Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: no. 56, no. 1429: August 3, 1895

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August 3, 1895 Record and Guide. K^ \ ESTABUSHED^ (^CHSl'l^ 1868.;^ Defied TO REJ^LESTAJ^.BuiLDlffc Afl,C^n^CTURpM(WSE«OU>DBWt^lDii ,Bi/snfess Alt)Themes of GeiIer^I I|/ierf»i.^ PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. Tblephonb, • - - ■ - - Cohtlandt 1370 CommanloatloQS should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Veaey Street. J. 1. LINDSEY. Busineas Manager. Bkooklyn Office, 276-282 Washington Street, Off. Post Ofpiof. "Entered at the Post-office at New lork, N. T., as seeond-class matter." Vol. LVL AUGUST 3, 1895. No. l,42;t CROP news ceasing to influence values and being followed by evidence of eojitiimed distmbanco in the Exchange mar- net, piices are natm-ally easinii' off. That the break begau witb the announcement that tbe Bond Syndicate had tiinied over $2,000,000 ot: its gold to tbe Treasury in exchange for green¬ backs is not to be wondered at. This act reminds people of the abandoumeut of the Governmeut's contract, which was a busi¬ nesslike and proper one, to prevent gold shipments aud it also raises the question of the obligations of tbe Syndicate towards exchange. Is this to be a singular operation, or is it to be re¬ pealed whenever the Treasury gold balance is reduced "! If tbe preservation of the gold reserve depends entirely on tbe gene¬ rosity of the Syndicate, it puts the Treasury in a very undigni¬ fied position, if not in one of those " holes " that political parti¬ sans always like their antagonists lo occupy. It also gives the Syndicate a power for jiood or ill for which tbe public has had and will have to pay smartly. It will be borne in mind tbat uo authoritative or ofBcial statement of the changed relations ot the Syndicate toward the Treasury bas ever been made, and aw a consequence, the public, including the people who have to pay very high ratesfor exchauge witb which to settle their obligations abroad aud high prices for bonds, are left quite iu the dark as to the exact nature of those velatious, or whether any exist at all. In consequence, tbe business community, outside of the small pai'ty who are manipulating the market, conducts all its opera¬ tions at a decided disadvantage. There are plenty of news¬ papers and men who assume to talk for both the Treasury aud the Syndicate, but their warrant for doing so is uot at all ap¬ parent; what they say therefore has uo weight in removing the snapicion with which the situation is generally regarded. TRON aud steel exports from Great Britain in the first sis -* months of 1895 were somewhat in excess of those for the first halves of 1894 and 1892, but suff'er very considerably in comparison with the returns for 1893 and 1891. Suchincreased shipmentsas there were, were more than accounted tor in pig iron, the least profitable of all exports in this class. Exports of mauufactured iron show the eHects of foreign competition. French imporfs for June were less than in the .same month last year, while the contrary was the case with the exports. The samefeatures chjiracterize tbe foreign trade for the first half oE the year. The Berlin aud Vienna bourses are both made ner¬ vous by ])olitical movements iu tbe Balkan States. The Brazilian Government five per cent loau was issued at 85, a fact significant ot the uncertain condition of the fiuauces of that power. A statement has been compiled for the information of British investors showing the government loans in default. Of a tofal of nearly .$270,000,000, embracing only the chief of such loans, .1^12,000,000 are credited to (he late Confederato States, ¥15,000,000 to West Virginia, $7,000,000 to Mississippi and $900,000 to Louisiana. These are without interest, which in some cases doubles and quadruples the principal, but is care¬ fully set out in the report of an institution known as the Corpor¬ ation of Foreign Bondholders. The gcnia-al trade of Europe shows uo marked changes. Ou the bourses as well as at tlie banks nearly all the business is iu governmeut loans, and the efF<»rts of those who make the rates for money are employed in preventing new funds coming in to lessen the very poor rates that maintaiu. rpHE quite unexpected death of Richard Morris Hunt deprive.s -^ the architectural profession of one who, in many respects, wasitsmo.st imposing, if not its most important personality. The position which Mr. Hunt occupied among his brethren was excepliona! aud peculiar, derived iu a much gi-eater degiee from traditional and personal qualities than from artistic supremacy or marked professional activity. His loss consequently is far greater to architects than to the public at large, who have been most benefited injan indirect way, by.Lhis loug, busy and honorable career. Mr. l-lunt's abundant professional work, thongh distinctly of a high order, scholarlj', measured, solid, was not, it must be acknowledged, of the very highest order, judged even