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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 69, no. 1769: February 8, 1902

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.February 8, 1902, RECORD AJVD GTJIDE. 239 ESTABUSHED ^ ff^J^aSl^'^ 1868. Dn/o-?1 TO R.EAL EyTATE. BinLOIf/o ^[WfrTECTURE.HoUSEa01DDEBn|pU]U, Bu.MfJEissAi^D Themes ofGeiJer^. IjftERpl. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS Tuhtished eVers Satardasi Commmllcatlons should be addreaaed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street, New Yorfc *. T, KtNDSET. Bustaosa Manager Telephoua, CorUandt 3167 'Bnlered at tlte Post Office at New Tork. N. Y., as seoond-dass matter." "~^"~~ ~ ' No. 1769" Vol, LXIX. FEBRUARY 8, 1902. A MORE confident feeling prevails in the Stock Exchange created by the news of the week, but it does not seem to be siared by outsiders, because commission business, while a little better than of late, is still very light. There is no diminu¬ tion of cheerfulness elsewhere because whenever the mer¬ chant or the manufacturer is questioned regarding the con¬ ditions in his own line, lie becomes most enthusiastic, when, however, the conversation is turned to Wall street, he cools off and has something to say about the possible improvement in the business of the country having been discounted too far ahead down there. There is a feeling too, as Mr. Whitney expressed it, that the railroads are doing their maximum business for this period and that the turn may come anytime. There is under¬ stood to be a great demand for investment issue, and surface appearances sustain that understanding, but it is whispered around that some of the recent offerings of bonds, which ought to have gone off easily if there had been such a tremendous de¬ mand for corporate investment issues as was supposed, were if not failures, then not very well taken. As a consequence a good deal of stuff is left upon underwriters' hands, which has to be worked off as opportunity occurs. Still for all that there is a very confident and alfluent party in the Street, who believe in higher prices, and are willing to stake their money upon their belief. The logic of their position is doubtful to those who cannot understand how. If a dividend payer like U, S. Steel falls back upon the heads of its friends whenever lifted, a non-divi¬ dend payer like Southern Pacific, selling above 65, can be suc¬ cessfully advanced. These two issues are used for illustration, because it is with them that the confident party referred to have tried, and are trying to show that they are right. EVIDENCE accumulates that the various departmental heads of the new administration are taking very seriously the pre-election pledges to reduce salaries and cut off sinecures. Register Ronner is making one of the most thoroughgoing at¬ tempts of all to cut oif salaries, his saving aggregating already 522^802; and he promises to double the amount without decreas¬ ing the efficiency of the office. He expects, in fact, to pare down the annual appropriation from 51(>5,000 to $110,000, If he can do this, he will have made a better record than any of his colleagues—and a Register should surely make good records. The offices under the "control of the President of the Borough will be run with a reduction of appropriations amounting to at least twenty-five per cent. The sum to tal of all the savings will apparently amount to several million dollars, and should do something effectual to reduce the tax rate for the coming year. A SECOND drop in the Bank of England's rate of discount in the course of a fortnight shows that Europe is now easy, £0 far as money is concerned, for some time to come. The causes of this have already been given in these columns. As to trade conditions they still enjoy the partial improvement that has beeu apparent since the opening of the year, Germany is man¬ aging to place a good deal of iron and steel abroad, as is shown by the following figures, taken from the foreign trade report of the Empire: The exports of old iron increased from 61,000 iu 1900 to 153,000 tons in 1901; construction forms from 215,000 to 342.000 tons, bars from 172,000 to 329,000 tons; blooms and billets from 33,000 to 201,000 tons; wire from 94.000 to 154,000 tons; and plates and sheets from 167,0,00 to 255,000 tons. The iron and steel trades of Europe are further encouraged by expectations of orders from the United States, Some figures showing the tendency of late in shipping construction have come to hand, which, though not practically instructive to business circles, are still interesting. These figures reveal in the past fifty years a reduction in the number of ships on the British register, with -an increase in the total tonnage. Thus in 1850 there were 25,984 vessels on the register, having a total net tonnage ol 3,564,833, an average of 137 tons; in 1900 there were only 19,751 vessels, but