Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 63, no. 1624: April 29, 1899: Supplement

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SUPPLEMENT T'O THE RBCORn AND GUIDK, APRIL 29, 1899. ■ The Buildinjr Trades Club, On -Moiidny evcniug last, the Building Trades' Club celebrated the tenth anniversary of its fouadation by il fraternal gathering in the club- rooms at No. 112a Broadway, whioh was eutei'tained by appropriate ad¬ dresses and an elaborate programme of amusements. Prom beginning to end this funrtion was a pronounced success—typical of the history of the Club — and thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed by the large nuraber of members who filled the spacious rooms now occupied by the Club. An account of this celebration wil] bi? found below. It is not merely as a social gathering that it has importance and deserves Ihe special attention giveu to it. because the Ciub has had many soi'ial gatherings, but because it shows that when the superatruclure of the Building Trades Club was raised, its creators, like good builders as they were, placed it on secure foundations. Its incep- lion grew out of the fact that changing methods of business llad left the building interests without an organization capable of presenting their social sides and giving them united public representation. There were more prophesies ot its failure than of its success, but time has sustained the view of the founders and given permanent establishment lo the only form of organization by which so diversified an interest as the buiiding trades can be held together for mutual protection and usefulness. How diver¬ sified this interest is and how thoroughly il is represented in the Ciub is shown by the fact that the membership is gathered from forty-nine branches of the traiie, cDunting all forma of iron ami of lhe stone businesses each as one only. The history of the Club has been written before, and is ably summar- Vicd in the address delivered by Mr. Stephen i\I. Wright, and given below, so thai it is not npcessai'y to go over that ground here. It should be stated, however, that the Club has in the Townsend Building, on the north¬ west corner of Twenty-fifth Street and Broadway, a spacious floor, con¬ taining large assembly rooms with connecting committee rooms, a private dining-room, cafe, a large open and spacious dining-room, billiard-room, snioiiing-room, ladies' parlor and restaurant, comnlete kitchen, and the usual accompanying et ceteras. By an arrangement peculiar to this Club, aii the rooms can be thrown into one, and afford an ideal place for festive gatherings. It has a paid force of 17i attendants.and issupervisedby a thor¬ oughly practical ai.d experienced House Committee, consisUug of the fol¬ lowing gentlemen: Stephen M. Wright, chairman: Ronald Taylor, secre¬ tary; Alfred Beinbauer. William R. Clarke, Leonard K. Prince, Charles A. Cowen aud Frank M. Weeks, e.^-officio. A very important feature is the noon-day table d'hote meal, which brings together the membership be¬ tween the hours of 11! aud 2. and makes the club-rooms just as effectively a meeting place for business as if they were a trade exchange pure and simple. The social side of the Club takes the form of informal gatheritigs at the will of any number of the merabers, large or small; "stags" and "smokers." that are given at intervals and always largely attended; an¬ nual outings, which are also highly popular. Financially the Ciub is strong. When the removal, from No. 117 East Twenty-third Street to the Townsend Building was decided upon, two years ago, the Club was free of debt, but then .$0.01)1) were raised on certificates of indebtedness to meet the expenses of removal, and arrangement and furnishing of the new quarters. Of this .iiH.dOO were paid off prior to January 1st last, through the operations of the sinuiug fund. The condensed balance'sheet for De- cen-ber .^Ist last, is as follows: Assets. Cash in hand. jJues outstanding....... Supplies............... Eurnilure, fixtures, etc. Liabilities. :fl,2'27.f)7 Certificates ot indebted- 2,'.i,sl,;i,S uess, with interesl .... li(il.7J Due creditors ...... 7,(1011.00 Balance ............... Total ............ *2,l!).o.,S.S 1.RSO. 17 7,7!*;-), Oil Total ..■............. Iill 1,871.1 iii This handsome showing of a balance of .^T.TOn.C!) over all .$11.871.61) liabilities on Broadway, proves the wisdom of the move to the ceutrai locaiion which is further evidenced by the fact that lot! new members have been enrolled since the change. These rooms are beiug more and more appre¬ ciated for lhe meetings of Irade organiKations, whose members find there that seclusion and confi¬ dence necessary for the proper conduct of delicate negotiations, either among themselves or with the labor organizations. Since July 1. J,9il7. liie date of the removal to the Townsend i3uildiitg, 4ll(i regular meet- IJ'gs ot employers' associa¬ tions identifieti with the building industry have beeu held in these rooms; besides Jnany more of committee and sub-committee meet¬ ings, and conferences witb representatives of labor, plainly showing tbe'appre- cialioii thai the facilities of " the club for.these purposes receives. In Jhe further. execution of its comprehen¬ sive duties towards the lation, and in preventing that that wnnid be injurious. Any one whn is of good moral character, who is an employer of workmen, or has bis individ¬ ual capital invested in a business connected with the building iuterest, is eligible for membership of the Club. For what it offers and for a metro¬ politan club, the fees aud dues are very small iadeed. The