or urinals in which the Croton water from any service pipe or hydrant connecting with a privy vault or man-hole shall be charged two dollars for each seat per annum, whether in a building or on any oiher portion of the premises. Water Closet Rates.—For hoppers, of any form, when water is supplied dii'ect from the Croton supply, through any form of the so-called single or double valves, hopper cocks, stop cocks, self-closing cocks, or any valve or cock of any de¬ scription attached to the closet, each per year, twenty dollars. For any pan closet, or any of the forms of valve plunger, or other water closet not before men¬ tioned, suppUed with water as above de¬ scribed, per year, ten dollars. For any form of hopper, or water closet, sup¬ plied from the ordinary style of cistern filled with ball cock, and overflow pipe that communicates with the pipe to the waterjcloset, so that ovei"flow will run into the hopper or water closet, when ball cock is defective, or from which an unlimited amount of water can be drawn by holding up the handle, per year, each, five dollars. For any form of hopper or water closet, supplied from any of the forms of waste-prevent¬ ing cisterns, that are approved by the Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, which are so constructed that not more than three gallons of water can be drawn at each lift of the handle, or depression of the seat, if such cisterns are provided with an overflow pipe, such overflow pipe must not connect with the water-closet, but be carried like a safe waste, as provided by the Board of Health Regulations, per year, two dollars. This will probably be very unsatisfactory to such persons as have hopper closets in their houses supplied direct from the Croton supply, and the increase in water rent from $2 to $20 per annum for each hopper closet, and from $2|to $10 for each pan closet, certain¬ ly does seem steep. If this enormous in¬ crease is enforced, theDepartment of Public Works should be able to save enough money from water rents alone, in a very brief peri¬ od, to erect a new reservoir with ample ca¬ pacity to supply all the Croton that may be needed at a reasonable cost. The Depart¬ ment have also a cistern, which is approved by the Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, which naay be introduced for the use of wa¬ ter closets, when the charge wiU be only $3 per year. The new regulations also strike a blow at our manufacturing interests, which are already overburdened with excessive taxa¬ tion, by raising the charge for water used through a meter, from 1}4 to 10 cents per 100 cubic feet. The power is claimed by the De^ artment to place a meter in any house where they may think water is being wasted but there are grave doubts of the legality of any such proceeding and this matter will probably be tested in the courts. THE WAR IN THE EAST. Alexandria has fallen, and bj this time i^ nothing more than a smouldering ruin. So the much-talked-of and unequal struggle between England and Egypt has commenced. Whoever may be right, and upon this point there is but little difference of opinion, the result of the war will be disastrous in the extreme to Arabi Pasha and his followers. If England is, as alleged, fighting for the preservation of international compacts and in defence of the Suez Canal, she should never cease the struggle until these are definitely assured. That Arabi, with nis whole army, are in full but orderly retreat, with Cairo, a point a little more than one hundred miles distant from Alexandria, as their destination, we are informed by dis¬ patches from the seat of war. That he will be enabled to prolong tho struggle for some time to come seems probable, as that city is strongly fortified, and he will be able to make a stand there long enough to greatly strengthen his fighting forces, after which he will, in all likelihood, retreat up the Nile and continue the war. As we have already intimated, there can be no doubt of the ultimate result of the contest between England and Egypt—the defeat and occupation of the latter by the former is a foregone conclusion. But that the existing jealousies between the Continental Powers may make the final settlement of the trouble a very serious question cannot be doubted, still that there is great imme¬ diate danger of a general European war as intimated in some quarters we do not appre¬ hend. If such a struggle should be the out¬ come of this comparatively insignificant affair, we may congratulate ourselves that no harm can come to us as a nation, and that an almost unlimited market would be opened up to us for the sale of our enor¬ mous crop of cereals as well as cotton, beef, and other commodities. There ia one feature about the bombard¬ ment and consequent evacuation of Alex andria, for which there can be no ex¬ cuse, we allude to the horrible massa¬ cre of hundreds of Christians by the Bedo¬ uins and escaped convicts. Admiral Sey¬ mour must of weU known the character of the people against whom he was fighting, and that he should of commenced the bom¬ bardment of the city in the face of all the facts before he had any available land force to take possession of it, and protect the large number of Christians whom he must have known were there, seems inexplicable. There had been weeks of preparation, and if there had not been time to gather a portion of the English army, which we do not be¬ lieve, then the destruction of the city should have been postponed a little longer xmtil a proper land force were at hand to prevent the recurrence of the many horrrible scenes, similar to those that took place at Cawpore in India, at Klhyber Pass in Afghanistan, and at Isandula, Cape of Good Hope. Admiral Seymour should be held to a strict k {u:countability for the disaster.