Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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200 The Record and Guide. February 12, 188? a mileage of 2,324 miles, extending from Alexandria, Va., to Atlanta, Ga., and thence 167 miles further over the Georgia Pacific—which it continJs-to Birmingham, Ala., the great coal, iron and hmesfcone centre of the Gulf States. Connections are had at that city with New Orleans, VIcksbnrg and other Southwestern points. The branches of the through line are these : The road from Richmond to tidewater at West Point; a road extending from Greensboro, N. C, on the main line 130 miles to Goldsboro; a road running west from Salisbury 190 miles to Point Rock. Tenn., on the Easfc Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. Besides fchese there are other short brancihes reaching points in North Carolina and South Carolina, among them some that give access to sources of traflBc like Charleston and Au¬ gusta. The new acquisition—the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia- adds 1,428 miles to fche Richmond & Danville system, and gives it Itnportanfc oufclets upon fche Afclanfcic and the Mississippi. Beginning afc Brisfcol. Tenn., near the Virginia border, the main line extends south wesfc wardly 242 miles fco Chatfcanooga, and thence over the old Memphis & Charleston road 310 miles to Memphis. From Clevelaud, Tenn., 29 miles east of Chattanooga a branch stretches southwest 377 miles lo Meridian, Miss. Another branch extends from the main line 3583^ miles toward the southeast, and, fcraversing Rome, Afclanfca and Macon, reaches the Atlantic at Brunswick, Ga. Connections give the system a share of the business with Florida and the Southwest. Whether for purposes of traflBc In Southern staples or for big operations in Wall street, the system of 4,119 miles, as it exists to-day, presents certainly magnificent scope for the energies of Its owners. But further additions are said to be contemplated. The Norfolk & Western, a road 4u8 miles long, extending from Norfolk to Bristol, will almost inevitably, it is asserted, fall Into the hands of the Richmond & Danville, unless the owners of the Norfolk & Western, carrying out a project they are said to have in mind, build themselves a connection westward from Bristol to the Erlanger system. The Shenan¬ doah Valley Railroad, which extends 238 miles from Hagerstown, Md., to Roanoke City, a point on tho Norfolk & Western, is interested in this projected extension, inasmuch as without it Its Southern terminus will ba ih the air. Commenting on the increased power of this railroad combina¬ tion, the Baltunore Sun says: " The logic of the situation points to the absorption of both the Norfolk & Western and the Shenandoah Valley in the Richmond & Danville system. Such absorption is not necessary to the last mentioned company, as it has an outlet, as already stated, from the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia eastward through North Carolina to ifcs main line, bufc possession of tbe Norfolk & Western would have disfclncfc ad vanfcuges. Should tho Norfolk & Western and the Shenandoah Valley roads have the fate marked oufc for them fche Richmond & Danville system will confcrol, ifc is esfcimated, more mil^s of road than are embraced in the entire Pennsyl¬ vania system, and several hundred miles more than are contained in the Vanderbilt system with all its branches. Under a strict enforcement of the interstate commerce act, such combinations are not, perhaps, to be reckoned as wholly inimical to fche infceresfcs of the South, though they seem to be initiated for the most parfc by speculators to facilitate the manufacture of new securities to gamble with iu Wall street.''''—Mobile {Ala.) Register. Confiscating Real Estate. An interesting decision given on Monday by the Supreme Court of Penn¬ sylvania finds that the owner of land benefited by vacating a street In the locality of his land is personally liable for the damages charged against him in respect to such land. If the land Is not worth the amount of the damages the ovmer may be compelled to pay the benefit charges out of any other of his property, no matter whether ifc is near or remote. Referring to this decision the Philadelphia Press says: " Heretofore nothing but yearly taxes for the purposes of government have been con¬ sidered a personal charge As such taxes are, after all, but a small pro¬ portion of the value of the propert.v taxed, no hardship has beeu caused ia such cases. But taxes for Improvements being made at a fixed sum. and damages for opening or vacating streets being left to the discretion of variable juries, are necessarily arbitrary, without regard to the value of the property, and consequently have always been charged to theproperty only and not against the person of the owner. A properfcy owner In San Francisco had a lofc which was worth $1,400. Tbe citv authorities 'improved? Ifc by grading the sfcreefc in front of the lot at an expense of $1,940, and endeavored to make the lot owner pay the difference oufc of his othei- property; ^ The Supreme Court ot California said that such a claim could not be sustained. It was confiscation, nofc taxation. The Supreme Court of New York decided the same way In the matter of widening Canal street. Judge Sharwood, In the Broad street paving case, said that such decisions were fortunate, and that the owner cannot be made to pay beyond the extent of the benefits received. If such benefits take all his property in the locality of the street to pay them, that is as much as he can be compelled to pay." Our friends iu Pennsylvania seem to be liable now to the plight of the man who employed a plumber and offered him the premises plumbed in part payment of liis bUl.