Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 86, no. 2230: December 10, 1910

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December lo, 1910. RECORD AND GUIDE 999 Awards are expected to be announced next week. The new state prison at Wingdale will take about 3,000 tons of structural ma¬ terial, but the Commission announces that bids will not be wanted until some time after the first of the year. LECTURES ON CONCRETE. Hardwood Prices Close to Market. Buyers of hardwood for interior trim and cabinet work will find prices quoted by retailers as near rock bottom as it is possible for them to go. Wholesalers are quoting to good business on that basis, realizing that this is the time to encour¬ age, rather than retard, building oper¬ ations. For this reason figures now be¬ ing received by architects, are, for most grades, liberal. The buying by retailers is from the hand-to-mouth order, which has pre¬ vailed for tiiree months. Stocks are not now heavy. Before Election day they were considered liberal, but retailers have not replenished, apparently being satis¬ fied to meet tlieir requirements as they arrive. Birch, maple and chestnut are reported to be very strong- Hardwood flooring is in very fair demand and present prices are "well sustained. Mahogany is avail¬ able in any quantities at most yards at prices quoted last month. There has been a falling away in inquiry for cy¬ press tank stock and Nos, 1 and 2 selects are slightly lower as to price. Cargo Business is scarce, the aggregate move¬ ment of lumber being confined largely to sales from local wholesale yards offering facilities which do away with heavy in¬ vestment in stocks by retailers, as one authority stated. Yellow pine is firming, although the in¬ creased inquiries arc not yet sufficient to cause a stiff market- The market for timbers is stronger- North Carolina pine shows improvement. Conditions are bet¬ ter at the mills and while good lumber displays some slight concessions, the lower grade stocks are closer to lists. The Winter trade is shaping itself for normal volume. Building Stone in Dtdl Market. The demand for nearly every kind of building stone is light. This is especially true of granite, which still rules at 40 to 45 cents a cubic foot. The price of lime¬ stone remains unchanged and no change is expected in any line for tbe present- Siate is in a fair market, but the in¬ quiry is apparently for immediate needs. Marbles are stronger than granites, es¬ pecially those for interior use and the in¬ quiry has been especially strong of late from architects of large office buildings in the downtown section and from Bronx apartment house work. Terra Cotta Products Haie Good In¬ quiry. The various terra cotta companies, spe¬ cializing in fireproofing, partition blocks, architectural and roofing tiles, report a satisfactory inquiry from out-of-town, with conditions tending tow-ard an im¬ provement in this city. For cargoes of fireproof partition material exceeding in value $1,000 manufacturers are giving concessions, otherwise the prices run from 4.4 to 8.8, depending upon size. Roofing tile prices are steady and continue with¬ out change, the best grade being quoted for $20 a thousand for kiln run and $30 for selected. The architectural terra cotta companies have been flguring on many out-of-town operations. —The Consolidated Gas Company filed plans this week for its 12-sty brick offlce and loft building which will be erected from plans by Henry J. Hardenbergh, at Irving pl and 15th st It will cost $500,- 009, At Madisou Square Garden Concert Hall During the Cement Show. Public attention is invited by the Asso¬ ciation of American Portland Cement Manufacturers to the lectures which will be delivered under the auspices of the Publicity Committee of that association in Madison Square Garden Concert Hall during the Cement Show. The meetings at which lectures will be delivered will be held in the afternoons at 3 o'clock and in the evenings at S-30, from December 15 to 20 inclusive, except Friday evening and Sunday. Architects, engineers and con¬ tractors will receive cards which will ad¬ mit them to the reserved seat section- Tbe entrance to the lecture hall will be through the main entrance to the Cement Show. The following named gentlemen will speak: Mr. Calvin Tomkins, Commissioner of Docks and Ferries, New Tork City, will speak on "Transportation Terminals." Mr. Tomkins will probably take occasion to bring out some unique details con¬ nected with his recent report to Mayor Gaynor. What will be of particular in¬ terest to the public will be his plans for eliminating fhe tracks of the N. T. Central at llth av and at the same time furnish better facilities for handling the immense tonnage entering New York with less danger of delay to passenger traffic