illustrations of the interiors of the first and of the latest club-rooms, serve to show not only the material progress made by the Club, but the high-class of the accom¬ modations it now otTers to members. The familiar liniaments ot tbe present able President, the veteran, John L. Hamilton, audof thegeniaiandpains- taking secretary and treasurer, William K. Fertig, will be perceived with pleasure. The gathering last Monday opened with enthusiasm, and was continued to its close in the same spirit. There was not a dull moment the whole evening. All the rooms of the Club were thrown into one, so that the members could move witb freedom; and. instead of the restraint of a set programme carried out on a stage before which the audience must sit the whole evening, the various numbers on the programme were presented wherever the party might be massed for the time being and in an easy un- theatrical way that n-a-l? Ihem all the more enjoyable, ilefreshments were served throughout the evening and the wine-cup circulated with freedom tempered by discretion. Roland Taylor, who liad charge ot the entertain- luent, very successfully gauged tlie tastes of the audience, bearing in mind its proper requirements, and the merry side of the alTair. Sciarretta's Neapolitan Quartette, mandolinists and singers; the Eureka Tria of real negroes, with banjo, mandolin and guitar; nnd a company of cake walkers, sustained the lighter and gayer part of the programme. The last menlioned company consisted of a master of the ceremonies and three male and three female colored people who by their fantastic attire and playful antics, were very successful—as were also the judges—Messrs. Wm. H. Sayward, Samuel I, Acken and Augustus Meyers, who may be said to have formed part of the show, in that their serio-comii' criticisms and findings contributed not a little lo the success of this piece of merrymaking. Prof. Ki'ieger, "The Merry Wiz¬ ard," created lots of fun by his clever sleight-of-iiaiid. The Metropolitan Male Quar¬ tette and the voluntary aud artistic efforts of the weil- known singer and member of tiie iron trade. S. Fisher Miller, furnished substan¬ tial vocal efforts that were appreciated as much in their way as were the light¬ er numbers. At an early period of the evening the company was called together by the President lo give formal expression to their satis¬ faction at finding that the Ciub had aged so well aud touud itself prosperous wilh increasing years. The par- WILLIAM K. FBKTIG, Secretary, ticipants in this celebration were lhe t llowing; Johu L. Hamilton, Alfred Beinbauer, Samuel 1. Acken, Wm. K. Fertig, i-"'dwln Dobbs, Wm. W. Ames, Lovell H. Carr, William Gaskell, F'-ancis M. Weeks, Clarence W. Gaylor. Rdwin S. Keefer, H. M. Tostevin. William Turner, Chas. Andruss, Ronald Taylor, Jas. 1, Healey, .roliii R. Voorhis, Wm. T. Ritch, T.ouis Weber. WarrS'i A. Conover. F. W. fip.-'^ri'it. ,7r., Will. R. Clarke, Frauk '^pssing. James """bnirson. Jas. W. Carter, Geo. S. Hayes, Frank Hyde. Wm. S. Wilder. A. 3. Dickinson, Henry M. Toch, Hugh Gettv, Geo. J. Wills, Wm. H. Sayward, Chas. T. Galloway, Chas. L. Eidlitz, Chas. A. Cowen, S. Davis, Allan S. Duncan, Paul Pfotenhauer, J. M. Mossman, D. N. Mapes. John H. Dale, .lacob Mark. Isaac A. i-Iopper, Geo. H. Pride. Wm. H. Nesbitt. .Tohn E Nicholson, Prank E Cfunver. John J. Radley. .lohn Cooper. P. H. Barr, T^. A. Vaughan, ra. P. I-Iicks, "'m. A. Hankinaor. Frank Wlllian's. Alfrpd L. Poideri'-. Johu J. Roberts, John W. Mark, E. Hudson Ogden, Richard T. Davies, Hugo Berger, Augustus Meyers. Wm. C, Smilh, Vincent C. King, Wm. Bradley. Lewis Harding, falrick Gallagher. P. H. Klein. Jr.. H. S. Godsoe, Edward P. Foster. John C. Dey. Francis N. Nowland, Edwin Cutwater. Stephen M. Wright. i""inald Sfitchell. Wm. H. Van Tassell. Ftvron W. Greene. Jr.. Leonari K. Prince, Frank L Blake, Jas fiirra". Alphonao E. Pelhar-. Petfr L. P. Tostevin, '^i'jkii'e Van Houten. eV G. Haiitche, Jr. .JOHN L. MA.VHLTOX. President. building trades, the Club has Committees on Legislation and Ordinances, which carefully watch mat¬ ters affecting building interests at Albany and in the Municipal Assembly, and are able to render valuable service iu aiding the passage ot good legis- Mr. Hamilton e-pressed his personal salisfaction at seeing so large antl representative a gathering, and particularly, in noting so many y;llow ribbons or badges by which original members, or "founders," as tbey were called, were distinguished. He said the Ciub was sirong and had money with which to meet its indebtedness, but at the same time they would be lianpv to have those connected with the building interests who were not p-pp^bers, come in and share wilh them the many benefits and privileges of the Club, Secretary Fertig read a dispatch from Mr. John S. Stevens, of Philadel¬ phia. President of ihe National Assoeiaiion of Builders, who was expected to be present, stating that it was impossible for him la come, aud convey¬ ing an expression of his regards to "all the hoys." Mr. Fertig also read a letier of regret from Mr. Heury W. Redfield. the first secretary, rejoicing in the success that had attended the effort tn found a building trades' club Mr. Stephen M. Wright read the following address reviewing the pur¬ poses and history of tlie Ciub: Mr. President and Gentlemen: 1 certainly rejoice in the privilege of saying a few words lo you on this occasion, lo be memorable in the history of the Club, for among tbe various organizations that 1 have labored for, during the past decade, no one have I fell prouder to ba identified with than this Club, because I believe it to