the total net tonnage had increased to 9,280,164. and the average to 460; that is to say in the half century, with a de¬ crease of 6,233 in the number of vessels, the tonnage had in¬ creased by 5,715.331, and the average by 323 tons. These figures demonstrate what has been going on to increase the size and efficiency of water carriers and, of course, increase the economy of operation. The Metropolitan Street Railway. t*H 0 far as can be seen the leasing of the Metropolitan Street '—^ Railway system to a new security company is merely a device to raise new capital in a manner profitable to the stocks holders. Of course such a security company provides an ex¬ cellent corporate machinery for taking over the other street railroads of New York and Brooklyn, in case it becomes possible or desirable to do so; but that this consummation will ever be actually reached is only guess-work. True, it is guess-work based upon the universal tendency toward the consolidation ol street railway companies; and it is guess-work, part of which derives some plausibility from the bill now hefore the Legisla¬ ture permitting the subway contractor to assign the lease of the tunnel; but for the present it is not a matter of serious discus¬ sion. All that need be said is. that at least some traffic arrange¬ ment between the Subway Company and the Metropolitan Street Railway Company is indispensable to the full public usefulness of the underground road. The subway, consisting as it does ol only one line of railways, except north of 106th st, where the city is wider, is peculiarly in need of crosstown transfers, so that its passengers can be collected and distributed without the pay¬ ment of two fares. A system of transfers with the important crosstown lines would probably increase its short distance traf¬ fic by fully 25 per cent, and would do much to relieve the pres¬ ent over-crowding on some of the longitudinal surface lines. But obviously the Metropolitan Railway would scarcely grant them to an independent company, except upon the payment ol an extra fare of three cents. For this and many similar reasons consolidation of all the surface, underground and overhead lines of Manhattan. Brooklyn. Queens and the Bronx, would be the best thing both for the patrons and the owners of these roads, but a detailed discussion of its advantages may be left to the time when one can do something more illuminating than guess at its probable occurrence. What is certain is that the Metropolitan Street Railway Com¬ pany proposes to raise sufficient new capital to convert the ninety odd miles of horse car lines, which it still owns, into properly equipped and electrically operated roads. This, in itself, will be an enormous gain to a large portion of the New York public. The only important longitudinal road upon which horses are still used is the Ninth ave., and the introduction of electricity upon this route will both relieve the Eighth ave, cars of much traffic, and will be a great convenience to the population living betweenNinth avenue and theriver. The other routeswhich have not yet discarded horses are chiefiy crosstown lines, many ol them situated in the lower part of the city, aud the substitution of electric power will be most beneficial, and may have a certain limited tendency to distribute population in the congested district of the East Side. In any event the substitution will in¬ troduce life aud movement into many comparatively dead parts of the city, and will increase very much the serviceability to the public of the whole street railway system. The most important question of all is. however, what chance is there, for the street railways of Manhattan to reach a still higher degree of serviceability? In what respect is their service lacking at present, and how can the defect best be remedied? These are. or soon will be, critical problems, because it is evi¬ dent tliat with the increase of traffic, the street railway machin¬ ery is not working as smoothly and as efficiently as it formerly did. We believe that any man accustomed to use the cars of the Metropolitan Company, particularly during the rush hours, must have noticed that these cars are more crowded, that delays are more frequent, and that communication is consequently slower and more uncomfortable than ever before. Indeed, at times it is almost intolerably slow and uncomfortable, and hence it is that of late a certain share of the traffic, of which the Metropolitan formerly deprived the elevated roads, has been recovered by the Manhattan Company. So far as we can observe this compara¬ tive inadequacy of the service of the surface roads is not due to any decrease of efficiency in the management, whose chief fault is a stubborn refusal to run sufficient cars to prevent over¬ crowding at other than rush hours. The real trouble seems to he that the increase of street trafflc, both on and off the surface 1