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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 33, no. 838: April 5, 1884

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April 5, 1884 The Record and Guide. 357 THE RECORD AND GUIDE, Published every Saturday, 191 Broadway, N. Y. TERMS: OW. \FAVi, iu advance, SIX DOLLiVKS. Communications should be addressed to €. W. SWEET, 191 Bruadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager, APRIL 5, 1884. Needless Bloodshed. Our editors lose their heads when a riot takes place. The smell of guupowder maddens them as it always does a mob. The English authorities of late years never employ fire-arms in fight¬ ing mobs, at least not since the Bristol riots, when the Duke of Wellington was Prime Minister. On that occasion tho use of cav¬ alry and fire-arms provoked so wrathful a feeling that the govern¬ ment wisely decided to trust hereafter to policemen and their clubs, but of course always to hold the military in readiness in case of a vital emergency. The efficiency of tbe policemen was shown sub¬ sequently at the great Chartist demonstration, which really threat¬ ened revolution. Special constables of citizens were sworn in to help the police, but they were only armed with clubs. It will be remembered tbat Louis Napoleon, then an exile in London, acted as a special policeman on that occasion. Since then there have been many riots in England, of wbich the most notable were those at Hyde Park, but the police were always sufficient to quell the most ■violent and unreasonable mobs. London can probably supply more daogerous characters to a mob than any city in the world. It is pop¬ ulous and the work people are poor and often depraved. Even in Ire¬ land, where the whole popuiatioi' is at enmity with the government, it is tho constabulary who are employed, rarely if ever the soldiers, in dispersing the disaffected meetings. The rough fellows who com- -pose those excited gatherings understand the club, and do not like to have fcheir shins barked or their skulls cracked, but the use of gunpowder always creates a frenzy. The French resort to it and hence the frequent scenes of madness in the streets of Paris, We Americans also promptly resort to shooting, and always with disastrous effects. The Astor place riot was signalized by shooting at a mob, which could have been far easier suppressed by a quiet charge of bayonets. Our raw militia, however, are naturally excita¬ ble, and some fool in tbe ranks fires before the order is given. This always lets the devil loose in a mob. The draft riots in this city during the Civil War, the Pittsburg labor riot, and now this late Cincinnati business, might all have been put down without a shot being fired. Ifc w^as the regulars who put an end to the Pittsburg riots by marching through the streets with fixed bayonets, and thus dispersing the mob without resorting to gunpowder. The Cincinnati rioters were not Communists, dynamite Irishmen, or ignorant emigrants, but American citizens, whose moral sense had been outraged by the leniency shown to notorious criminals by the corrupt courts of that city. There was no need of a single person being shot or wounded iu Cincinnati. Outside of France on the continent of Europe the soldiery are never used in case of riot. Within a few months a mob of dangerous disaffected workmen in Vienna were put down hy the police. We will probably keep on shooting at mobs in the United States until we get older and wiser. Our rulers are generally recruited from a class which is afc once timid and rash, and the members of which hold office for sboit terms. Our militiamen are very inexperienced, and then our editors, in case of an outbreak, are sure to cry " Shoot them down," as witness nearly all the papers during the past few days. It seems to be settled that all or nearly all the reform bills intro¬ duced by Mr.Theodore Roosevelt in the Legislature will be adopted. We have no doubt they will accomplish much good but they are far from perfect. Tbe Comptroller should not be elected but appointed by the Mayor. The Board of Estimates should not be confined to four officers whose ordinary duties should take up all their time. That board should be enlarged by the addition of several tax-paying experts who would do all the executive work. Single-beaded departments are all right provided the Mayor has the power of prompt removal, which the Roosevelt bills do not give him. The case of Hubert O. Thompson and that of the Surrogate show that rank abuses flourish in single-headed departments when the tenure of office is for a fixed term. Then the Park Commission, like the Charities and Correction, should be composed of three or ftye members appointed by tbe Alayo?:, Still if fjip yeform measures pass, imperfect as they are, a good work will have been done. The Facts About Real Estate. The daily prcPS of New York has made such ado about the so- called ■'boom" in real estate