— Rochester (N. Y.) Union and Adv. The Great South. The " New South " is not a very expressive phrase, but when we say the "Great South" we epitomize a wonderland and a story of marvelous pro¬ gress. The bureau of statistics at Washington has just issued a large volume containing a special report upon the commercial and Industrial condition, transportation and other facilities of Virginia, the Cai oUnas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Ken¬ tucky. The information was collected by experts detailed to cover these ten States. Chief Switzler, in reviewing this report, says: " Whatever speculations may be deduced from the exhibit here made, or the lessons it may teach our statesmen, it will not be questioned that the reports furnish evidences of recuperative energy of material progress and devel¬ opment by the Southern people unexampled in the history of our civiliza-^ tion. In short, that tho new and mightier Soufch is rapidly emerging froin fche blight and desolafcions of the civil war, and promises in a short time to attain a high degree of prosperity. This marvelous development can be truthfully afl5rmed, not simply or chiefly in respect to railway trans¬ portatiou, or to mining or manufactures, but to every material Interest of iho Soufch, and to almosfc every section of ifc. The exceptional stations are those which are desfclfcute of direct rail.Yay or water communica¬ tions with the markets of the world. These, and these only, are yet to feel the forces which quicken the sluggish currents of life, and these, no doubt. In a comparatively short time will hear " the whirr of the wheels that weave the web of towns." The chief goes on to say that these statistics will be a revelation to the country, even to the Southern people themselves. They disclose a wealth of opportunities for enterprise and industry which Is uuparaUeled. Take the leading cron, cotton, and nofce the progress in a centm-y. In 1784 we exported 10 bales; in 1886 we exported 4,i!82,723. In a continuous line these bales would stretch from Philadelphia to Antwerp. Agriculture In all its branches make a wonderful exhibit. But cotton is only one item. In 1860 our railroad mileage was 8,837; in 1884 it was 20,802. From 1880 to 1885 our taxable property increased 183 per cent. Our bituminous coal output has increased from 1,948,796 tons in 1880 to 4,215 597 In 1885. The output of pig iron was 397,3ul net tons in 1880 and 712,835 in 1885. In 1886 the aggre¬ gate capital invested In old and new manufacturing enterprises in the ten Southern States was $129,226,000, againsfc $66,812,000 invested the previous year. Our exports of timber jumped from $12,523,711 in 1880 "to 116,683.827 in 1885. The exports of naval stores in 1880 amounted! to $4,585,062, and in 1885 they reached $4,084,794. In conclusion Chief Switzler says: " It is a new, a fraternal revolution waged with the implements of peace,a revolution against commercial and industrial vassalage. It means life, instead of death; power, iustead of weakness; progress, is«i^ea4 of re^o,' cession ; prosperity, instead of adversity ; order, instead of anarchy ; independence, instead of slavish reliance upon others for food and clothing and the machinery of a revivified and progressive agriculture. Section¬ alism is dead and the South has a great future. * * * * The North is rich In capital; the South in undeveloped resources—lands, coal, iron timber, water-power and a genial climate. * ;f * * The issues are these : . Shall we longer permit Northern manufactories, at ruinous drafts upon our depleted exchequers, to manufacture our raw materials for us., we transporting them long distances to their mills, and then thi^i^ fabric^ back again to the South, or shall we manufacture them ourselves^vlth the materials ac our own doors ? Is it not possible for us, favored by a better, because le.ss rigorous, climate, and wifch laborers more docile and Jess liable to strikes, to manufacture our own cotton alongside the fields which pro¬ duce it. Can we not stretch forth the hand of enterprise'^tod convert into pig and steel the Inexhaustible mines of coal and iron with which our hills abound, and our measureless resources of timber into furniture and Imple¬ ments of industry, and successfully compete with those who, because of our exclusive attention to agriculture in the past, have fiUed the markets of the world with their wares B.nd our own as well ? The advantage of this report over every other presentation of our resources that has yet been made is thafc it is compiled by experts appointed by the national government. The details and figures in it have been carefully verified, and the book is, there¬ fore, an authority of the highest grade. Its publication will be hailed with surprise and pleasure everywhere, and ifc musfc inevitably solidify, sfcrengtben and give a fresh impefcus to the Southern hoom.