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May 19, igo6
RECORD ATsD GUIDE
937
Dev&tiD to Re\l Estate, Building %cKiTE(mjR^ .HouseHoid DEoOR^nwf.
Busii/ess Alfa Themes or'GE^d IKte:r,esi.
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS
Pablls/itd etiern tSalurdaiP
Communications abould ho addroasod to
C. W, SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street, New York
} Telephona, Cortlandt 3157
"Entered at the- Post O.fflre al Krw York. If. Y., as second-class mailer."
Vol. LXXVII.
MAY 19, 1906.
No 1992
INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS.
Advertising Section.
Page. Page.
Cement .....................xxiii Law ..........................xi
Consulting Eugineers ..........x Lumber ..............-. .xxviii
Clay Products ...............xxii Machinery ..................iv
Contractors and Builders ......v Metal Work ................xvii
Electrical Interests..........viii Quick Job Directory..........xxv
Fireproofing ...................il Real Estate ................xiii
Granite .....................xxvi Roofers Sc Roofing Materials.xxiv
Heating .....................xx Stone .......................xxvi
Iron and Steel .............xvill Wood Products ............xxix
^ '^ - â– ' - . ..-— — â– -— . . . â– â– _..._â– .
WALL STREET seeme to have settled down to the,convic¬
tion that for the time being the season for a bull market
has passed. Many happenings of the last fortnight, including
the revelation of the tragic death of the private secretary of
Henry H. Rogers, tend to show that all had been arranged for
a bull campaign when interrupted by what may be designated
as the greatest catastrophe of modern times, the San Fran¬
cisco calamity. The unparalleled decline that followed, mea¬
sured by the tremedous shrinkage in values in such a short
space of time, has taken the spirit out of the street, and a
dull, hard summer is generally looked for. There are some
erstwhile shrewd operators, however, who believe that cheap
money and cumulative bull conditions if steadily fortifled by
improving crop prospects will cause a hardening market which,
under covering of a stiff short interest might any week burst
into a bull flame. Such a market might well be set in motion
by sporadic advances in stocks now long overdue aud selling
much below their value. Half a dozen such advances follow¬
ing each other would cause the street to examine the list for
other winners and soon all would be in motion. Such a stock
for example, might be found in the preferred shares of the
Toledo, St. Louis and Western railroacl. In April, 1905, they
sold on the street at 65 and in the recent break as low as 48,
notwithstanding that in the intei-val the net surplus has
exactly doubled. Th.e statement of gross and net earnings
recently published-for the eight months of the present flscal
year indicated about four million, two hundred thousand dol¬
lars for the year that will end June 30, 1906, and the full
dividend, earned on the preferred aud a balance for the common
stock. Should the road be taken over by one of the great
trunk systems under a guarantee as contemplated, the pre¬
ferred stock should rule as high as Mobile & Ohio 4% stock,
guaranteed by the Southern road, now quoted at 98 to 100.
Meanwhile the beginning of dividend payments this year
should result in establishing a price on the Stock Exchange of
say 75 to 85 for the preferred stock, and that indeed is the
expectation.
THE ARGUMENT for Toledo, St. Louis and Western pre¬
ferred may also be said to apply in a modifled way to
the Iowa Central preferred and Wisconsin Ceutral preferred
shares. The earnings of both these roads are increasing very
fast and the shares should be selling at higher prices, and
indeed did sell at higher prices prior to 1901. It certainly
seems as between the high-priced railroad shares on the one
hand and what may be called the inflated metal shares, at
least of some issues, on the other, that the safest and most
profitable operations will be found in buying the medium-
priced railroad shares now unduly depressed. This subject has
been referred to several times in these columns. Railroad
shares like Reading, St. Paul, Union Pacific, Pennsylvania,
Reading, Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific will of course
have their ups and downs, but for the average operator there is
not liliely to be the prospective margin of profit in thera as
in operations in some of the medium-priced issues mentioned.
