Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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930 Record and Guide. July 38, 1888 report that the best place to buy lumber Is at the docks of the various wholesale points situated on the lakes. The wholesalers are much given to holding tbeu- heads high wnen called upon personally. It ia equivalent to raising the price of lumber 50 cents per M, by being so indiscreet as to go to Michigan after it personally. There is nothing special to report that is new iu re¬ gard to the trade iu Eastern Michigan, At the Sagi¬ naw Kiver markets trade is quiet. Box lumber is be¬ lieved to be holding its own as regards prices, but other grades have decreased in value from $3 to $1,75 since Jime, Michigan shingles continue to be in full supply, and prices are weak, $2,05@2,30 for clear butts, and some sales of y\'y have been made at $3,10@3,35. CiJtao MjRKET.^The commission dealers feel greatly elated over the business of the week, and con¬ sider that the uncertainty that existed one week ago has gone for the season. The receipts were not large, but wiiat -was offered went lively smce Monday morn¬ ing. So lively at the beginniug that there has been scarcely anything left at the docks over night dm-ing the week. The commission men have beeu credited witb a skillful manipuJatiou of prices this season, but the real stabihty in prices seems to come from the manufacturers across the lake, Chicago wholesalers who lately investigated the markets of the west shore with a view to buying in bulk, if prices suited, bave come home, satisfled tbat they cau get cheaper lum¬ ber by watching for it at the Franldin street dock. A lowering of freight rates has beeu talked iu tbe last few days, but nothing has been doue yet. The cut, it was espected, would occur on Muskegon freights first. The Increased necessities of tbe yards would handle more lumber than has been offered lately, and it looks as if the manufacturers aud their agents would ferpetuate that relation between supply and demaud. rue, some one nearly stepped over on piece stuff last week, but the matter has been righted, and short piece stuff is stUl worth $10, At the yards the resources in the way of stocks are surprising. As is usual for this time of year a coun¬ try order calls for nearly every thing mentionable In the way of lumber, and the local wholesalers seem to fill all orders, without apparent difflculty. The trad¬ ing among yai-ds is falUug off in a marked degree, and the gaps iu broken stocks seem to be fllhng up all round, so that the reputation of the market will be sustained through a most trying season. Still, lumber is not arriving in a volume at all satisfactory. There has not been a day since the pionepr lumber craft was towed up the river this spring but what grumbling can be heard on every hand. Tbe mumble of dissatisfac¬ tion wiU last, it seems, untU the sails of the last vessel are stowed away in the loft. It would be strangely inconsistent, with affairs iu this condition, if prices were not firm. Strange it is that tbere is not a general advance. Commission dealers ore not holding prices themselves. The manu¬ facturers are responsible for a firm market. This gives it the appearance of solidity. Good strips are worth hst—.about $33; C.,$31; B.,S35to3Gfor siding. No, 1, l^inch boarus are iu good demand at S15. There is a brisk outside demand for cull boards at $13 to Eli.50, Usually the trade in cull lumber is local and with the box-maker, but bos busmess has laUeu off some these bet days. The much prophesied revival in the demand for car stock has not arrived. Siding is moving a little at $30 to $35. There mus,t be a heavy trade m lumber for car construction before the season is gone. Chicago iMinber says; The general outlook for the lumber trade is very matorially improved by the excellent crop results so far reali;;ed in the Webt, and the very promising iudi- ca'ions in respect to those products "which are still to be gathered. There is lime yet for serious damage