—Atlanta (Oa.) Constitution. Real Estate Department. The auction business of the week has been large and generally very satisfactory. Brokers say that there Is no " boom " in their business, yet there is a great deal going on. , The sales of unimproved lots continue to be a very marked feature of the market, and the transactions of the week hav^besen large and important, as is shown by our "Gossip" columns. Many lots have been sold with loans to buQders for improvement and others have been taken back by parties who wiU probably resell them wifch loa,ns. All indicafcions point to a continuance of the building move¬ ment and an. increased activity in real estate should the labor troubles reach a settlement at an early day. The conveyances of the week show an Increase in number and total amount o\ er those of the corresponding week of 1886, and the mortgages show a much larger difference on the same side of the account, being 249 amounting to $2,506,384, against IfiO amounting to $1,452,602 In the corresponding week of last year. The greatly increased ratio of the mortgages to the whole consideration paid shows clearly the more speculatiye cha,racter which the movement in real estate is taking on. The number of building plans filed for the week does not differ much from the number for the corresponding week in 1886. There wore no sales held at the Exchange on Saturday. On Monday the attendance was fair, notwIthstanQing the inclement weather. Only two parcels were sold, Nos. 113 and 115 Lewis street, the former a five-story brick tenement and store with full lot brought $19,300, and the latter, a three-story brick tenement, sold for $9,700. The sale of the dwelling No. 150 Fifth avenue, on which over $110,000 is due, was adjourned, and No. 353 East Forty-ninth street was not offered, the foreclosure proceedings having been settled. On Tuesday the salesroom was crowded, and the sales were both numerous and important, the sale of the Morrison estate attracting most attention. The premises Nos. 130 and 132 Pearl street, running through to and embracing Nos. 96 and 98 Water street, about 36.3x110, were started at $60,000, and, after spirited bidding, struck down to Ihomas Auld for $75,000; the store No. 124 Chambers streefc, 25.1x77.9, was started at $30,000 and sold for $35,000; a lot on Fifth avenue, and two lots and ten houses on East One Hundred and Ninth street, announced to be sold, were not offered; seven lots on New avenue West, opposite One Hundred and Fifty-third street, were sold for $7,600. The lots formed part of the estate of the late V. K. Steven¬ son, and were sold at auction in February, 1886, for $8,425. Only one of .the five Kosciusko street, Brooklyn, flats was sold, the others being withdrawn. On Wednesday the sales were numerous and fche attendance large, the property offered embracing business property and dwelling houses. The fiye-story store No. 293 Church street, near Walker, 21.2x75, was started at $40,000, and after brisk bidding was sold to Philip Wagner for $48,200. The building Is leased to February 1,1888, at $4,000 per annum; the four- story brown stone dwellingj No. 33 East Twenty-third street, with lot 25x 98.9, went to S. L. M. Barlow for $50,200; T. J. FaU secured the dwelling No. 118 Madison avenue, northwest ccrner of Thirtieth streefc, wifch threo- story stable on the street, lot 21.8x95, for $65,000, and the three-story brick factory, with plot 69x104, on the southwest corner of Charlton and Washington streets, was sold for $51,250 to David S. Paige. On Thursday the salesroom was crowded and the attendance manifested in the sales keen. The excellent prices obtained for the parcels offered hy Richard V. Harnett for the ieistate of Horace Holden caused much com¬ ment. The five-story store No, 18 Beekman street, with lot 23.3x70.5, which Is rented at $4,700 per annum to May 1st, 1888, brought the hand¬ some sum of $62,200, and was bought by Rev. Joseph Ford Sutton. A similar building No. 34 Beekman street, which is rented to May 1, 1887, at $3,600, brought $54,000, the purchaser being J. F. Anderson, Jr., the present occupant. No. 13 Wesfc Eleventh street was sold for $17,250, and No. 15 West Twelfth street for $35,000. The sale of property on University place, Easfc Fif fcy-fourfch,;One Hundred and Fifth and South streets and Pleasant avenue was nofc a success. Four pieces were bid in and one withdrawn.^ It is singular, but nevertheless true, that property put up at auction by the owners does not sell nearly as well as property offered by order of executors or by court orders in partition. There was only one public sale held at the Exchange yesterday. " Richard V. Harnett will sellon Monday, February 14thj fifty-five lots bh Vanderbilt, CoUege and.TeUer avenues, Onei Hundred and Sixty-fourth and. One Hundred and Sixty-Seventh streeits and Gouverneur place, in the Twenty-third Ward. The whoFe region in which these lots are situated has shown sighs of Important improvement to come and speculation Is active, whUe prices have not as yet advanced sufiScient to repel buyers. The JSlorrisaiuft station ot tb^ J^f>vfr^or^9»4 Ba^