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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 66, no. 1701: October 20, 1900

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October 20, 1900. RECORD AND GUIDE. 4S6 OnfrllD TO Rpj4.ESTAJE.BuiLDIlfc Ajif^TTECTUIff >{(WSE110lBDD3CHJ310il BtlsDfESs Alb Themes of GEjtof^ Ij/ioiF*!., PRICE PER YEAR IH ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS. Published tvertj Saturday. * TELEPHONE, ■ COKTLAND 1.170. Communications should be addressed to C. "W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. /. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. "Entered at the Post-Office at New York, N. Y., as second-class matter.'' Vol. LXVI. OCTOBER 20, 1900. 1701. ■ir » ^HAT was predicted ol the stock market has happened. XX Prices are advancing in spite of higher rates for money and heavy selling from ahroad. That we are seeing only the be¬ ginning of a substantial upward move was proved this week when the stocks sold, either by European or home holders, to take profits, or to make turns on the short side, were so promptly taken, and the market suddenly became hare. This showed that the movement was something more than a professional one and that suhstantial interests as well as small buyers from the ranks of the outsiders are taking hold, hecause of the growing confi¬ dence in the political, industrial and monetary situation. The hond market more than confirms the impression created by the action of the stock market, which must always be regarded as more speculative than the first. The huylns: in bonds represents a daily enlarging total, which has now become a substantial one. though only a week ago it was merely nominal. The general trading and industrial situation, though now unperturbed by anxiety regarding the public policy for the next four years, is nulet. This is natural, in view of the extent to which the elec¬ tion is now absorbing men's minds. We are getting worked up to the hysterical stage that always closes a campaign and It Is unreasonable to expect that people will attend to their private business, especially so far as regards the making of new plans and laying out new enterprises. Besides, while the main result is foregone, the voting will carry with it side intimations that will have a bearing in shaping future legislation, and these it Is Imi^ortant to know before launching out for another term of potivity. The winter will soon be on us, too, when many lines mupf tierforce be idle, and this has also something to do with the waiting -attitude of business. But the great thing to be remem¬ bered is that with all the liquidation that has been accomplished in the past year, the disturbance ol business by politics, breaking prices and other causes ol obstruction, the tests of basic condi¬ tions, such as crop returns, railroad earnings and other things, have all along revealed a sound bottom upon which a fair super¬ structure can be raised as soon as time is propitious. THERE is an easier feeling abroad regarding money, and that, as we all know, is the chief thing in business. Even Berlin, which was the point most feared, seems to have profited by hard experiences ol previous years and to have provided lor the moment of stress. On this point a competent correspondent writing from that centre says: "It is a remarkable fact that the increasing tension at this time of the year lor the past half- dozen years has at length been reversed, which Is the best evi¬ dence that Germany's long boom has run its course and that the business ol the country has now entered upon a period of com¬ parative quiet marked by less demand for money," If elsewhere the pinch is met with equally satisfactory results it will clear the outlook wonderfully. Looking over the recent movements of money, it will be noticed that it seemed for a moment as If there was not only inadequacy ol resources, but inadequate or In¬ efficient machinery for their distribution. One wondered il Lon¬ don had not become unequal to the task of making the world's exchanges and distributing its reserves when this country and France had to be called upon to help as extensively as they did. But it happens that London comes out of the struggle in good shape, because not only was it able to meet the terms that we demanded, but also to induce the Bank of France to part with some of its closely hoarded gold. The latter admits that it only did directly what it would eventually have had to do indirectly, through the operation of exchange and at greater cost to Its own business Interests. The gold, too, that we are receiving or are to receive from India, South Africa or Australia really comes from London, because In the ordinary course of events it would have had to go there, but is diverted hither through the condi¬ tions that happen to prevail in the exchange market. It ia mere¬ ly a change of methods in making delivery. All this, however, is only good so far as it goes. The fact that this gold movement has been the cause of so much anxiety suggests that there is need of some overhauling of the existing system, and it supports the claim long made now that the Bank of England must keep a much larger gold reserve than it has been in the habit of do¬ ing, even if it has to sacrifice some of its large proflts to do so. Hitherto when gold exports have created a scare on this side of the Atlantic it has been the usual thing to point to London as a centre that could export gold without getting excited. This time, however, the prospect of having to ship gold scared not only London but other European financial centres pretty badly, and that would not have been the case if the machinery and re¬ sources for meeting the demand had been as efiicient as they should have been. ^P' HIS week a fire occurred In an old frame tenement by which ■^ a number of lives were lost, and another flre in a modern flre-proof building in which comparatively little damage was done. Consequently the writers who are, as we may say, edi¬ torially economically irresponsible, claim that we must hereafter build everything fireproof. It is not necessary to combat this idea for practical people. If those who ask for the one form of construction that is most effective against fire were to study Farr's law, they, on finding that disease and mortality in¬ creased with crowding, would ol course demand that each in¬ dividual be given the unit of space that would give him the greatest chances for health and life, which would be much more than the average per individual in any city. The question would then arise, how is the individual going to get it? It is the same with the universal flreproof building—how are we going to get it? Even if from now on all buildings should be of that desired construction, what would benevolent unthought suggest for the non-fireproof buildings now standing? Are they all to be de¬ stroyed, and If so, at whose cost? Then what is to be done with the legal protections thrown around usuable property; who will undertake to remove them? The Hester street tenement In which the poor people so deplorably lost their lives has been an eyesore to the authorities for years. It has been reported upon adversely by building inspectors from time to time, but the De¬ partment of Buildings could not order its destruction because ol the provision ol the law which keeps a frame building reparable so long as 50 per cent, ol it above the foundations Is sound. Tet the department is blamed lor the existence ol a building that it would have liked to have removed, but couid not owing to the law and a just regard for its requirements. What our well- meaning but ignorant friends forget is that the law recognizes that the accidental loss of health and life are inevitable every¬ where; otherwise many businesses—railroading, for instance— would not be permitted, and while it is the duty of the individual and the authorities to keep these to the lowest possible mini= mum, it is not possible for either the law, the individual or the authorities to prevent them altogether; and, further, that every¬ thing must rest upon its proper economical basis. AN article recently published in an architectural magazine calls attention to a characteristic of New York domestic architecture, which Is continually becoming more noticeable. It is becoming very common for the houses of well-to-do people, not merely on Fifth avenue Itself, but on the side streets, to be built or rebuilt according to an Individual and often a meritori¬ ous design. In this way the very uninteresting monotony of the brown-stone district is gradually being relieved, at all events in parts, and a walk through a number of these streets, particularly between Filth and Sixth avenues, and Filth and Madison ave¬ nues, is rewarded by many houses that repay careful examina¬ tion. "At almost every turn in New York," says Mr. William Archer, a very friendly critic, "one comes across some building that gives one a little shock of surprise. Sometimes, indeed, it is the pleasure of recognizing an old friend in a new place—a patch of Venice or a chunk of Florence transported bodily to the New World. But along with a good deal of street reproduc¬ tion of European models, one finds a good deal of ingenious and inventive adaptation, to say nothing of a very delicate taste In the treatment of detail." Mr. Archer is, of course, referring to theatres, clubs and the like, as well as to residences, but his re¬ marks are as true of residences as of any other buildings, and they are every year becoming more true. The change is due to a raising ol the standard ol individual taste—a change which creates peculiar demands both in the design and In the plan of a house, and which can be increasingly gratified because of the