to be done to coru, but every day of good weather now puts it in better shape to withstand unfavorable cou- uitions, and makes stronger tbe probability that the yield will be i ery large—possibly in the aggregate be¬ yond anything that the previous history ot the coun¬ try records. It wUl take time for the farmers to real¬ ize the proceeds of this abimdance, but meanwhile the fact tbat they have it wiil improve their credit, and make them much freer buyei-s than they would be with only the ordinary yield of the leading crops. It Is probable, however, that most of the benefit the lum¬ ber trade v.i\\ derive from a favorable crop outcome will be discounted a long time ahead. The effect of it is aheady felt to a cei-taiu extent in Western markets, and it wiil no doubt be felt still more when the fall activity sets in. It seems likely now that it will save the trade during the rest of the year from a dullness that would have been serious, had not something liKe this occurred to tui-n the tide. The Mississippi Valley Lumberman, as follows: Trade continues to be exceedingly good in both St. Paul aud Minneapolis, aud tbe table of both receipts and shipments Show a sUgbt increase this week, con¬ fined entirely to the shijiments through St. Paul from North Wisconsin points. The volume of the lumber trade at tbe present tune is a good deal of a surprise, considering the fact that trade in almost every other line is comparatively dull. But the shipments from the two cities in June exceeded the shipments for tbe same time last j-ear by 123 cars, and thus far this mouth the shipments lead the shipments during July of 1887 by 363 cars. It is true tbat the local demaud has not been quite up to the standard, but tbere has been un improvemeut in this department of trade din¬ ing tlie past two or thi-ee weeks, A vast amount of lumber IS going iuto municipal improvements. The Et. Paul dealei-s coniplaiu that the Minneapolis whole¬ salers are cutting prices in the outside fleld, but it ia admitted that at home they are not able to maintain the difference between the wholesale and the retaU schedule, which was Ibted last season. Concessions are made in a great many cases. The general feehng in St. Paul and Mimieapohs is pretty well indicated, however, by a deal whicli was made during the week, A dealer contracted to buy during April-3,00D,0O0 of lumber at a pretty low figure. Last week he was paid 75 cents a thousand to release the other party from the contract, and the seller undoubtedly made a pretty good bargain, CANADA. The Toronto Monetary Times says; The great etrilte of lumbermen at Gravenhurst. Ont., and on the north shore continues, only a few of the mills having given in. The miU owners have ar¬ ranged to bring in men from Quebec and Michigan, and have asked for police protection. Tbe men com¬ plain of the hours or labor, which are eleveu per day. In some former years they were worked twelve hours. They also had to work six weeks before they received any money, and then from ten to fifteen days' pay was kept back as a forfeit, and if a man left betore the seaaou was over he lost this forfeit. The men are Tory bitter over the grievances complained of. SOUTH AMERICA. Latest mail advices from Rio Janeiro report: Pitch Pine.—Receipts are about 443,000 feet per " Tros " from Brunswick, which were sold to arrive as al read V reported. The cargo per'■Zulmira" issold on privato terms, supposed to be about 34$000, and brokers report the market firm at 3a$500®3'!$000 per doz. White Pine.—Receipts have beeu about 46,000 feet from New York per '■ Mary G, Reed," a part of which was on order, aud the balance sold at 100 rs, per foot. The market is weak, Spmce Pine,—Nothing new reported. Swedish Pine.—We can leam of no news in the mar¬ ket. GREAT BRITAIN. The London Timber Trades Journal as follows: American Black Walnut.