Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 54, no. 1383: September 15, 1894

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F September 15,1894 Record and Guide. 351 ^ ESTABUSHED'^ft.RKpH2l«>I868, Dented to flEjyL Estate . Building AR.cifrrEenn^E ,HousE3loii) DECCffluiori, Bifsii/Ess Atfo Themes ofGeKerrI 1Ktefi.esi, PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. TeLEFDONE, ...... CORTLAKDT 1370 Communications should he addressed to C. "W, SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. J. J, LIA'DSEY. Business Manager, Brooklyn Office, 276-282 Wasiiington Street, Off. Post Office. " Entered at Ihe Post-office al A'cw York.Y. T., as second-class mailer." Vol. liv. SEPTEMBER 15, 1S94. No. 1,383 For additional Brooklyn matter, see Brooklyn Department immediately followina Yew Jersey records [paqc 373',. WITH SUPFLEMENT, The Recoud and Guide edition of the Building Laws and Ordinances of Brooklyn, wilh illustrations and a complete index, hy which one in enabled to find at a glance jnst what he is looking for, ia now ready for delivery at the offices of Tiii': Kkcokd and Guide, 1-i and 16 Vesey street, New Yorl; and 276 Washington, street, Brooklyn, al the uniform price of $2. WALL STREET, or rather tliat part of it whicli spends its life ill gtie-ssioy at the daily prices of securities, is just uow puzzled even more thau wheu Cougress was iu scssioa wheu tlic daily grinding of lies iiiiiiiiucrabic could be worked without cessation. On one side, the i'itveet feels that the long-talked- ahout re^vival of business is undoubtedly here, aud woolen luiUs, ^lass factories and other industries which have been para¬ lyzed for months are j;'ettin^ into operation; but these good signs are offset by the oHicial bad reports of the com crop, reports whicli are corroborated by every oue who persoually knows RDythiug about the condiliou of the corn States. The diftereuce betweeu l,100,000,t")00 bushels and 1,800,000^000 is appalliiag aud Wall street aud the country generally may well stop a short time until this ditt'ereuce can be realized. Whether we have 700,000,000 bushels of corn more or le.ss to be handled or made iuto provisions means emi>Ioyment and busiuess tor luauy different iuterests, the aggregate of which woidd be at least two ov three hundred millions dollars and this means trade and trade nieaiis piolits and profits mean good times iu Wall Street, It does not follow that even with the reduced crop a big busiuess will not be doue, but it does fol¬ low that discrimination must be made with one's purchases ant), for this reason, it will be well to keep east of the Mississippi with purchases of railread stocks. The coal stocks are also safe, as with a revival of busiuess and the increased use of coal by trolley cars aloue, where foruierly horse-power was u.scd, there will be a very tangible addition to the saleof coal. AU Southern securities ouglit also to be good, a^ tben^ crops of all kind are the best of any iu the history of the South. IN Eui'ope the improvement iu trade conditions continues, but without any marked featnres. A more hopeful feeling ]irevails generally, but this saiiguiueiiess does not appear to be based as yet upon any very prouoimced increase in actual trans¬ actions, ludeed, reports iudieate that the situation iu Europe is in many respects similar to that prevailing at present iu this country. The markets are brisker thau they were a year ago, but buyers, upon the whole, are pnicccding very cautiously and prefer to purchase for present iiecils latliei' thau stock up to meet even very restricted auticipatious. The money market is ■unchanged. TheUankof Eiighiiidcoiitiuues to augment its stoek of gold. There is no demand for money anywhere. This lifeless state of afi'aii s is the surest iudicatiim possible that busine.'is is notyetin a normal conditiou. In tTerniany tlnrre are two sources from whieh better trade is looked for—the United States and the Orieut. The uew tariff, of course, has caused the expectations couceniiug this e(nintry, and, it ie supposed, the war between China aud Japan will arouse trade witli the far East. It is more than probable, however, that the G-ormau tariff promises oar German friends more than they will ever realize, for, what¬ ever advantages the lower scale of duties confers upou the foreigner, iu verymany cases thev are more than ofl'set by the reductions iu the cost of production which have beeu eil'ected ■within the last few years by the American manufacturer. Still, prices in Euroxie are .said to be so low that they now scarcely leave any margin for profit, and, under these cii'cum.stauces, should business in the Uuited States pick np aud jirices here stiffen, imports from Europe might be increased. Those who are lamenting the pooreorn crop iu this country should not over¬ look the fact that ouly ,50 per cent of au average of that cereal or maize will be obtained this year in Em-ope. Statistics of the out-turn of cotton in India are at haud. The total yield for this year is placed at 