New-York tribune., 1896-04-07
A BIG DEAL HINTED AT.
RUMORED EXPLANATION or THE WARE
HOUSE COMPANY'S INVESTMENTS.

SELL THE WATER FRONT TO THE GREATER
NEw-YoRK-PRoMIsED IMPROVEMENTS
THAT WERE NEVER MADE AND
BUSINESS THAT WAS NOT DONE
Many people ir this city are watching with no
little curiosity the consolidation agitation. be-
of the bearing that it may have upon
the great waterfront interests Since the
tablishment of the Brooklyn Wharf and Ware
house Company. in February. 1895 ard its pur-
chase cf all the warehouse pre- perty from Cath
crime Ferry 10 Fri, Basin, the Beard and Robin
son estates only excepted there has been a we'll
defined suspicion that something more than the
mere business interests involved lay behind the
huge scheme. The fact that they were able to
induce soma Of the oldest warehousemcn in the
city to part with their interests was considered
proof that the prices paid were enormously
high 1t was pointed out that while John r
Martin had practically a monopoly OF tho valu-
able coffee trade and was likely to retain II
for many years II come. that fact di1 not dee
h,m from parting with his property The At
lantic Basin. the building up Of which the
lifelong work Of j. :. T. Stranahan. was sold.
because the price paid was So high that when
the figures were laid before the members Of the
Atlantic Dock Company they were 50 pleased
that not single word of dissent wes raised T.
the proposition to sell the property. Th, grci;
Eeard property at the Erie Basin was not sold
for the simple reason that the pre- pcrty is m
tailed and cannot be alicnatcd. At the same
time K is well known that the rent contracted
for. for term of twenty years. WAS never
reached. even when the slips f,ll of ship
ping and the warehouses hned with mcrchln-
disc. The best year in the history OF the prop
erty 1857 when the receipts reached a total
Of $4,000. anH they wcro justly regarded
phenomenal and were never cquallcd before or
sEce This property has been leased by the
Wharf and Warehouse Company for a
term of twenty years for the annual
sum of s250oo0 The lossces are also held in
heavy bonds t. keep tho entire property. ware
houses, piers wharves. slips. etc. in good shape
The fact that these large prices were paid
for the several propcrties-prices 81 high that
only owner in the entire warehouse dis
trict jeremiah y Robinson. refused sell
caused no little speculation and comment. With
the booming of consolidation large number
of people decided hat il had something to d.
with the anxiety of the new company T. take
up all the waterfront These people pointed
out that shipping had fallen off and that other
PORTS outstripping NewYork in general
trade. and especially in grain. They could not
where the incentive came in to make such an
shipping trade 1t must be borne I'm mind that
the capital invested was $50 600 900: OF this s12-
100000 was subscribed in cash. the balance in
bOlCs
ONE OF THE EXPLANATIONS
They reasoned that. Ncw-York has
doubtedy an enormous rental from its water
front. the argument might be used in case Of
consolidati ton being effected and that II would
no he
to purchase this block Of property II has a
frontage of 1865 feet. about "a miles.
Being under concern its sale and trans
fer would not be complicated matte. These
people firmly believed then. and are still more
strongly convinced now that the whole object
Of the purchase the sale Of the property
to the consolidated citier.
Presiden: Thomas II. Mcintyre said a good
deal at the time of what going 10 be
done to improve the warehouse and shipping
business but so far improvement is visible
worth mentioning. few yards Of railroad
track have been laid from WoOdruhs to Prem
tees stores. and quantity Of spncS driven
fron, Wall to Fulton Ferry 10 support tracks.
with a terminal shed a; Martins stores.
comprise abou, all the Improvement 50 far
made unless the gates and fences erected at
the Atlantic Dock can come under the head
Of improvements The grain stored in Chicago
was TO he brough to Brooklyn; there were 10
be ) 900 900 bushels OF oats alone in store, an
electric light plan: TO have heen cstab-
lshed. and the water from; Of Brooklyn was
to resound with the hum and rattle Of a rush
ing trade. Unfortunately. one year has now
rolled by and matters are infinitely worse than
they were at its beginning. The railroad and
electric light plant exist on paper largely ana
the grain trade has taken to itself wings ana
fed TO every other port from Maine TO the
Gulf and left New-York severely alone In
stead of having IN store 100000 bushels OF
oats 1t is doubtful if there is that amount of
grain Of all kinds while there are accommoda-
tions for at least l3,O00o0O or 100000 bush
els in the elevators and warehouses. There
WAS as much grain stored in canaboats this
wear as any other so it is difficult In the eX-
| treme 10 see where the Improvements so vividly
| pictured by Mr. Mcintyre one year ago are TO
| be found
| 1t is true that the working expenses Of the
! consolidated warehouses have been reduced The
| different New-York offices have been abolished
the salaries Of warehouse superintendents ana EN-
| ployees generally have been cut and In THIS way
| a saving has been ma ie, but on the other mana
| no amount of verbiage or financerng can conceal
| the fact that trade has not improved. Lahdihg
| charges have been imposed that had prior
| existence despite Mr.. Mclnyres denial, ana on
| the whole the warehou and shipping business is
| apparently In a worse condition than IT was one
| year ago Increased facilities at other ports,
smaller charges less detention Of vessels and
railroad discrimination in Iates against New-York
are all potent factors IN the general unsatisfac-
tory results that visible to any one who takes
the trouble to look al the situation. These are the
things that have given rise to suspicion amount
ing almost to conviction that there was an ute
| rior object in the investment. and that that OBJ
ject was none other than the ultimate transfer OF
| the property 10 Greater Ncw-YOrk either by sale
or through condemnation proceedings. AleXdn-