—There was a large quan¬ tity of logs offered at public auction ou Wednesday, but there was very little disposition on the part of buyers to speculate, aud consequently but httle was done; this was also tbe case with lumber. Tbe heavy stocks and continued imports can have but one effect upon the market, and already the trade shows signs or depression in consequence, American Whitewood.^In both logs and lumber there is but little doing; tliere was a good amount of stock offered in catalogue on Wednesday, but except the case of those lots offered for sale without reserve nothing much was done. Here, also, excessive stocks are likely to spoil the market, American Satin Walnut.—[n this there is stiU very httle domg. There is a large amount of stock on hand, but the inquhy, which at first was fairly brisk and encouraging, has not been maintained, and ship- pei-s wihdo well to withliold further supplies, at least until present stocks are greatly reduced. Sequoia,—The trade in this continues very dull. There is a large amount of prime plank stuff ou baud, sound, clean, without centre, thorougbly dry, and, in many cases, of great widths, aud consumers will have no difficulty in nuding what is likely to suit them. The arrivals of pitch pine timber this year have been much larger thau for corresponding period last year (tonnage employed: 1K8M, 23,118] tons; 1887, 11,023 tons), and it shows a very active consumption when the stocks now made up are found to be 2,000 loads less than at this dato last year. Of course, the cur¬ rent year began with a conipai-atively light stock of pitch pine ou hand, but still, from the heavy import of the past half-year, it ivos not expected that present stock would be so moderate as compared witJi that of a year ago. The foUowmg wiil be of special interest to American shippers, and seems to be a pretty good card for Cali¬ fornia redwood. It is from the Scotch supplement of Timber Trades Journal; In 1881 Kcantliugs of equal size of the following va¬ rieties of timber were embedded iu the ground ou equal conditions aud secured against exposure to the atmosphere, and last week, after a test of four years, were disinterred; against each variety we give the re¬ sult of their respective conditions on examination, viz,: Sequoia i Oak f Pitch Pme ^ American 1 white pine V Elm I Baltic redwood Whitewood As fresh as when put in. Skin touched. Slightly gone. Considerably rotten. Very rotten. It will thus be seen that, while all the other varieties have decayed iu greater or less degree, the sequoia and oak retained their soundness underground, show¬ ing the special adaptabihty of these woods for piling and aimilar work. METALS.—CoppBK—Ingot on tbe open market has shown rather light business, buyers confining their orders to small parcels for the purijose of meeting some momentary necessity. It is, however, intimated that the syndicate has quietly concluded a large pool sale to consumers, Speculation is quiet. Lake quoted at I6>6#17c. for spot. The product of the Lake Superior mines for the first sLx months of tbe year was 36,537 tons, against 24,553 tons same time 1887. Manufactiued Copper has moved slowly and with a generallv uninteresting market, prices re¬ maining nominally unchanged on tbe general list, though! possibly buyers obtain quiet advantage. We quote as follows; Sheets, not above 30z72 in,, 16 oz and over, 36c.; do, 14 to IB oz, 26c.; do, 13 to 14 oz, 33c.; do, 10 to 13 oz, 28c.; do, H to 10 oz, S8c, I do, under 8 oz, 2fl@:i3c. Sheets longer than 73 inches add Ic, for 13(gi]4 oz, 2c. for I0(gil2 oz, and 3c. for8@lOoz, Sheets, uot above 36x96 in., 16 oz and over, Soc; do, 16 to 32 oz, 25c.; do, 14 to 16 oz, 37c,; do, 12 to 14 oz, '29c.; do, 10 to 13 oz, 33c.; do, 8 to 10 oz, 36c. Sheets longer than 96 inches add Ic. for imder 16 oz; and 3c, for 8 to lO oz. Sheets, not above 48x96, 32 to 64 oz. 22^2Sc.: do, 16 to 33 oz. 370130c,; do, 14 to 16 oz. 32c,; do, 12 to 14 o?., 37c. Sheets 60x93 and over 35®,26c,; for 33 to (14 oz. and over, 30@31c.; for 16 to 33 oz. —©—. Afl bath tub sheets, per lb., !6oz, 28c.; 4 oz, 30c.; 13 oz, 33c,; and 10 oz, 35c. Bolt copper, % inch diameter and over, 25c. Cu-cles, 60 diameter and less, 