by the standard of to-day. Viewed as a whole, itis deficient iu, but not destitute of, power, imagination, spontane¬ ity, delicacy aud charm. The touch of iuevitableness—the result of the complete fusion of tbe artist's processes, perceptions and individuality in tho accomplished work—was rarely his. But if his work was iu places labored aud intentional, too declaratory of its elements, it possessed the noble aud, alas, rare distinction 01 beiug never meritricious, never a thing of catch-forms or the trumpery fashion of the hour. Indeed, few architects of his day kept themselves so free as he did from debasing concessions to the current inodes. It may perhaps be wondered at that one who was so distinctly the dean of his profession should uot have been of greater distinction professionally, but we are sure the answer of every architect to any ono who should complain that the measure of Mr. Hunt's profes¬ sional reputa.tion is somewhat larger than the measure of bis artistic reputation will be similar to the reply which St, Beuve made to Matthew Arnold when the latter expressed a doubt as to whether tbe importance of Lamartine was equal to tbe reputation he obtained in France i "He is very impor¬ tant to us." The importance of Mr. Hunt's career to tbe Ameri¬ can architect is not easily to be overestimated. At a time when such things were sadly lacking in this country, Mr. Huutbrought to bis profession scholarly attainments, real knowledge, pur¬ pose, high interest iu and persistent activity for tbe dignity and advancement of architecture in the United States. ANY oue who is curious to know what New York would look like .should soft coal become the common fuel of its inhabitants, can get a precty good idea by visiting the Mott Haven Railroad yards ou a heavy moist Any. All day and uight the shiftiTiH'engines in these yards are emitting dense columns of dceji black smoke in defiance of the law and, apparently, without check or inte; fcrcrce from tbe Health Department. The result is (hilt on sultry days a heavy cloudy canopy hangs like a pall over the neighborhood .and inten.sifies the discomfort of the people who live and work there. As a matter of fact the Health Departtuent has become neglectful of its duties under tbe smoke ordinance. There are endless smokestacks putfiug aboraiualions info the air iu all parts of the city. The manu¬ facturers in the Twenty-third AVard are conspicuous offenders in this rcs])ect. As their flagrant violations of the law are to be seen by every passenger ou the bridges at Second and Third avenues, it is evident that they do not fear tbe vigilance of tbe officers ot the Health Departmeut. Others who are equal sinners against the beauty and good fauio of our city are those whose works are near the East River, aud some of the tall chimneys in the dry-goods district may also be seen at times doing their utmost to befoul the air. This is all wrong and the people who arc ]'espons.ible for it should be made to understand their duties as citizens belter than they do now, as the president of a large concern was made to do something over a year ago. The Health Department, too, should be made to understand that it is .iust as important that the city sbouldbe clean overhead as underfoot, even if it should become necessary to take ofl' the top of its head aud pour the idea boiling hot into its brain. ■ THE preparation aud publication of statistics are arts that we do uot seem to catch hold of iu this country, except per¬ haps when they are prepared and issued under the direction and for tbe use of tbe commercial exchanges. Beyond that tliey are either bald statements of figures relatiugto the body or depart¬ ment tbat issues them and of no value whatever to the com¬ munity, or they appear to.) late to be of any practical use. Au inslance of the,iustico of the first of these criticisms i.s afforded by the publication I'ecently by the Bni'cau of Labor Statis-tics of a statement pui'portiLig to sliuw the building operations in this citv for the first bait of the year. This consisted .simply of the uumber and estimated cost of the buildings for whicb plan.s were filed from January Isfc to June 30th. Readers of this journal had long before been made acquainted with fliese figures propcriv classified aad accompanied by much other inforniatiou tbat gave them inactical value. In explanation of the meagre- ness of its statement, the agent of tiic Bureau of Labor Statis¬ tics bas stated that owing to the arrears of wtu'k iu the Depart¬ ment of Buildings of this city further iuformation that used to be available is not so auy longer. This remark had particular refeve!ice to the nuntber and cost of buildings finished and begun in the period reported upon, the only statistics in fact that the Depaitment of Buildings could furnish that would serve to show, in at least an approximate degree, the activity iu the building trade. As every one acquainted with the subject knows, the number of plans filed does not aflbrd a safe indicali