Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 48, no. 1219: July 25, 1891

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.inly SB, 1891 Record and Guide. 107 DtvbTED TO f^L EsTME. BuildiKg ^crfiTtero^E .Household Degoh^toiJ. Basif/Ess AtJo Theme? of OeNeiv-L 1>tei\est PRICE, PER YEAR I!V ADTAIVCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday, fELEPHONE .... Cortlandt 1370. Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14 & i6 Vesey St. J. I. LINDSEY, Business Manager. Vol. XLVIII JULY 25, 1891. No. 1,219 The publication offlees of The Record and Guidb have been removed to Nos. 14 and 16 Vesey street, over The Mechanics' and Traders' Exchange, a few jeet west of Broadway. THE NEW MAGAZINE. Within a few days now will be issued the first number of the new illnstrated quarterly magazine. The Architectural Record Readers of The Record and Guide, and those who have received our circular letter, who desire to become subscribers to the new magazine should lose no time in sending in their names and addresses to the offices of publication, Nos. 14 and 16 Fese^ street. New York City. The reception which has been given to the new enterprise by the architectural profession, the builders of this country and the general public has been most encouraging. The new magazine will start ivith thousands of readers in every State in the Union, and the large cities have shown an unexpected inter¬ est in the new periodical. We are desirous, of course, of^ having the subscription list as large as possible for the first number, and in order that delivery may be prompt, all intending subscribers are requested to send us a postal card at once. The first number of the magazine will contain " The Revival of Romanesque," by Montgomery Schuyler, with thirty full-page illustrations; "An 'American Style'' of Architecture," by BarrFerree; "■Architectural Fads," by George Keister; " The New York Building Law," by Will¬ iam J. Fryer, Jr.; "Terra Cotta," by Jas. Taylor; ''Byzantine Architecture," by Professor Aitchison, and other articles, editorial departments, etc., uith numerous illustrations of recent de¬ signs for office buildings, residences, clubs, churches, country houses, electrical fixtures, fumiture, interiors, etc. The magazine vnll be printed on the finest paper, and no expense or pains have been spared to make it the leading architectural paper in the country. The annual subscription price is $1. THE conditions adverse to the stock market wbich we pointed out last week are still in the ascendant. Business is limited and more directed to selling than to buying ; Louisville & Nasb- vile and Burlington & Quincy remain attractive spots for the aim of operators on the short side ; there is more talk of trouble in Lon¬ don ; the gold movement continues under such anomalous con¬ ditions that it is impossible to calculate where the end will be; finally, the Richmond Terminal issues continue to sustain the anxiety of their holders. The disfavor with which the new issue of Louisville & Nashville has been received is shown b/ the quotations for the rights, worth at the time of their announcement from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars, which yesterday sold for four dollars. Burlington & Quincy is weak because the payment of . dividends at the rate of 4 per cent per annum i^ sailing very closely to the extreme limit of the company's earnings. There is no doubt the management is relying on an unusually large fall business to carry it through and with good reason. The grain movement even now is very great, but meantime the stock finds few supporters, and unless the expec¬ tations of an increase of earnings this fall are realized, the selling will be justified by the action the directors will find themselves compelled to take on the dividend. The main trouble in London, the River Plata Bank having been disposed of so far as to suspend, is with a house that has been more than once the subject of similar talk since last November, and anything which could happen to it now would not be so very injurious, probably a collapse would be less prejudicial to the general market than these periodic relapses. More serious is the engagement of a million and a-half of dollars gold for shipment to-day with exchange at about three and a-balf cents lower than the cost of the gold to the European buyer. And no explanation, whether it be to meet drafts to be made later on or to relieve the necessities of an embarrassed foreign market can remove^the'anxiety which the continuation of gold exportations causes. For these reasons there is little prospect of change in the attitude of the stock market in the near future. There are some features favorable to American securities, however, which should not be lost sight of, ani which at a time like this it is particularly important to bear in mind. For instance, London confidence in them is displayed in over-subscribing the $5,000,000. Manitoba 4 per cent loan'and the grain movement in Chicago has already begun to be heavy, which must benefit all the lines converging at that point. THE security of the obligations of many governments, both in this country and abroad, has lately been so continuously impugned that a summary of the present position and prospects of these .obligations by a well-informed correspondent of the London Economist will prove interesting and instructive. This writer pre¬ mises that strong governments in great and wealthy countries can always find money by loans if they choose to adapt their conditions to the wants of the public and the interest of the bankers. With a clever, energetic Minister of Finance the credit of a strong and well- administered empire seems inexhaustible. Everything is a ques¬ tion of skill, convenience and adaptation. When the Old Regime broke down the French Government could find no money, and it was thought that the country could not bear its debts. After passing through a period of com¬ plete disorganization the French Empire, under Napoleon, was again on the top of prosperitv, although the debt of France had risen to many times the amount it stood at during the last days of the Old Regime. This was simply the effect of good administra¬ tion, political and economical prosperity, military strength, and the organization of credit. This example shows how imp