Text version:
Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
May 9, 1885 The Record and Guide. 623 Club on Fifth avenue and Thirty-fifth street, adjoining Mrs. Stew-art's man¬ sion, to make room for the immense apartment house they projiose to Brec¬ on the site. The old sti-uctures on the southwest corner of Mulberry and Houston streets are to be demolished, to make way for the Puck buUding, the ownere being Messrs. Ottmann, Keppler & Schwarzmann. Quite a large number of lesser structures are being torn down, to make room for private houses, tenements aud flats in various parts of the city. Broadway and other down-town offlces have very extensivelj- undergone remodelling, and alter¬ ations of houses into store, offlce and busiuess rooms of every description on the firet floors are beiug undertaken on various avenues and side streets. It is also reported tha t the factorj- on Whitehall street, opposite the Produce Exchange, is to be altered into a hotel. New Rochelle Improvements. There has been unusual activitj- in buildiug aud real estate in New Ro. chelle during the past twelve months. Indeed, the local builders and real estate agents saj' that more building has been done during tho past j'ear than for the previous ten years together. This in itself is an extraordmary symptom of the growth of a town, for it can be said of very few places in New York State that the improvements of a single j-ear have supereeded those for the whole previous decade. The causes have not been determined by those who reside here, but thej- are no doubt the result, firstly, of the extensive improvements undertaken, especially those made by the Iselin familj-; secondlj", the desirability of New Rochelle for residence purposes—its cheaper rents, pleasant surroundings and nearness to the city; and thirdlj', the disposition of manj- New Yorkers to Uve in the countrj- away from the crowded citj", just far enough distant as to be able to get to business within about au hour's time. Foremost among the improvemeuts under waj- is the handsome gymnasium on the southeast coruer of Main and Centre streets. This is a brick, terra cotta and stone front building, with tiletl roof. It is iu ornate style and presents a pictm-esque appearance. It has a frontage of 100 feet on Main street and 45 ou Centre, exclusive of a plot of ground adjoin, ing for lawn tennis aud other out-door exercises. The interior is tis handsome as the exterior. It has a gallerj- all round for visitors, and wiU shortly receive its gj-muastic equipments. There are bowUng aUeys below, ladies' and gentlemen's dressing rooms, and other accessories. The buUdiug is heated by steam and when completed wUl cost about $7.5,000. Acbian IseUn is the owner. The same gentleman is building six two-story frame cottages ou his property near Drakes avenue, from plans by Gporp-e K Thompson ^ to cost ?;3,000 each, aud he is also about to construct a dock at New Rochelle Creek. Amongst other improvements under way is a two-story and attic frame cottage, the foundations of which are just appearing above ground on Hugenot street. It is being built for J. W. Shearwood .and wUl cost about $3,.50O, the size being 30x30, with 13 loot extension. There is also a two-storj- cottage being built on Hugenot street, near North, '2-2x36 in size, for William Downing. Henderson & Sons are building six small cottages ou Drakes lane and two on Sound View of a superior chm-acter. A. B. Hudson's house on Bay View avenue, near Franklin, to cost .$3,300, and A. Kimball's house on the same street, 2
i6(oc by the above associatiou. That Russian Loan. Editor Record and Guide : It was a bright suggestion of yours that American bankere should sub¬ scribe for a Russian loan. Russia has never defaulted on anj- national obli¬ gation, and no matter what her future financial difficulties might be, her American creditors would be certain of the principal and interest on the bonds issued to them. Russia is growing in population and wealth, and her national securities sell far below their true value, as will be seen by the fol¬ lowing table, which shows the market price of British 3 per cents compared with Russian 5 per cents: 2 per cent. Consols, Russian 1870, 6 p. c. Russian 1873, 6 p. o. Highest. Lowest. Iiighest. Lowest. Highest. Lowest. 1870............... 941^ 88M 88W 78 ........ 1871............... 94 91% 98 »2ii ....... 1872................ 94% om 95 81% ........ 1873................ 94 om 98U 9IU 1874................ 93« 91U 104'« 96?| 103>i 94W 1875................ 9,'i^ 9\% lOeW 961..J 104 94M 1876............... 97U 9334 10-2SlJ 73 99'.* 74i2 1877............... 974| 93 93Xj T0J4 88% 69^ 1878 .............. 9m 98 90 70W S7% 74 1879................ 99% 94?.^ 93% H-i\4 90!^ 82 1880............... 1009-4 9TJ4 M'^ 8-J^ 91S^ 81^ 1881................ 103 98>-4 9-i^ 87 95!^ 86U 1882................ 1021* 99 88 80>.«i 87 SOfi 1883.............. 10291 99-?i X9% S15.4 88^ 8IM 1884..............1025^ 9»% 97;.» NiU 96^ 8S^ By all means let us lend Russia say $50,0(H),0(X). We have the money to spai-e, and our entering the market as a lender instead of a borrower of money would create a profound impression in the money markets of the rest of the world. We could then begin to speculate as to how soon it will be when New York will become the leading iuteruatioual moii'^y market. BOSPHORUS. About Public Halls. Editor Record and Guide: Were you not a little too previous in pronoiiueing the hall of the Cotton Exchange acoustically perfect? It seems that the brokers have been forced to remove their pit to the southwest comer of the room because of the echo in the centre of the hall. The same trouble exists iu the new Board of Trade hall at Chicago. The three pits are too near together, and the rever¬ beration is deafenmg. It is singular how otherwise competent architects will neglect this important matter. Even the Real Estate Exi'haiige in Liberty street is uot yet quite right, and something \vill have to be done to put a stop to the echo which is heard iu different parts of the hall. Dealer. --------•-------- Damages for Breach of Contract. In the delightful monograph of Mr. Janies W. Gerard upon the old "Stadt-Hnys" of New Amsterdam, read before the New York Historical Society in 1875, we find the following extract ^from the records, a contract of sale of land. It shows the important part plaj-ed by John Barleycorn in the legal transactions of those daj-s. It is as foUows: " Before me, Comeilus Van Tienhoveu, Secretary of New Netherland, appeared Harck Sybesen, who acknowleilged to having sold to Bareiit Dirckson his house and lot, earth and nail fast, both big and little, as the same is situated on the island of Manhattan, near Fort Amsterdam, which Dircksen also acknowledges to have imrcliHscil for 17.5 guilders and a halt barrel of beer as a treat for the com]iaiiy, to bo i)aiil in fourteen days, when the deliverj' of the house and depemleiicies shall take place.'' " It is agreed that if either party backs out or repents of the sale he shall pay a half barrel of beer." -------•-------- The Field Code Editor Record and Guide: In your last issue you say : "This now ' Field Code,' as it is termed, has been adopted by eighteen States, in only one of whicli has there been auy complaint of its workings. In California, it is alleged, it has led to litiga¬ tion, and an increase in the number of law books. On the other hand, it is maintained that the litigation has been caused bj' the adoption of a new con¬ stitution in IS79 of a very radical and subversive character." By consulting the statutes of the various States, you will find that this civil code has been adopted in no State except California. Under its blessed rule the corporations obtained a power unknown in other States, and then followed the reaction of Kearneyism and the new State Constitution. May New York not have the same experience '. J. Bleeckee MilLiER,
