Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 60, no. 1538: September 4, 1897

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Septeiiiber 4, 1897. Record and Guíde 319 VÍESí^^ V Dn&TEB p FfA). ESTAJE-BuiLDIffc A^rTECmJREXtRJSaíOlDDEOtHJTIOlt PBICE PER VEAR IN APVAHCEj^lX POLtARS. F-ftĩilÍsheã cvery Saturday. .VilMífl Tt-|.a{'(ÍOSF, . . . - CaETLiKRT 1370. Cowmunleailona shouia be addressed to C. W. SWEBT, 14^16 Veaey Street. J. 'I. LINDSEY, Uiiainm Mamiger, •'Bnlered al llie l'osí-Ojnre at iVew York. X. 1'.. as second-ctass i.ialler." VOL. LX SEPTEMliER ■i, 1897. iisetl iii tlie settlemeut oí aecouuts ia ludia. Tbe gOTerûment feariiig tbat they will not have tbe funds with wblcb to meet tbeir hiils, autl doubtless ulso fearing that their embaLTassuient would deøreelate them if foreed on the market, have susponãed tbeir nale Eor teii weelis. lu the meantime, tlie goveriiment inust liud other ways of meetiug their ohligations abroad, if auy nmture in tbis iuterval, and tbe banlîer and mercbant will have to reuiit iu the ordiuary way by blU of exchange. Tbe last fact inay Iiave a tendeney to raise the value of the rupee atiove tbe arhitrary par flxed at the closing of the mints, and so put India for as long as this eondition iasts. whieb, in the natural ordei' of thiiigs, cannot be very loug, on a gold bãsis. However, the niost important and at the same tlme uufortunate featnre about tlie suspensiou of tbe oEferings of Indiau Oouucil Bills is in the intiniatiou that it gives that the usual results of national dis- aster aud tribulation are about to malĩe tbemselves appareut iu ludlau fluance aud commeree- No. 1,5;í8 GIVEN tbe f!K-l lliat we are to have a continued advaueiug st.ĸ-lí inarlíel, it i:^ u good tbing to see Northwest,New Yorlí Ccntriil aud otlior itivcstment issues eoniiug to tbe froiit, and tlie liurely spc-ulatiVL. ones roÍL-gated to tbe ■baeligrfnind. Wîth the exeeptioii of 'the L'Xbibiiiou of tliis luippy prefereuee Ihere luis beeu uo abatemeiit of speculative feeliug, aud llic expecta- tions of tlie iJiiblie for tbe future of railroad and iudustvial sliares cnilv grow as priees advance. We hope tbat all tbese Ijright iind' glorioiis beliefs niiiy becomi' fact in due time. but haviug ou a good many previous occasions seen tbe l)uyiug pub- lie just iis sanguine as tliey ave now, aud uever haviug yet seeii the fulfilmeut of tlieir predictions, wo are sceplical now. Tbe mistakc tliat seems to be beiug made is iu the ĩdea that we liave .iust turued tíie covuer, aud that iudustrial aiid commer- cial activity has ouly just begim. As a matter of fact the eorner was tuvned ovcr tlirec years ago. but it bas talíen tlie interval to so accuiuulate good featm-es tbat tlic pite is big enough for the public to see it. aud, it luay be remavlĩed, tlie vecovery fvoiu depvession is pretty pvonouueed wben tbis is the case. Ãs we stated at the begiuuiug of tbis public buyiug moveiueut, ĩliere is uo telliug bow bigb priees will go when the outsider eonu's iu, Ihe advauee being ouly limited by tbe credit tbe banlîev is wilĩing to give; but assuredly the meu wbo regu- late tlioir operatious by cousiaevaílons of values aiid who bought iu tbe depresson have veaĩixod. AVbat is left for the publie in tbis easc m;iy be easiĩy iiuagined- It is eveu hinted pretty strongly tbat the liigh prices ave 'bviuging iu,vestmeut shares on the mavlíet, the ownevs being siitisfled that they wiU be abltí to bny them baclĩ agaiu with advautage. Cbeap juoney wiU of course líeep divideud aud iuterest payers stroug aud iii favor, withiu certain limits, as lotig as it lasts; aud, fov tbe vest, ílierc is the buoyauey of public feeliug aud a desive on the piU't of tlie brokers aud llic bauks to avail tbeiuselves to the tull of an oppovtunity to do big business, such as they have not seen fov a loug tinie. RAPID TRANSIT fov New Yoviĩ City has met with obsta- cles iu so many direetious, that a set-back move or less ought not to be suvpvisiug; but it is surprising, consideriug the unanimity with whieh tbe public ĩs demauding a solution of the tvausit pvoblem, tbat oue of these set-backs sbould come from a municipai depavtment. The Pavk Board doubtless did wbat it thougbt to be its duty iu refusing to appvove the pĩaus for the South Fevvy extension ot; Ihe pvoposed vapid tvausit rail- road, but its members seein to have been aeting on sueb puvely seutimeutal grouuds that their action eaunot command tbe ap- proval of our citizeus. If it could be iucoutestably proved tbat íhe coustructiou of tiiis extensiou would kiU soiue of tbe treea i(i Battevy Park, whieh is by uo meaus the casc, their vejeetiou of the plaii wouid stiU be eoudemned. Thcve cannot be a doubt what the prefeveuce would be if the publie weve offered the loss of a few trees ov four moutbs' delay of thĩs impovtaut work, espeeially seeing tbat the worlî is stiU iu the preliminai-y stages. Rapid tvauait bas bad to fight sentiment for years, aud appareutly it is stili seutimeut, aud tbat only, tbat has cveated the latest danger of new deĩays. The Pariî Board is eom- posed of able aud publie spirited