Text version:
Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
December 17, 189^ Record and Guid? 907 ESTABICIHED'i^ WRPH eW> 1868*' Dented id Fp^ Estwe.Boiu^ ftsgtfrTECTUBy i{oo'
}^ PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. Telephone. Cobtuhdt 1370. Communications should be addressed to C. W, SWEET, 14-16 Vewy Street. /. 1. Lf^i'DSEY, Business Manager. "Entered at the Pcsl-O^ice at New York, N. Y., as second-class matter." Vol. LXII. DECEMBER 17, 1893, 1,605 RBASO'NiS for the present optimism of Wall Street and the advances in. the quotations for securities there, are now on the surface and every one can see them. If we take one of yesterday's newspapers we will find statistics showing that the exports of the United States in 1898 for the first time in their history are greater than those of Great Britain, added signifl¬ cance being given to this by the fact that this is a period o-f busi¬ ness activity abroad. IWe also find most glowing reports of the condition of the iron trade and of the Maine ship-'building in¬ dustry; also minor items relating to new enterprises and develop¬ ment of old ones, involving large expenditures of money. These things indicate not only that business is good, but that it has been good for sometime, an assertion for which sufficient foun¬ dation could he found alone in the reports ot railroad earnings and the number of stock issues that have recently entered the list of dividend papers. As to the public they now have no end of enthusiasm. The country is to spread its possessions and trade all over the world and London is to relinquish the place it now holds as clearing agent for the world- to New York. Judging by the talk of the street and hy the comments of the press, par¬ ticularly the press outside qt New York, these things are to be accomplished at once and without any of the setbacks that such revolutionary changes might be expected to meet. Of course, the thing is overdone, our people are never content to simply do things, they must always overdo them, notwithstanding many reminders of the evils that have followed their impetuosity in other times. It is undoubtedly a fact that industrially and com¬ mercially and most probably politically also, the country is en¬ tering upon new phases and conditions from' which great wealth. power and influence may reasonably be expected, hut they need more time for their coming than the people seem willing to allow. In this temper of the public there is no telling how long the ad¬ vance in prices will go on or to what extent it will go. Money continues to be so cheap and, until some event transpires, un¬ favorable in character and prominent enough to arrest attention and to make people think, the speculative movement will con- WHILE the Czar's pacific congress is in session, most of the , parliamients of Europe, where parliaments exist, and the despotic heads of the people where they do not, will be consider¬ ing the ways and means of increasing their fighting forces. These acts may seem anomalous, if not contradictory, but as a matter of fact the second shows the necessity for the first. An army is something that is never complete. At any time it may want more artillery, or cavalry or infantry, or improved weapons, so that if something is not done to force a movement in the other direction, to equalize by reductions instead of by additions, a return to primitive conditions with the whole nation an army and control falling to military chiefs is inevitable. The Czar's appeal coming at a more opportune moment than similar pre¬ vious appeals, may result in this something being done. States¬ men are as much oppressed hy the demands of great military leaders as they are by the problem of keeping their constantly increasing populations in economic content, and are all the more likely to be willing to listen to any propositions that promise to relieve them of one, at least, of their difBculties, Therefore the times make for the prolongation of peace and also, tl irefore, commierclal and financial circles are encouraged. Th© European ■money markets have eased somewhat in the past few days, the security markets have become more active and there is a more cheerful regard turned to the coming year than has been the case for a couple of months previous. London is discussing the ad¬ visability of governmental control of the telephones which, it is estimated, could be obtained for about $35,000,000. The Aue- .traliau colonies have outlined works, which will necessitate the raising of loans to the extent of $40,000,000 in the coming year. Argentine foreign trade reports for the flrst three quarters of the year are the most satisfactory for some years and indicate an increase of customs dues of $2,000,000. The French Government have adopted the scheme for raising $40,000,000 for building rail¬ roads in Indo-China and a hill to authorize the loan has been passed by the Cham-bers. The monthly settlements at Berlin were made without producing remarkable incident and arrange¬ ments have already been made to meet the large demands sure to arise at the end of the year. While most branches of German manufactures are enjoying almost unprecedented prosperity, textile industries are in a bad way and curtailments are con¬ templated. The month of October was favorable to Austrian foreign commerce and the outlook has encouraged a speculative movement ou the Vienna bourse, whether or not to be checked by the discovery just made of stock jobbing and a secret accumu¬ lation of an immense surplus by the directors of one of the greatest iron companies in the country, cannot yet be said ------------------------•------------------------ ■ ! THE SUCCESS OF FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION, X B'ROADEiR andr fuller discussion of the results of the re- ■**■ cent Broadway flre, assisted by a more careful examina¬ tion of the burned premises than was then possible, confirm the view takeu last week that flre-proot construction had thereby been tried and found fully up to all reasonable requirements. It siiould be noted that this is the flrst time that a fire in a fire¬ proof building has been discussed in untechnical circles on the basis that an incombustible buiiding did not necessarily mean the impartation of incombustibility to its contents. The reporters for the daily papers were good enough to admit this from the start, though still regarding it as a weakness and much.to be deprecated. When the difterent view they took of the Mianhattan Saviugs Institution building fire is remem'bered, though the building was uot fire-proof, as the term is now understood, it will be seen that the public has learned something about thesi buildinga in the two or three years that have transpired between the dates of the two flres. In technical circles, of course, there was no need to specify such an allowance and the opinions arising therein, wholly con- flrm the wisdom' of fire-proof construction. E'xperts in other cities seem to have carefully read all the reports of the flre and their views harmonize in favor of fire-prooflng. One, D. H. Burn¬ ham, asserted that it would be found that the wood casings and furniture in the Home Life building only would be burned and the steel frame and walls escape material damage before those facts were actually demonstrated by examination. Now, this coming from a man technically informed and experienced in flre¬ proof building shows that the science of that form of building has the necessary exactness about it to make it reliable. Mr. Burnham, or any other expert, knowing the nature of the ele¬ ments involved in the problem could predict the solution with certainty. The report of the President of the Home Life Building on the flre says: "There was not at any time any communication of the fire from one story to another through the floors, the fire-proof brick preventing such transmis-sion;" so that the fire was com¬ municated from wiLUOut to each of the burnt stories of the build¬ ing, which goes to prove what has always been claimed for fire¬ proof construction and what each succeeding test proves that a fire occurring within the buiiding could easily be confined to the apartment in which it occurs. Another paragraph of the report just referred to also deserves notice in this connection. It is this: "During the entire night this building stood as a 'bul¬ wark, preventing the spread of the flames toward the south and it is admitted by all experts that a most serious general con¬ flagration was thereby prevented." This being the case, it fol¬ lows that a general confiagration would be an impossibility in any section solidly built under the laws governing modern con¬ struction; that that construction is, to the extent that it is used, an aid to the flre prevention service second only in importance to water. If the commercial section of Manhattan was composed wholly of fire-proof buildings tbe risks would be merely trivial. Great casualties usually bring out a flood of suggestions, some practical, but more otherwise. The Broadway flre brought out but few. Fire-proofed wood for windows and sash, concrete floors, and Iron shutters for windows overlooking old buildings are the hest made, and while practical, they are not new. This partial silence is as much an evidence of the worth of modern' construction as the positive evidence ai^orded by the burnt build¬ ing itself. The Fire Department repeats its oft expressed de¬ mand that buildings higher than 125 feet should 'be supplied with auxiliaryflre apparatus under its control, and adapted to use with its own appliances, and there is some likelihood that the authori¬ ties will soon give this demand consideration. The alternative suggestion from' the same source, that an underground service