3c. above price of sheets of same thickness; cu-cles, 60 to 96 do do, 5c. do; cucles, 96 do and over, Oc. do. Segment and pattern sheets, 3c, above price of sheets reqiured to cut them from. Cold or hard rolled copper, Ic. per lb. above the foregoing prices. Copper bottom, 2b{gi3lc. per lb. Iron—ticotch Pig sells Ermcipally in a retail sort of way, and the mar- et is by no means satisfactoi-y. Advices from abroad, however, have been rather stronger of late, and importers are not inclined to offer supplies at any marked reduction. We quote at about $17.50 ©20,uO per ton, according to 'brand, delivery, etc. American Pig has a slow imcertain demand aud a weak market. Some of the outside brands are offered very low and the Leiiigh makes suffer more or less in consequence, though under good enough man¬ agement to prevent any serious break on value. Sup¬ plies are ample aud promptly available upon call,' We quote at $17,50(S18,!iO per ton for No, f i foundrj-; »16,50®ir.0O for No, 3 X do, do.; and $15.00(§(10,00 for Gray E'orge. Old material has met with some inquiry, but uot ranch came of it except the placing of a few smaU invoices, and generahy the tone of the market remains tame, with most of the advantage iu buyers' favor. We quote at about S30,00@31.00 for old raOs; $18.-50@19.50 for No. 1 wrought scrap; $17,50®lU.OO for crop ends, and $17.50©]8.00 for car wheels. Steel rails are without much demand and are weakeinng iu value. As a rule agents ask about former figures, but a pretty well authenticated rumor prevail of con¬ tracts quietly closed of late at a shading of 36©60c. per ton. We quote atabout $29,00(^30,00 per ton for standard section, according to delivery, etc. Manu¬ factured Iron is dull on business from store and does not secure many special orders, while on prices the position is somewhat nominal though acout for mer figures are returned. We quote: Commoi feature worthy of notice. We quoto; Common Merehaut Bar, ordinary sizes, at 3.00@2,10c. from store, and refined at 2.20@3.50c,; Rods, round auc square, 2,30@2.40c.; Bands, 3.40©2.50c.; Norway NaL Rods, 4(^5c., and domestic sheet on the basis of 3.7£ @3.80c. for common Nos, 10@16. Other descriptioni at corresponding prices, -with 1-IOc. less on large lots from cars. Leau-Domestic Pig has been neglectei by speculators aud also found the demaud from consumeis oif au extremely indifferent character with the influences upon the market more o: less depressmg, aud rates workiug tchvard i lower level. There dees not appear to b( any real scarcity of stock. We quote at $3.85® 3.05, as to quality, Tbe manufactures of lead an lower and quoted: Ear, SJjc,; pipe, 7c.; sheet, 7%c less the usual discount to the trade; and tin-Uuet ?ipe, 15c,; block tin pipe, 45c., on same terms. Tik- ig does not show much animation in elthera specula tive or regular trade way, and the business occasion aUy drags. Holders, however, appear to have supplies very well under control, and carry them steadily a( some advance, stimulated by more favorable accounti from abroad. We quote nominally and at about 20® 20i4c. for round lots and 20M©^J^c- for jobbing par. eels. Tin Plates have found no general demand; thi Market developed a quiet tone beyond a few parcels handled for next month's deUvery. On most grades prices ruled about steady, and holdeii refused to press the sale of their stocks. Wt quote prices as follows: I. C. Charcoal, W crost assortment, Melyn gi-ades, $5.30©5.35, each adaitiona Xadd $1.50; 1,0, Charcoal, JA cross assortment, Allaway grade, 84,75®4.80, each additional X add $1; Chai-coa teme, M. F. grade, 14x20, SG,70®6,75; M, F. grade, 30s 38, $13.40®13.50; Worcester, 14x20, $4,60®4,63}.tl Wor cester, 30x38, $9.20©9,35; Deane grade, 14x30, $4.3( ©4.35; Deau grade, 20x28, $8,60@8.65; Allaway grade 14x20, $4,13>6®4.15; Allaway grade, 20x2,S, $8.20®8.30 L C. Coke. B. V. grade, 3^.45®4.47>^; J. E, grade, 14x30, 84,50(gi'1..55: I, C. Bessemer steel, squai-es, JS4.70 basis; L C. Siemens steel, squares, $4.75 basis. Spelter goes out in