New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-08-29
Fire Danger Puts Real
Estate Titles in Jeopardy
Register Hopper Suggests That Duplicate Record Plant for
New York County be Erected on the Catskill Water
she'd, O39,9l5 Deeds Representing Property
Valued at $1,000 OOO,OOO on Record.

made, but he gives the number of deeds
and mortgages recorded after the fire,
showing that the re-reccrding of deeds
doubled the work Of the Office in this
respect for one or more years and that
deeds are still being put on record,
thirteen years after the fire, the orig
inal records of which were destroyed.
MIR. Brown says, IN part:
at can be safely said that during
the first year more than double the
normal number of deeds and mortgages
were recorded at an extra expense Of
approximately $500, which since that
time must have increased to very
uear'y $4,000.
The county has since purchased a
st OF abstract books covering the
period from tne first records up to
within abodf seven years of the fire.
These abstra s., of course, are not very
complete. but have some value. The
original cost 20 the county of these
books was Sl2,500. Since that time
$4,000 has been spent on them IN re-
pairing. For the period of seven years
from the end of these abstract books
to the fire the county has no records
relating to titles, except in so far as
instruments have been rc-recorded.
The figures of loss in the Jackson
Vile fire seems small, but it is to be
remembered that Jacksonville in 1900
had only about a hundredth of the
population and less than a hundredth
of the taxable property of the County
of New York,'so that the cost of $780,
coo TO remedy in part the evils result
ing from the Jacksonville fire would
indicate loss of S10,000,000 from the
destruction Of New York County re-
cords. The reports from other cities
would indicate a money loss on some
what similar scale. so that it may
safely be assumed that the destruction
of the New York County records would
entail loss of at least ten million
dollars.
New York County is in a position to
insure itself against the consequences
of a catastrophe resulting IN the des-
truction Of its title records by making
use Of the duplicate abstract plant
which has been prepared by the Re
indexing Department. This department
during the last four years has alb
stracted all the deeds and mortgages
recorded prior to 1891, numbering
about 100000.
| propose that this duplicate plant
of the contents of the Registers Of
fee, which has thus been produced as
a by-product, be removed from the
Hall of Records and stored in a build
ing separate and apart from the or
ig;nal records. To be absolutely safe
it is necessary to have a ireproof stor-
age building in an isolated place, en-
tirely away from the city. A building
erected upon some of the city's prop
ertv in the Croton or Catsklll water
shed is suggested. The building could
be of the simplest construction. would
require no plumbing or heating and
no supervision, except possibly care
taker. and even that might be managed
ir connection with other watchmen
service Provision for proper ventila-
ton should be made
/ estimate that a building equipped
with proper filing cases could be built
for perhaps $4,000
The budget estimates of Register
Homer for 1916 show a reduction OF
Si8.Oss.4 6 from 1915. The total appro-
priation for 1915 was $29i392.25 and
the total requested for 1916 is S2'3'-
3O3.79.