The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-11-07
BUILDING OPERATIONS IN 1906.

The condition of the building and
structural industries, it is said. fur
nlshes correct index to the prosper
1ty of the nation. The statistics of
building operations collected for the
United States Geological Survey in
connection with the statistics of the
clayworking industries with which
they are so closely linked are therefore
worthy of special attention. The re-
port for 1906, prepared by Jefferson
Mlddletown, which will soon be issued
by the Survey as an advance chapter
from Mineral Resources of the United
| States, Calendar Year 1906" contains
tabulated information in regard to the
state of the building industry in 40 Of
the leading cities of the United States.
The returns from these cities show a
decrease in the number of building
permits issued from $500 in 1908 to
$50, 574 in 1906, loss of 1922, OF 2.S1
per cent. The cost of the buildings
erected under such permits, however,
increased from S644,62O,s73 in 1905 to
$67S, 10000 in 1906, a gain of 1884, &c.,
096, or 5.29 percent. Although this is a
large increase in the cost of buildings,
it is nevertheless much smaller than
the increase in 1905 over 1904, which
was $1S5, 960,S
Seventeen of the 40 cities show a
decrease in the value of buildings
erected, namely: Allegheny, Baltimore,
Brooklyn, Cambridge, Chicago, Cincin-
natl, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kan
sas City, Mo, Milwaukee, New York,
Omaha, Plttsburg, Providence, Read
ing, Scranton and Washington. The
smallest decrease-e3o, S54 or 1.S5 per
! cent-was at Scranton, while the larg-
est-S23, OCT, S72, or 1895 per cent was
be assigned for the decline in the cost
strikes, high cost of labor and material,
high rates for money, and oveIproduc-
ton of buildings in 1905 are mentioned
among the causes. The largest increase
was at San Francisco. The great
destruction wrought by the earthquake
and fire of April Is, 1906, produced an
abnormal condition in that city, and
the figures from May 10Th to Decem-
; Der 31st show that permits were issued
to erect buildings to cost S34, 1927, 1896,
an increase of S16,65S, 643 over the
figures for 1905.
The largest actual increase where
normal conditions prevailed was shown
! by Boston-S1O, 500, 994-while Kansas
City, Kans., showed the largest pro-
portional gain, 209.07 per cent. Seattle,
Richmond, Va, Atlanta, St. Joseph,
I Mo-, Toledo, Syracuse, New Haven,
Worcester, Mass, Cleveland, Jersey
City, St. Louis. Detroit, and New Or
leans also showed large gains, ranging,
in the order named, from II per cent to
% per cent.
Notwithstanding its big loss New
York is still the foremost city IN the
4 United States in cost of building opera
tions, reporting more than twice as
much as the next city, Brooklyn. The
cost Of the buildings in these two cities
constitutes more than one-thlrd of the
total value reported in the 40 cities.
On the basis of one building to a
in 1906 was $3,75S, against $500 in
1905 and So, 337 in 1904. The average
cost in the leading cities was as fol-
lows: New York, $1S,075; Brooklyn.
$3,951; Chicago, S6,Os1; Philadelphia,
S227s; San Francisco, So, 143; st. Louis,
So, 331; Boston, S6,931; Los Angeles,
f! LOTT: Pittsburg, $4,112; and Detroit,
49,
The statistics collected for 1906 in
clude, for the first time, separate figures
for wooden and for other buildings.
OF the total number of buildings,
97,O6G or PA per cent. were of brick
or stone, and 52.S14, or IS. rs per cent,
were of wood The number of wooden
| buildings, even in the large cities, was
| considerably greater than the number
of fireproof buildings, but the value of
= the wooden buildings was only little
more than one-fourth that of the fire
proof buildings. The average value of
each fireproof building was S11,20S,
while the wooden buildings averaged
in value only s2,035. New York leads
in value of tireproof buildings, though
the number erected in 1906 was not
large, the average value per building
being S5O,204. No wooden buildings
were erected in the borough of Man
haitian, but in the Bronx 1919 wooden
buildings, with an average value OF
S., 436, were erected in 1906 Chicago
was second in value of fireproof build
ings, and Brooklyn was third.