tbat a wrong impression bas been created as to the actual facts in the case. It is quite true that there has beeu eager bidding at the auction sales for certain kinds of investment property; it is also true that brokers and dealers feel very much more encouraged at the present outlook than they were when the year commenced. But there is no " boom" in real estate as the tables io this article, compiled from tbe records in our own ofBce, very clearly show. The tests in any business are the number of sales and tbe amounts involved. From the tables it will be seen that there were about 150 more conveyances in the first three months in this year com¬ pared with the first three months of laat year. But while $42,514,- 564 was expended in purchases in realty in 1883, tlie first three months of tbis year show an aggregate of $39,038,444, some $3,500,000 less, Tbe March showing this year does not compare favorably with the same month last year. Then turning to the new buildings projected we find that there were only 614 projected during the first three months this year against 687 new buildings projected during the sarae period last year. The cost of the projected improvements this year are $8,348,386, against $13,775,400 last year, a faUing off of nearly four million and one half. Still it maj be remarked in passing that the first three months of 1883 were the best in the year, and among the plans were some very large and costly dwellings. Here are the comparative tables: CONVEYANCES. 1883 No, CoiiTeya, Januaty...... 920 February ___ 844 March ....... 1,031 Total...... 3,804 1884. January...... 941 February..... 892 - .March....... 1.124 Total...... 2,957 No, 1883. Morts, January......... 904 February........ 713 March.......... 1.011 Total........ 2,62T Amount, $11,375,T66 13,785,79« 17,452,999 $42,514,564 $I4,Bra,7-J2 18,306,093 16,359,629 Nom, 33d & 34th W. Amount, 259 85 $147,895 318 106 344,358 257 102 201,572 83'.028,444 734 143 257 270 665 393 136 333 131 $693,8^ 8354,031 380.146 325,373 383 81,059,550 Nom, 23 35 3S B4 34 30 38 n MORTOAilES, 1884. January - February.. March___ 708 911 Amount. 8ll.C33,15B 8.06S,'i73 23,061,779 $41,031,307 89,700,463 7.414,053 13,180,146 No, at 5 p. C, 332 270 323 Amount. $8,985,745 2,035,863 3,787,067 No, to Banks £ Ins. Coa. 147 147 194 Amount. 84.905,183 3,132,900 13,576.100 924 $10,708,674 488 831,704,183 3,'13 250 329 83,403.204 3,198,35S 3,488,180 151 139 233 $2,751,100 3.210.768 4,678.150 Total........ 2.515 83\394,6iil 912 $10,089,642 503 $0,639,918 Total No. buildings projected....... Estimate'i eost................... No, south of 14th street............... Cost............................... Bet. 14th Sl 59th streets............... Cost............................. Bet. .Wth& 135tl) sts, eastoC&th av... Cost............................... Bet. 59lt & I35tli k!s, westof Sth av. Cost ........................... Bet. nOth& 125th sta, SthJZ Sth ftvs.. Cost.............................. Nonh of 13.5th street,................ Cost ......■.................... 2.3d & 34th Wards.................. Cost............................. March 1882. 253 83,800,111) 4S 8616,350 4^ 8978,150 DO 81,577,625 4 $53,200 30 $411,500 37 $133,365 Marcli 18S3 338 $5,964.5(;0 35 $453,800 55 81,309,150 159 $3,ia8,2[.0 9 836,000 3 $224,000 64 $686,000 23 $67,350 March 1834, 268 83,956,513 33 $746,362 60 $761,800 97 $1,819,950 20 $457,000 3 $45,000 10 $15,875 45 8110.525 January.. Febi'uary. March___ Total. ^1883.---------. Cost, $1,749,885 3,343,050 3,800,110 $7,893,1545 No. IBO 169 338 -1883.--------r^ Cost. $4,069,075 3,741,835 6,96.1,500 No, 103 243 268 _1881.---------, COBt. $1,362,681 3,039.093 3,956,513 687 $12,775,400 614 $8,348,286 A careful study of tbe above figures will serve to dispel some illusions. Transactions in realty are increasing; this is due to the growth of our population and the greater number of holders, now that so many large estates such as the Jumel, Morgan and others bave been divided up. The outlook is, however, very fair; inveat- Mient property is in growing demand. Vacant lots, however, ex¬ cept in the line of immediate improvement, are still slow of sale, though undoubtedly their turn will come in time, Real estate never advances along the whole line; first one kind of property is in de¬ mand, and then another; when there is a speculation on the east side the west and otber portions of the city are apt to be neglected. In this respect real property is not unlike Wall street securities, which advance or recede in groups, as shown by the history of prices in the Grangers, the coal stocks, the Vanderbilts, etc. There is real harm done to the best interest of realty when ex¬ travagant statements are made respecting prices. It has been the aim of The Record and Guide to stick closely to tbe facts so as not to deceive its readers. The prospects of real property are so good tbat there }s HO peed of putting forth illusive and deceptive st^ten^entB,