moderate quantity only, and with¬ out new feature shown in the general conditions of thi market, which, on the whole, rather favors the buyer We quoto at 4,45@5c for Westei-n, according to brand. According to statistics furnished by the Bulletin ol the American Iron aud Steel Association, the total pro¬ duction of pig iron m the United States in the first si3 months of 1SB8 was 3,382,603 tons of 3,0110 pounds, ot 3,020,092 tons of 2,240 pounds. In the last six months of 1887, the production amouutod to 3,771,996 net tons, or 3,367,853 gross tons. It was 347,761 gross tons less in the fii-st half of 1888 thau in the second half of 1887, but it was only 29,203 gross tons less than in the first half of 1887. In tbe last five half-years the production in net and gross tons has been aa follows: Net. Gross. FhsthalElSSe.................. 2,954,209 3,637,661 Last half 1686.................. 3,411,119 3,045,64S First balf 1887..................... 3,415 210 3,049,39£ Last half 1687.................3,771,906 3,367,85! Fhsthalf 1888.................... 3,388,C03 3,020,09S The stocks of all kinds of pig iron on hand June 30. 1886, amounted to 401,266 net tons; Dec. 31, 16S5, 410,512 tons; Dec, 31, 1686, 252,704 tons, and Dec. 31! 1887, 338,143 tons, Tbe stocks of unsold anthracite and anthracite and coke uig u-on on June 30, 1S88, were 100,078 tons; of charcoal, pig iron, 134,560 tons; of bi| tuminous coal und coke pig hon, 166,628 tons. The stocks, according to fuel used, were: Bituminous, 166,1 G-38 tons; autbracito, 100,078 tons, and charcoal, 134,564 tons. ] NAILS—There ia no essential change iu the genera market. Offerings do not appear to lie fuh or severe, but the demaud is slow and independent enough tc resist attempts to make any important addition to the line of value. Some httle export trade takes place but does not contribute a strengthening induence. We quote at 81.90@3.00 per keg, according to size of in- voice. PAINTS, OILS, ETC.—Some portions of the tradt are expressing hopeful ideas over the situation, but tbere is a pretty general admission of present dullness and not a few ■i\'ho fear it will be impossible to remedy matters until late in the fall at least. Consumption has been fairish, but dealers do not stock up iu auticl pation of the future, and there seems to be an inclina tion in many cases to take " cheap " goods iu gi-eatoi proportion than formerly. First band stocks are am¬ ple for all demands at tbe moment. Linseed Oil mod' erately active and steady at 51@52c. for Western, aud 53@54c. for City. Spirits Turpentine has advanced or a better demand, but at the close buyers appear very well satisfied and the tone is quieter. We quote al 35@3Qc. per gallon, according to size of invoice. TAR AND PITCH.—Not much trading, and demanc comes of pure necessity growing out of unexpectet wants. Stocks are well enough controlled to demanc former rates. We quote Pitch at $l,35®1.50per bbl,; Tar at $1.B0@2,S0, according to quantity, quality and delivery. For Tables of Building Material prices see pagei VL, VII., vm, and is, --------------^ • t-------------- SALES OF THE WEEK. The following are the sales at tbe Real Estate Es change and Auction Room for the week endinj July 37. * Indicates that the property described has been bit in for plaintiff's account: T. C. SMITH, 55th st. No. 513, n s, 200 w 10th av, two-story brick wagon-house and one-story frame stable on rear. Herman Hubert. 110 yeais' lease, from May 1,1885, at $335 per annum; amt due $1,7561............................. S2,sa R, V, HARNETT tt CO, *62d St, Kos. 320-226, s S, 300 w IOtb av, lOOx 100.5, four five-story brick tonem'ts, with stores in Nos, 234 and 236. Reuben Ross, (Amt due 87.822; prior morts. S46,000 aud $8, DOO)..................................... 73,821 A. H, MULLER & SON. Audubon av, s e cor 166th st, 68.8x96.3x83.4x95, vacant. Timothy Donovan, (Amt due $843and$658)............................ 5,00 Audubon av, e s, 25 u 170th st, 75x05, vacant, Frank Stafford, defd't. (Amt due $880),., 6,0Si