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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 80, no. 2075: December 21, 1907

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Dcccmber 21, 1907 RECORD AND GUIDl 999 ^ ESTABUSHEI>-^ííWPH21ií**ie68, Dréití) p Rp^LEswjE.BuiLDifJb *5píiTEeTUflÉ,h{cíUSEiioLDDEaaFiAnorí. Bi/sn/ESS AtfoTHEMES bf CEitolíl llíĩtR^si. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Cominunicatĩons shauld be addressed to C. W. SWEET Vabíisheã EVer^ Salurday By THE RECORD AND GUĨDB CO. Presldent, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F. W. DODGE Vice-Pres, & GenL Mgr., H. W, DESMOND Secretary, F. T. MILLER Nos, II to 15 East 34tli Strccf, New York Clty (Telephooe, MadÍSũu Square, 4430 to 4433.) "Entered ai the Post Office at Nev> l'orí; N. V.. as srcoiiil -ifass inattcr." . Copyrlghted, 1907, by The Record & Gui3e Co. Vol. LXXX. DECEMEER -------.--------■____.,. L.____- :^1, xno7. No. 2075. INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS. Advertlslng Section. Page. Page. Cement .......................xvl Lumber .....................xvii Ciay Producta ................xili Machinery ..................xiv ConBulting Engineers .........xv Metal Worlt ...................xil Contractora and BuUdera.....iv Qulcit Job Dlrectory...........ix Electrical Interests ...........xv Real Estate ..................vii Fireprooflng ...................II Robrers & Rooflng Materlals.xvili Granite....................xlx Stone .....................xviii Iron and Steel................vi Wood Products ..............xvil ALL the leading banlîing authorities concur in think- ing that money will be very cheap after the begĩn- ning of the year. The information or assurance is con- veyed fco the Record and Giiíde by one,wlio is recognized as a foremost authority on monetary affairs in their bear- ing on real esLate interests. This is really all that the industries should care to know in order to be confident of a full resumption of. business in the course of the coniiug year. Confidence seems to be the thing most ueeded at this time, as it is in every crisis that confronts meu. Our most dangerous enemy is our fears. When it is consid- ered that there have been few iraportant bank failures, and few in other ĩines, and that the wealth of the interior is unimpaired, there is strong ground for optimism. This is the feeling íhat shonld prevail among builders and brqkers, for it is the only kind that wins out. Tlie flrst of January will not only distribute vast sums of money in dividends, hut will also, as supposed, marlĩ the end of tlie period oí partial suspension of cash payments by the banlîs with the resultant disorganization of ĩocal business. In spite of the present discouragements retail trade is generally ve- ported brisk, though manufacturing lines cbntinue to sI.ow down, and jobbers and retailers to hold back. All that is disjointed in general trade we fully believe will be straight- ened ont by the restoration of the íĩow of funds and their investment in those secuTities which best promote local business, namely real estate and building. Leaving Itían- hattan and the Bronx momentarily out of the question, the status of building industries in the rest of the metropolitan district during the year h.as_ oji tlie__ayerage been fairly good. In Richmond the controlling aircumstances have been favorable and prosperous, as we have it by authorita- tive special reports. In Queens, fausiness has been at least normal, notwithstanding that several large construction companies stopped operations, and the same is true of Brooklyn, Westchester and New Jersey. In the Upper West Side of New York there has been a wonderful growth of apartments of good description, with fair prospects of a continuation in the spring, besides which there has been in the aggregate, and still continuing, a vast amount of work for public and ..lemi-pubîic bnildings, such as schools, railroad terminals, tunnels and bridge. Under all the cir- cumstances we are disposed to agree with one of the leaâ- ing union delegates of the city, who wi-ites us saying: "We may properly take the bptimist's point of vîew and be thankful for what we have received in 1907 and look for- ward to brighter days in 1908." ——------•----------. ACORRESPONDENT calis attention to an apparent inconsistency between the offlcial statements of the Publlc Service Commlssion and the unofficial assuraiices creditcd to its individual members. Officiaiĩy, the Com- mission has not deeided to build a new subway gn jthe so- called Tri-Borough route, while unofficially .the anxiety of property interests in the Bronx and in Manhattan is calmed by occasional assurances that