and loss of life. Some engineering feats necessary to accomplish ideal terminal facilities are made possible by Portland cement concrete- Mr- Rudolph P. Miller, Building Com¬ missioner. New York City, will speak on "Fireproofing Materials" without any partiality as fo their relative merits. Col. J- Hollis Wells, who is prominently known in architectural, engineering and military circles, will speak on "The Largest Commercial -Building in the World." Among the tremendous offlce buildings which have been erected, it is left to the reader to guess which building is referred to. Mr. E. P. Goodrich, Consulting Engi¬ neer for the City of New York, will speak on "Large Reinforced Concrete Build¬ ings." The magnitude of these buildings will undoubtedly be astounding to the audience. Dr. Logan Waller Page, Director of the Offlce of Public Roads, Agricultural De¬ partment, Washington, will speak on "The Part Played by Concrete in Rural High¬ ways." It will probably be instructive to note that a great improvement in the method of building rural highways has been brought about by the use of concrete for retaining walls, culverts and bridges. Chas. "Wisch, formerly Chief Municipal Architect at Cologne, Germany, will lec¬ ture in the German language on the sub¬ ject of "The Age of Cement." A large number of Germans In this country have undertaken concrete construction in its various forms. It will be of undoubted interest to them to hear of concrete con¬ struction abroad and the possibilities for architectural effects in concrete in this country, explained in their mother tongue. A BANQUET AT THE HOTEL ASTOR. In connection with the convention of the National Association of Cement Users, which is to open next "Wednesday in Madison Square Garden, a banquet will be held at the Hotel Astor on the evening of Thursday, December 15, at 7 o'clock, at which addresses will be de¬ livered by the following named: Hon. John Purroy Mitchel, president of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New Tork; John M. Carrere, of-Carrere & Hastings, architects; Charles Battell Loomis: Robert W. de Forest, president of the Sage Foundation Homes Co. and president of the Art Commission of the City of New York; John G. Morron, prpsl^. dent of the Atlas Portland Cement Co.: Benjamin D. Traitel, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association of the City of New Tork. The price por plate will be $.5, and the banquet will be open to all engineers, contractors, architects, and in fact any¬ one interested, or associated with the manufacture .ind use of cement, Tt is ex¬ pected that tbe members of tbe Associa¬ tion of American Portland Cement Manu¬ facturers, as well as all the exhibitors at the Cement Show, together with tfte members of the Masters' League of Ce¬ ment Workers of this city and the mem¬ bers of the Cement Users' Association will attend the banquet. Keeping Promises Brings Success. I-I. E- Wallace, Jr-, president of the Star Blueprint Company, when asked for an opinion regarding the state of business, by a Record and Guide reporter recently, said: "There is nothing the matter witb busi¬ ness. The trouble is with business metb¬ ods. An eminent prelate said the need of the day was a more universal habit of truth-speaking in the business world. From the experience of my own com¬ pany I know this to be one of the prin¬ cipal, if not the chief factor, in present- day commercial success. "We manufacture blueprints for archi¬ tects, engineers and art workers' draw¬ ings. Starting on September 14. 190S, we entered upon a field that offered disad¬ vantages and contingencies that would discourage most men. But we figured that if we could give a trustworthy ser¬ vice it was bound to succeed. To make such a service reliable it was necessary that we keep our promises to our cus¬ tomers. If we said a blueprint would be finished at such a time, that blueprint would be ready for delivery on the minute specified, even though we had to use the resources of our whole establishment in getting out that one job." This company started in modest offices at 42 Broadway. Later it established a branch at 114 East 23d st, which ulti¬ mately became its headquarters when business in the downtown district became too heavy for its meagre accommodations. It finally became necessary to establish its downtown office in larger quarters at 123 Liberty st. This company operates its plant up to midnight, and frequently all night in order to have jobs ready at the time promised. any People Want to Study Real Estate They want to know what it means to buy and sell property, all about contracts, deeds mortgage, etc. There is a book which tells all about this, "Guide tc Buyers and Sellers of ReaS Estate," by Geo. W. Van Siclen It Costs One Dollar THE RECORD AND GUIDE