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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 78, no. 2002: July 28, 1906

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July 28, 1906 RECORD AND GUIDE 163 ESTABUSHED-^ MARpHay> I86& BiTsn/Ess AtJb Themes ofGetJer^I IjftERpst.: PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS PmhlUt^td tVerw Smtttrdae OommiiDl^aMon* should b» ftddresBdd to C. W, SWEET. 14-10 Vo»«y Street, New Tork » T.1 •phona, ( ;ortla ndt 3151 r "Entered at the P»tt Office ett New T»rk. , K T.. ■1 seoond-clats matter." Vol, LXXVIIl, JULY 28, 1906. No. 2002 INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS. Adyertlslng Section. Page. Page. Cement ....................IxlU Law.........................xl Conanltlng Engineers ..........x Lumber..................xxviii Clay Products ................xxii Machinery ...................iv Contractors and Bulldera ......v Meial Work ................xvll Electrical Interests ..........viil Qui-k Job Directory ........xxvii Fireproofing .................ii Real Estale .................xiv Granite ....................xxiv Roofers fi; Roofing Materials.xxvl Healing ....................xx Stone .....................xxiv Iron and Steel ..............xviii Wood Products ...........xxviii CUMULATIVE bull conditions of the year are beginning to make themselves felt at last. It has been truly an un¬ natural situation, for each increase in the rate of dividend for the past six months has been promptly followed by a decline in the stock involved, although it had not theretofore advanced in anticipation. Again, when at last Amalgamated Copper, in which an increase in dividend had been unanimously expected, celebrated its disappointment by a five point rise, Wall Street was disposed to say that this nonsense had gone far enough, and we must be permitted to have at least or at last a logical market. It certainly looks now as if this may be the case under the leadership of Southern Pacific and perhaps Canadian Pacific. The large banking interests that have been buying Southern Pacific for weeks assert that the present move will ■ be phenomenal. Par is predicted, and many new records in railroad shares as well. It seems a certainty that, measured by market value, the country's crops will be the greatest ever known, and the conditions for an extended bull movement in stocks are thus highly favorable. Commission houses, which means margin holders, are bare of shares, while perhaps there .is the largest scattered short interest in the history of Wall Street. The London settlement, just concluded, also shows a meagre bull account and a large short interest in Americans. This state of affairs, taken together with the decline in the prices of last .January, afford materia! for an advance of fifteen to twenty points. Some authorities say that 60 may well be reached ou tbe next lap for Steel Common. HERETOFORE we have expressed the opinion, to which we still adhere, that low-priced railroad stocks like Wiscon¬ sin Central, Iowa Central, Toledo, St. L^nis & Western, and others of a similar character will show the greatest profit, some of them, perhaps, doubling in market value. The Wheat crop will certainly be the largest or record, and only something entirely unforeseen can prevent Corn from being so, while the Cotton yield may well be the largest if we except the freak crop of two years ago. Money has ceased to be an element of danger to the market. That is to say. Wail Street has arrived at the conclusion that money is to be eliminated from the list of things of which to be afraid. Of the Russian situation, it may be said that it is bound to improve, through the mere exhaustion of the people, who are beginning to give evidence that they are tired of dancing to the tune played by the ex¬ tremists of the several parties. To sum up, the strength of the marliet indicates that it should both rise and -broaden. Strong interests have certainly, for the time being, ranged them¬ selves on the bull side, and the return to this centre of activity of financiers and operators of international fame and reputa¬ tion cannot but fail to have a beneficial effect. A LL the reports from San Francisco tend to confirm the im- -'^ pression that the spirit of optimism with which the people of that city first met their disasters has been succeeded by a spirit of depression. They are beginning to realize how enormous the work of restoring the city must be, and what a long time it will take. The insurance companies are paying up very slowly, the population of the city is dwindling, and it is even being asked whether the city will ever I'ecover from the shock of the earthquake aud the effect of the conflagration. Such a feeling of depression is natural after the strain upon the nerves, which so serious a calamity necessarily involved; but it probably contains as large an element of illusion as the earlier hopes o'f an almost immediate recovery. The prosperity of San Francisco will probably experience a set-back more serious than did either Chicago or Baltimore under similar circumstances, because the destruction was more complete, and because of the peculiar situation of the city. It will be more difficult for San Francisco to rebuild cheaply than it was for a city lilte Balti¬ more, which can draw on unlimited supplies of labor and build¬ ing materials. Nevertheless, we believe that the prosperity of the city will prove to be beyond even the power of such a calamity permanently to diminish. In the long run, the influ¬ ence of its magnificent harbor, of its improving means of rail¬ road communication, is bound to effect the process of restora¬ tion. It is bound to be the exporting and distributing centre for almost the whole of California, and for parts of certain neigh¬ boring states. Seattle may for a while be able to snatch away some of the Oriental export trade, and Los Angeles may become for a while the distributing centre of a larger region; but, in the long run, the competition of neither of these cities can seriously diminish the amount of business which will be transacted" in San Francisco, It will remain the commercial centre ef a state which has larger undeveloped natural resources than any state in the Union; and as California increases her production both of agricultural and manufacturing commodities, San Francisco is bound to be the place in which these goods are sold and dis¬ tributed, and in which the growing business of the state is financed. The only doubt about the future of the city which a person who understands the economic situation can feel is, whether San Francisco can afford to rear on the ruins of the old wooden city an edifice constructed of really fireproof mate¬ rials. There will be the strongest temptation to rebuild in the same bad old way; and unless this temptation is with¬ stood, even at a vei-y heavy cost, the future prosperity may be threatened by the only possible permanent danger, viz., by a feeling of insecurity. TT looks very much, however, as if the old wooden Sau Fran- -^ Cisco would be succeeded by a city built of concrete. From every point of view the system of reinforced concrete construc¬ tion seems peculiarly adapted to the local needs and conditions, A wall of armored concrete is, of course, quite fireproof, and, according to tbe opinions of experts, it is able to stand the strain of an earthquake as well as a wall resting on a steel frame, and better than masonry construction. Then a city of concrete could be built much more cheaply than could a city composed of any other equally fireproof materials. Clay is scarce in the neighborhood of San Francisco, and the necessary amount of bi-ick*couId be obtained only at an impossible expense. Good building stone has to be carried from a long distance, and is very expensive to lay. Steel beams must be transported from the East, and come high by the time they are laid down in San Francisco, On the other hand, cement mills could be erected at convenient points in a short time, and without a large investment of capital. Sand can be obtained in sufficient quan¬ tities, and stee! rods would be much cheaper to transport, compared with the amount of work they do, than steel beams. It seems very probable consequently that the new San Francisco wil! be substantially a concrete city, particularly in view of the fact that, inasmuch as the old buildings were mostly wooden, the debris will not contain much material which can be used over again. If such should prove to be the case, it will be inter¬ esting to see what the architects of the new city will do in order to make concrete construction superficially attractive. When reinforced concrete is used for factories and mills, there is, of course, no reason for any veneer, but whenever the -same method of construction has been used for buildings which face the streets of a large city, some attempt has usually been made to convert the dull monotone of the cement into something more interesting. In many cases a coating of tiles has been used, while in others the concrete itself has been colored in a livelier fashion. However the surfaces of these buildings are treated, it is very much to be hoped that the architects will not be tempted to spend much money on the oi-dinary decorative detail. Such detail is meaningless when plastered on a concrete building, the effect of which should be made to depend upon good masses, lines and surfaces, varied by well-placed openings. T TNRIVALLED in excellence as are the hotels of New York ^ City, the extent of the accommodations they offer, the conveniences which they have installed, and their progressive management, combine to make it the more surprising that New