simultaneously with the con- struction of the new Brooklyn underground road a subway wíU be built into the Bronx. It might well be that interRsts favorable to Brooklyn have without authority caused reports to go out that would serve to disarm the opposition of the people of the East Side and of the Bi-onx, but we prefer to believe that the reports of the good intentious of the Com- missioners are well founded, and that while they have not in their official capacity decided to build the IVĩanhattan and Bronx sections of the Tri-Borough route, beginning pro- ceedings eaijy,. in the year, they have privately so determined as individuals, believing that the state of the municipal flnances early in the comîng year will warrant the under- taking. StiII, as the Record and Guide has counseled, sonie- thing inore than an unofficial assurance is due from the Public Service Commission, that such serious harm as the buĩlding of the Fourth Avenue subway in Brooklyn might work upon property values at the other extremity of the city will not follow írom any mismanagement or wrong- doing on the part of the Board; for if it should be fully nnderstood that there is not to be for a long period of years any' road-building to the northward, to offset and compen- sate for ihe improvements and influences in the opposite direction, the peopie would be prepared to take such steps as would protect their interests from such consequences. Personally, the Record and Guide cannot conceive, as it has heretofore'remarked, of the Pnblic Service Board work- ing such an injustice, but it would be an evîdence of even- handed policy if the Manhattan and Bronx sections of the system should be advanced to the same stage as the Fourth Aveuu'e project in Brookiyn before any construction contract at all is signed. WITH SMALL PROBABILITIES that the Board of Alder- men will take decisive action upon the Revised Build- ing Code that has been reported out of committee, interest in the measure has considerably relaxed, and the case seems to be closed for the time being. Those who did not before have an accurate idea of the diffieulties in the way of pro- ducing a set of regulations for the construetion of buildinga tha't would be consideved eminently fair by each one of the various interests affiected, may be better iuformed at the present time, in view of the feeliugs which the new code has excited. It is not.difficult to satisfy the claims of a single industry or profession, it îs not impossible to frame a code in which there will be full recognition of the rights of property, nor one in which only the public safety would be considered as fully as the insurance companies think the public should be safeguarded; but the intricate problem is to-render exact justice aud satisfy all. That the board of revisers did not succeed in doing this can be saîd without in any wise impeaching the ability and fine ĩntentions of the individual members. Their work has won the ofiîcial com- mendation of the architectural profession, but has at the same time called forth protests from other authorities that have a right to be heard as well, and the division of senti- ment gives a reason and an opportunity for the political powers to delay the ratification of the whole worlt, presum- ably until the political necessities of the case have been agreeably amended. lu many respects the report is admir- able, and it is to be regretted that the defects are serious in the opiniori of important interests. Perhaps the fanlt most fundameutal was in trying to do too mnch—striving for the ideal forni of construction, rather than being content with what is reasonably practicable. Legitimate industries which impose no burden or wrong upon the community, and ma- terials which have been considered faîrly good and efiĩcient, should not be ruthlessly debarred from fields which they have long occupied. Organic law and public necessity de- mand that buildings shall b^! safely and well constructed but the highest factor of safety, and the best possible con- struction, are not reguired by the law, nor is it heresy to say that neither are they required by public welfare. Be- yond the point of safety and reasonable regulatiou revision commissions ean not expect to proceed very far without formidable opposition. Building costs can be made too high evén for New York. —The duestlon whether real estate is going to suffer a substantlal decline în vaĩues is very much in people's minds at the present time. A great deal, probably, depends upoii the course of business In mercantile aud manufact-uring lines dur- mgthe next year. The weight of opinion seems to be that while there_may be some distress and there will c&rtainly be coíitract-