As to rboney, it is a remarkable fact that one of the most
important banks in 8an Francisco annouhces that it now holds
in cash nearly 85 per cent, of its deposits. This is surely a
striking proof of the sound'monetary condition, not only of the
Pacific Coast but of the country generally. There is no halt
in the tide of prosperity. The government report shows that
our imports and exports in April are the greatest on record.
The prodigious sum of three thousand million dollars will
probably be the total for the whole year.
BROADWAY between the Herald Square and Times Square
has had little part in the improvements which have aug¬
mented values on the same side of town between Fourteenth
aud Thirty-fourth streets. The hotels Vendome, Marlborough,
Normandie, and Saranac, remain as previously. The new
Knickerbocker will replace the old St. Cloud. The five theatres,
the Knickerbocker, Casino, Empire, Broadway and Herald
Square are, none of them, new and many of the buildings
between Thirty-fourth and Porty-second streets show minor
alterations so far as the stores or offices in them are concerned,
but not otherwise. In the territory on Sixth avenue between
Thirty-fourth and Forty-second streets, a district long disre¬
garded by real estate speculators, however, there are beginning
to be numerous changes. Some of the old brownstone build¬
ings along this thoroughfare are being altered; others are
being replaced by more modern structures. The district is one
which would seem to lend itself naturally to improvement along
present real estate lines. The completion of the new public
library on Fifth avenue between Fortieth and Forty-second
streets will certainly add to the attractions of Bryant square
neighborhood, and the construction of business buildings on
Fifth avenue between Thirty-fourth and Forty-second streets
is not likely to leave the parallel part of Sixth avenue without
some like demand. The New York Central improvements for
the Forty-second street terminal must add to the business of
that station, and the opening of the Hotel Belmont adds to the'
importance of Forty-second street as a thoroughfare. Those
portions of the west side which have thus far resisted longest
any improvement seem to be the ones most likely to be affected
by the changes now going forward.
A SECTION of New York which has 'grown slowly, getting
little of the general impetus towards improvement, is
Fourth Avenue between Fourteenth and Forty-second Streets,
and the territory tributary to it. Values in this section of New
York between Union Square and the Grand Central Depot lan¬
guished for many years. There were isolated cases of Improve¬
ment, new buildings here and there, but no general advance.
The opening of the Subway was counted upon to realize the ex¬
pectations of many for a boom in this section of Manhattan,
aud certainly no section of the borough has been so truly
favored by the Subway in the matter of stations, for within less
than a mile aud a half there are two express stations, one at
Fourteenth and one at Forty-second, and four local stations, at
Eighteenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-eighth and Thirty-third
Streets respectively. There, are cross-town lines of cars at
Fourteenth (now connecting with Brooklyn), Seventeenth and
Eighteenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth,
Thirty-fourth and Forty-second Streets, connecting with the
whole upper West Side. But notwithstanding this, the Fourth
Avenue section has remained substantially the same as it was
twenty years ago, and the intervening streets have shown
but little advance. A comprehensive development of the ter¬
minal facilities of the New York Central Railroad at Forty-
second Street and their connection with the Pennsylvania ter-
â– minal on tbe West Side by subway seem likely to bring about a
change frequently promised but always postponed in the value
of Fourth Avenue realty and the value of the large territory
tributary to it between IVIadison and Lexington Avenues. It is
a section of New York which has grown perhaps less than any
other section having like advantages north of the line of Four¬
teenth Street.
SOME strong influences have entered the Hudson River brick
manufacturing field within two years, since it has become
lairly profitable, and more unanimity than has ever prevailed in
the manufacturers' attitude toward this market is likely to be
ob,^erved. But for this there might be an expectation of another
long period of shattered quotations for common brick, as a'
consequence of the swelling output, notwithstanding the an¬
nually expanding market. In former times the brick manufac¬
turing business on the Hudson River was carried on almost
exclusively by families of social and financial prominence in
their communities. Along with paper-making, milling, weaving:
and tanning, brick-making was one of the earliest forms of
manufacturing in the valley. With the prospect that in the
future tbe requirements of New Tork will rise nearly to an
equality with the supply from up the Hudson at least, there-tg