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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 12, no. 284: August 23, 1873

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Real Estate Record ANIJ BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. XIL NEW YOKK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 1873. No. 284 Published Weekly by Till PvML mm RECORD ASSOCIATION. TERMS. One year, iu advance......................S6 00 All communications should be addressed to Whiting Building, .345 and 347 Broadway. THE ENLAKGED POWERS OE NOTARIES PUBLIC. whose acts are to affect the records in his charge, and it would be well, if by some fur¬ ther enactment, he shotild be clothed with power to enforce such knowledge. THE CENTENNIAL BUILDING. In view of the interests confided to the charge of the Register of the county, we cannot but commend the jealous care which prompted his action in the case lately before the Supreme Court on an application for a mandamus to compel him to record an assignment of mort¬ gage. The question arose out of the construc¬ tion of Section 1 of chapter 807 of the laws of 1873, which provides as follows: Any notary ptiblic appointed for the coun¬ ties of Kings, Queens, Richmond, Westchester, Rockland, and tor the city aud couuty of New York, upon filing a certified copy of his ap¬ pointment, with his autograph signature, in the Clerk's oflice of anj^ other of said counties, is hereby authorized to exercise all the func¬ tions of his office in such other of said counties with the same efl'ect as he now possesses by law in the county for which he is appointed. An assignment of mortgage was duly exe¬ cuted and acknowledged before a notary of Kings county, exercising his functions AA'ithin the limits of New York, after previous com¬ pliance Tvith the prescriptions of the Statute. The Register refused to accept the acknowl¬ edgment, having no official knowledge of the authority of the notary. To compel his ac¬ ceptance as well as to settle his duty in the matter the issue was raised, and by a decision of Judge Davis, lately rendered, it has been determined that it was the duty of the Regis¬ ter to record the assignment, "while at the same time the Court declared that the question being new and of importance, the Register was jus¬ tified in requiring it to be brought before the Courts. Under this decision the Register is exoner¬ ated from a responsibility iu a manner hardly satisfactory. The correctness of the decision cannot be questioned, neither can the conven¬ ience resulting from the exercise of the nota¬ ries' functions under the Statute be disputed. We have, however, recently had occasion to remark tipon the necessities that exist for throwing safeguards around the duties of the Register to insure the protection of property and for the defense of the records relating thereto, and we cannot but conceive that un¬ der the Statute as framed, another loophole is offered for fraud. The general idea of the Register is right. He should have some offl- fcial knowledge of tlie authority of individuals There appears to be considerable anxiety in some quarters as to the final selection shortly to be made of the plan for the great Centen¬ nial Exhibition building in Philadelphia. "VVe must acknowledge frankly that we share this anxiety, and fear that there is not sufficient architectural calibre in the committee charged with the decision to secure for us the building this country and litis Republic arc entitled to. It should be considered at the outset that with the ample experiences of London, Paris, and Vienna before us, the civilized world will look to this country to surpass them all; first, in point of architecture; second, in the charac' ter of the exhibition itself. As to the latter feature there is plentj'^ of time left to secure supremacy. But as to the edifice itself and its outlying or rather supporting buildings, it is high time to speak now, as from the ten plans—some say selected with a good deal of partialitj' to Philadelphia, but no matter as to that—a second and final selection will be made in a very few weeks. Once made, and the contracts awarded, it will be too late (if anything is wrong) to suggest the proper remedies. Now, therefore, is the time to im¬ press upon the eminent gentlemen charged with making the final decision to engage the best experts in the country to assist them in the' important task intrusted to their care. The honor will be theirs, whoever may be added, and the reputation of the country is at stake if the least error is made in the decision. Let, by all means, men like Leopold Eidiitz or James Renwick, who stand at the head of Americau architects, be selected as honorary members of the committee on architecture and building; then let their voices be potential in the deliberations of the committee, and, our word for it, the countiy will have no reason to be ashamed of the building where the great Centennial Jubilee will be ushered. ever on the reports about cholera and cholera districts which a prominent morning newspa¬ per is so anxious to place before sensible peo¬ ple. The truth is, there is no cholera, no dis¬ ease whatever in New York. The mortality is even smaller than usual at this season of the year. How a journal, professing to have the ear of business men and capitalists, can find its profit in the spreading of such reports ctm only be accounted for by that strange fas¬ cination for romancing, which appears to be the main-spring of its support. What we de¬ sire to say to our friends in the country is to place no reliance whatever on these cholera reports. They are very finely, very nicely written, every comma in its place, and every semicolon where it ought to be, but they lack one great feature, and that is—truth. , The city of New York is healthy, perfectly so ; its streets and avenues are cleaner than they have been for years ; dirt like Tammany has gone " where the woodbine twineth;" and though there are some of the old scliool whose eyes are so befogged that they still see dirt every¬ where, we assure Southern, Western, and Eastern merchants that the brooms of the Reform Government have swept pretty cleanly so far, and New York to-day is in splendid order and condition for a rousing Fall trade. THE EASTERN BOULEVARD. NEW YORK READY FOR THE FALL TRADE. With the opening of the busy season it is a subject of general congratulation to be able to say that at no time during the past twenty years has the city of New York been in a healthier condition than it is to-day; and the metropolis is not only free from all sort of epidemic, but the prospects of its remaining so have never been better than they are at this writing. We warn our friends in the interior, therefore, to place no reliance what- If there is any one thing specially desirable to property owners on the East Side, it is the commencement and speedy completion of the Eastern Boulevard. So much has been said and done in the way of similar improvements for the westerly side of the city that property on the banks of the East and Harlem rivers has perforce been kept in retirement with scarce any one to urge its claims even to par¬ tial improvement. It is a matter for congrat¬ ulation, therefore, that Commissioner Van Nort has bestirred himself and seems inclined to immediately prosecute this much-needed im¬ provement. There will be room for greater congratulation when he shall have pushed it to a successful issue. The demands of travel on the East Side are not satisfied Avith the facilities afforded by the Second and Third avenues. A Boulevard for wagon travel, with a road bed relieved from the hard pavements, tending toward Harlem Bridge, has long been needed and should not be delayed. The great advantages resulting to property, which requires but a morsel of encouragement to give it life and thereby add to the attractions of the city, need no argument; and the com¬ pletion of the Boulevard will go far toward hastening those enterprises which are impera¬ tively necessary to reclaim the low lands above Ninety-secoid Street from the tidal overfiows