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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 27, no. 689: May 28, 1881

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Real Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. XXYII. NEW TORK, SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1881 No. 689 Published Weekly by The Real Estate Record Association TERMS: ONE TEAR, in advance.....$6.00 Communications should he addressed to C. W. SWEET, 137 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Busmess Manager. The Common Council is talking about put¬ ting the electric light on Riverside drive. If this should be done, that beautiful west side avenue might become a famous after-dinner drive. During the coming summer people who could not go to Coney Island might, after the sun went down, take an evening ride or drive on the Riverside. The electric lights would make it as bright as day, and the scene on the river aud from the river would be fairly enchanting. If there is to be an electric light, let us have plenty of it. The only objection we see is the danger that if the avenue became much frequented in the evenings, it would lead to the opening of saloons and might depreciate the value of property. What business has the Attorney General of this State interfering in stock speculation? He wants, it seems, to have a receiver ap¬ pointed for the Manhattan. But that com¬ pany is not in default. After July, if it should not pay the dividend, action may be taken; but it ia an outrage for this country lawyer, to undertake to represent the majes¬ ty of the State of New York, in helping on a stock speculation. On the completion of the New York ele¬ vated road, Mr. Cyrus W. Field gave a din¬ ner to his followers at Delmonico's. It was then stated that elevated stock was earning 20 per cent., and its price was about 190. But now Mr. Cyrus W. Field is telling the news¬ papers that the New York elevated is not earning 10 per cent., and he says Manhattan stock is worthless. Mr. Field in this matter has been smart at the expense of the invest¬ ing public. The elevated roads themselves, have been a great benefit to the community. They hava increased the area of taxable property and fiu'nished an ijnsurpassed means of local travel. But, strangely enough, the press and the public unite in abusing the roads, instead of the stock man¬ ipulators, Field, Navarro, Porter, Garrison and their associates, and the disposition is to punish the present innocent holders of the stock by excessive taxation, for the misdeeds of the speculators, who have pocketed their profits, and do not care what becomes of the roads or their victims. Offices have been opened in quarters of the city, inhabited by foreigners, for the sale of emigrant tickets. Of course it is not the great lines, like the Cunard, the White Star or the Inman, but the smaller steamers, which are offering inducements for Ger- irianLS and'Irish who wish to send to Europe for their friends. These offices are open at night for the accommodation of working people, and are often crowded with custo¬ mers. This is but one symptom of how high the fever of immigration is rising. All ac¬ counts from abroad agree that from now to harvest the numbers wiU be very large and that immediately after harvest they will be still larger. The government of Denmark is becoming really alarmed and proposes to stop immigration by forcible measures; while in Germany the organs of Bismarck are tell¬ ing all sorts of absurd stories to check the immigration. So long as this country is prosperous and Europe is crushed by taxa¬ tion and the demands of compulsory military service, there is no stopping the tide of hu¬ man beings that is flowing to our shores. ABOUT SOME NEW YORK JOURNALS, The Evening Post has been purchased by Horace White and Henry Villard, and Carl Schurz is the new editor, with E. L. Godkin, late of the Nation, as associate editor. Messrs. White and ViUard are old newspaper asso¬ ciates, and were correspondents at Washing¬ ton when the duties on whiskey were im¬ posed. It is said both of them made fortunes by taking advantage of the information they got ahead of other people, respecting these same duties on spirits. Mr. White subse¬ quently bought a controlling interest in the Chicago Tribune, and Mr. Villard entered Wall street. They both have been vrorking together recently in Oregon Navigation and other enterprises and have made a great deal of money. There is room in New York for news¬ papers with strong editors behind them. The Herald, Times and Tribune, when they were edited by the elder Bennett, Henry J. Raymond and Horace Greeley, were real forces in the political and business world. These papers have little weight to-day, al¬ though in some technical respects they are better papers than they were under the old regime. The Herald is strong in foreign news, and the Sun in local information, but the whole daily press of New York, to-day, does not wield the influence which Horace Greeley did with the Tribune alone. Carl Schurz, as editor of the Evening Post, will speak with authority. He will repre¬ sent a very influential section of the Repub¬ lican party. But an evening paper is at a disadvantage; its circulation is necessarily limited, as its news is confined to but a few hours out of the twenty-four. Then, its ad¬ vertising is not lucrative. New York needs a morning paper, more enterprising than any now in existence, and with contributors of nationaFreputation, whose names should be given.. The Chicago Times last week tel¬ egraphed the four gospels of the revised New Testament, some 88,000 words. Fifteen wires were used in the transmission. Who¬ ever heard of such a feat on the part of a New York paper ? This one Chicago paper spends more money in a year for telegraph¬ ing, than the cost of the entire telegraphic I service of the New York press. The enter¬ prising papers ought to be in this city, not in Chicago. Our newspapers are also pass¬ ing into the hands of the representatives of rich corporations, and caimot very well rep¬ resent public opinion in consequence. We have no doubt that the Evening Post, under its new management, wUl attract wide¬ spread attention. This may lead in time to the establishment of a morning paper, with a staff of brilliant writers, whose opinions will carry weight with the pubhc. Those who know the new editors of the Evening Post, doubt whether they will be able to pull together. They are opinionated and crotchety gentlemen, in whom the criti¬ cal faculty has been inordinately developed. They would naturally criticise one another, to begin with ; but the disagreement, if there is one, will end with a survival of the fittest. Mr. White would do well to issue a morning edition of the Post and edit it him¬ self. If some capitalists would import Murat Halstead of the Cincinnati Commercial, and Henry Watterson of the Louisville Courier- Journal, journalism in New York would re¬ cover some of its old prestige. Mr. W. H. Lee points out to a Tribune re¬ porter the benefits which New York city has derived from its system of elevated roads, and incidentally he calls to mind the mistakes which property holders are apt to make respecting improvements which they fear will injure the value of their property. It is a settled fact for instance, that property on Sixth avenue has been very greatly bene¬ fitted by the building of the elevated road. True, it is not so desirable as a residence, but its value as a business avenue has very gi-eatly increased. When it was proposed to build large apartment houses, the adjoining property holders were apprehensive that they would be in some way injured. So when the Union League Club was projected, it was supposed it would depreciate the price of adjoining property, but as a matter of fact, it has improved the entire neighbor¬ hood. Property holders have universally opposed horse cars in front of their possess¬ ions ; yet in every case the street cars have been a benefit to the street through which they ran. The late A.T. Stewart spent his life in fighting surface and underground railways on Broadway, and he succeeded in driving them to other avenues, and with the roads the retail dry goods business of the city. It was the^surface and elevated road which built up Sixth avenue at the expense of Broadway. The street cars have very largely benefitted property on Fourteenth street and Twenty-third street, and it is a notable fact that the largest retail trade on Broadway, is in that section occupied by the horse cars. Yet, clear as these facts are to the blindest, the principal property hold¬ ers on Forty-secoHd street are bitterly op¬ posed to horse cars on their street. If they were wise, they would ask for an elevated road and subscribe to buUd it themselves. It may be set down as an axiom, that every improvement which increases the number of