New-York tribune., 1910-12-30
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BUYS HOUSE
Adds to Its Holdings in Morning side Section by the Purchase
Property in 18th Street
Nav METRoD SUGGESTED FoR REcoRpIne REALITY pEEps

Columbia University has added 10 its
holdings in the Norningside Heights sec
ton by the purchase Of No. 4ls West 1I7th
street. q four story and basement dwell
ing house. on a plot ISz1G0u feet, from
Mary T Brown. The property is between
Amsterdam and Morningside avenues. ard
this acquisition gives the university con-
troll OF five houses in a row The brokers
IN the transaction were William c. and A.
Edward Lester. They also negotiated the
recently reported sale Of No. Al. adjoin-
ing. 70 Columbia.
H c. Senior & &c. have sold fer Daniel
5. Freedman to a eiienr of AdoIph Meyer
Nos. 133 and IA West SD street, two three
story dwelling houses. on PLOT 2S.6xi10.5
feet. near Empire Square. There has been
considerable activity in the vicinity OF the
square this year. sales in this block in
clUding Nos. I0s and 1lc. purchased by Will
ian II. Wheeler. and two transactions for
the plot, Nc. I5 to $50, the newest owner
Amos r E. Pinchot, acquiring title TO it
last week
Register Grtfenhagen has suggested g
new, modern method OF recording and
safeguarding the documents which rep
resent the seven Billions Of assessed real
property in New York County, and the
L4lAG1-Nie1- CLANSES O. TIE SBNSIllLIl-I4S
viii be asked 10 authorize its installation.
The change, II IS said VIII save the
county thousands Of dollars each year,
stin further reduce the time for recording
and returning papers 10 owners or attor-
nezs. give better and more lasting work in
the lihers. and, most important OF all. pro-
vide duplicates Of all instruments that can
be kept separate in 6reproof vaults IN
other cities ready for use in case tks
originals are destroyed by fire or feud.
If from any cause the ubers now in the
Hall OF Records were destroyed there
would be 10 public records
TIE proposed plan is to have the work
done on linotype machines. by contract:
the contractor to furnish the machines and
the operators. ercofreaders and revisers;
the city TO furnish the space and light in
the department now occupied by the folio
writers and their typewriting machinery.
From specimens Of work submitted, the
matter as printed viii occupy only about
one-third the space that IS now required
for the typewritten matter. thus saving
considerably in Hhers. while giving cleaner
and more enduring copies.
The contractor must undertake 70 work
a. night, setting up all documents re-
ceived each day. so that complete care
fully compared and revised copies will be
ready for the index department at 9
o'clock every morning. In other words, the
work must be done as expeditiously as the
best equipped newspaper Office or COM
me-cial printing establishment By the
present arrangement (Which has become
TOO slow and costs too much for super
vision) the folio writers-or recording
clerks as they are officially classifed-re-
ceive cents q foiio for transcribing the
/ conveyances, mortgages. leases. assign
nents and other papers into the nbers
But the additional cost is nearly s29, 600 a
year for supervising. examining and COM
pairing their work. Under The new plan
as proposed, the contractor must do the
work al cost not exceeding cents q
folio, which also includes examination
comparison and verilcation Of the printed
copies with the original documents The
contractor also must undertake to furnish
reasonable number OF duplicate COPIES.
According 70 The accounts in the Con-
troller's Office the cost Of typewriting rec
ords, material for the machines. such as
ribbons. etc. repairs to machines, exar1ain-
Ing and comparing and supervising the
recording in 1909 was S82,212 65. The esti-
mated cost Of printing, examining. compar-
ing, etc, under the contract system for
1911. beginning, say. February !. is SsS. OlG
Thus, the improved service viii be an
economy and not an EXPENSE 10 the co1r+v