2,950,000 bales, or about 200,000 bales more than in the previous season. Due to adverse climatic con¬ ditions the quality of the crop is pronounced decidedly poor. The greater part of India cotton goes to the contineut of Europe and not to Great Britain, the chief customer for the Ameri¬ can fibre, ----------■---------- The Leaven of Morality in Brooklyn. WHEN the rotten borough of Graveseud was annexed to Brooklyn last wiuter the impression was universal that the leaven wliicii had worked tbe political revolution in Novem¬ ber woidd suttice to raise this uew ward to the moral level indicated by the electiom of Mayor Schieren and the .iailing of John Y. McKaue. Not a few ot the best fi'iends of the enlarged city have noted therefore, with alarm, in the last few weeks, indications that the leaven is working the other way, or, to pre¬ serve the technical accuracy of our simile, is insufficient for the leavening of tbe whole lump and tliat there is grave danger tliat all of Bioiildyn's cake will turn to dough. The most conspicuous of these indications at this present time is the revival of the bestial, brutal, inhuman, pugilistic exhibi¬ tions at Coney Island, under the false appellatious of " amateui' athletic" exhibitions, and asunder theCourtney-McKane-Boody patronage, now under tlie patronage of tlie police authorities and tbe same old gang of iioiitical toughs aud gin-mill loafers. AVhile there wa.s a healthy, moral sentiment opposed to these degrading exhibitions and a manly, courageous public press to denouuce them, there ■\vas still a sound basis for the hope of an ultimate return by Brooklyn to the higii plane of morality aud deceucy she exemplitied wheu Beecher waa her oracle aud Seth Low her executive. But siuce tliey have been lost to Brooklyu the city has growu so familiar with vice and political corruption that it has viewed with perfect composure not only the revival of these degrading Coney Islaud pugilistic contests, butthe still sadder apology for them madeby tbe Brooklyn Ear/lc. This paper, by au occasional spectacular, if tardy, championship of the cause of morality in municipal affairs, acquired au oracular authority to represent the moral sentiments of the commimity. How low must this moral sentiment have fallen, therefore, wheu the Eagle expresses editorially such seutimeuts as these : " Brooklyn is not nnd does nut claim to be a home of saints. It is not a goody-goody town, its jicojilo neither Lo'.d stop watches oii sermons nor read theological essay.s in tlie grand stand at a horso race. They believe in a niinimnm amount of liyiiocrisy and a niiiximum iiuiouut of manliness, * » ^ ^ TLere are some people aud a few newspapers wliicli hope to achieve a little cheap reputation by assnniiug a sanctimonious attitude toward this matter. Wc liave uo synipiitliy vfith them. Wo believe iu all fonna of sport, tho teudency ol ■jvhich is to cuconriigc a henltby, wholesome and manly spirit among onr young men, bo.'^iug matches included, and we would hate to seo the day when a finicky civiliaa- tiou attains the stage at which it produces nothing bnt pliyslcal weald iuss." Eortunately, sucli au outspoken declaration iu favor of the criminal class is uot of frequent occurreuce. Our in¬ terest in this matter is not altogether of au ethical uatiu'e. Brooklyn real estate interests are deeply interested iu it, seii- onsly affected by it. Brooklyu has already such a superabund¬ ance of the tough anil vulgar element iu her popidation that property values are in mauy large sections seriously afiected b}' it. It is no longer the city of quiet, orderly homes it used to be. The classes who patronize prize tights ave in the uuaierieal majority and their e\'il iufiuence is extending to the youth of every household. AVhen the Ear/le gives utterance to sueh seu¬ timeuts it makes the defence of the fireside more difficult, it allies itself with the worst elements in our population. What Brooklyu ui^eds more than auythiug else for the resto¬ ration of her shattered credit aud fortunes jnst now is the subju¬ gation of tlie tough, the exaltation of the moral elements in her population. She needs to do those thiugs which will make her attractive to decent people. Tiiese are driven away by Couey Island prize fights and by official sanctions aud Emjh apologies for them. The Superiutendent of Police aud the Eagle shoidd about face ou this matter aud support the manful cttbrts wliich Mayor Schieren is making to restore to Brooklyu ber good name and fame. In uo other way could they do so much towards restonug prosperity to the real estate aud building iuterests of Brooklyn. This article would be incomplete did we uot report that notwithstanding the BaoWs stultification and the apology of Superiutendent Welles, Mayor Schieren has set his face firmly against any more of the degrading exhibitions that have made the Coney Island brand of athletics a stench in the nostrils of decent people. There is uo danger that auy of the "forms of sport, the teudency of which is to encourage a healthy.