meu, who must have become by reason of their experience aud intevests fully alive to tbe uecessity for rapid tvausit, and it is to be boped that they wiU be induced to reeonsider tlieir deeision. It is havdly liktíly tbat men of tbeir calibre cau take so nan-ow a view of their duties as Pavk Gommissiouevs tliat a pvoblematieal risk to a few trees and shrubs wiU cause tbem to delay tiie prospects of au împrovement that is so iutensely and geuevaUy desived as the vapid transit vailroad. CURIDSITY is vife as to wliat nijiy underlie tiie suspension of sales of ludian Couucil biils, tbough tbo uiatter is a vevy simple oue. and ongbt uot to avouse suspieiou of lateut maievolent iuteutions on the part of the rulers of Indla. Cuv- rent coinmeut on tbis matter recalls tbe extvaordinai-y tbeories that weve put put to account fov tlie elosing of tlie ludiaii mints In 1893, also a luove of transpareut reason. The ludian miuts were closed to prevent the fall in the vaUie of tl|e rupee, wbicb would othevwise have beeu a cousequence of the vepeal of tlie purebnsing clauso oE the Sheriuan silver act, tlien Qiiite appav- eutly bievitablo. The Indian financinl officevs thought aleo that the closlng of tbe mlnts migbt cveate a seavcity of vupees, aud to pverent that scareity fvom i-eacbiug alavralug pvopovtious at nuy time, they undevtook to issue tbem for gold at an equiva- lcnt of 32 ceuts pev vupee or Ijetween 2 or 3 eeuts aDove theiv tlien ciuoted vaUie. They thought, too, tliat in tbis way the In- dian govevumeiit uilgUt accumulato a gold resevve, becaiîse it undertûoli to sell vupees for gold, not to redeem thein iu gold. The Indlau mlut has uow been closed aomethiiig ovev four yeara, dui'lng whicU tinie the value of tUe rupee bas been sus- talued and even advaneed a llttle. tUe quotation belug abont % of a pemiy UlgUer uow tUau in 1893, but the demand has uever HBut tUeni up to the polnt wUere the govevnment would have liad au opportunity of supplyiug them for gokl. The suspen- (jion of sales of council biUs indicates an embarvassed eonditiou of the ĩudiau treasury, and it is somewhat surpvising, cousid- evlug tlie tribulations iaid npon tlio countvy tliat this has uofc beeu appavent líarUer. Witli cvop failuve suffleient to cveate famiue aiul ijlague, II is not suvpvisiug îhat the national rev- enue deeliin's. ('nnncil ImUs ave sold In London to raise fuuds witli whirh tu nu'et tlic obligaiious of tlie Indiau govevumeut Ihere, aud they ave bouglit by bíiiikovs find mcrebants to be THE TOMBS FOUNDATION. When bids were maâe on tĩie sub-contraot for preparing the ground to receive the foundatÍDn of the new prísou to be erected on the site oE the old Tombs buUding, on Centre street, between Leonard and Fra.nkUn, the bidders probably reckonea on having to puU out oE the swampy soil many hundreds of piĩes. which would have required much Ia.bor and the assistance of heavy machinery. At any mte, popular desci-iptions of the historic o!d landmark assert that the structure was built on piles, and it has for years been common talk among those who were thought to be informed that the cracking oE the walls oE the huilding was due to the gradual rotting or sinking oE the suppositioual piles. The contract went to Joseph W. Cody. of No. 53S West lllth street, When the foundatlon was reached by him, he discovered that the heavy stone structuve rested, not on pilen, hut on a double flooring of band-hewn whlte pine timbers, 14x11 and llsl6 incheB, iaid croaswise uuder the entire bullding. It was fvirther founã that Iheaetlmbera.whichhaveremained in thegroundsome siĸty years. were iii a atate of perfect preaervatlon—a clrcurastance that bas attracted the attentlon of expevts in the bullding trade. The ex- cellent condition of the timbers is explainahle on the ground that they were submerged in water and protected from the destructive effeets of atmospheric actlon. Water on the slte in íiuestion seeks Its level 9 feet below the curb, whiie the Umbers lay at a depth of 14 feet. Thc'ir sonndueas after sixty years of aervice may be taken to indlcate one condition under whlch modern pile fQunâa- tions wlll remain practlcally Indestructible. In thls connectlon it may not be wlthout interest to recflll some hĩstovicai facts relatlng to the slte oE the old TOmba, and to the origln of the name û£ that faanous prison. The region bounded by Elm Eaxter Pear! and White stveeta was orlginaiiy occupied by a lake called by the Dutch Kalchhook, or Sheĩl Point, from a de- nosit 'oE decomposed shelis on its western shore- This name was abbreviated to Kaich, Caltech, CoIIeck, or Colleet; under the English the water became popularly known as CoIIect Pond. The lake attained a depth oE fiEty Eeet, and had a navigable outlet Into the Norlh River. As the population of the city began to break the barrier oE Wall street, projects were formed for obllt- eratin- the pond, but It wag not until 180S that the work was jrdert"aken under circumstances that have a famiĩiar and modern aspect The Bmbargo Act had destroyed Amerícan shippmg, and the discharged aailors held a mass meeting which domanded puh-