New-York tribune., 1919-05-12
Building Trades
Net Great Sum
In Victory Drive
Almost $5OO,OOO Over the
Quota; Brick Distributors
to Make Forward Pur-
chases at Current Prices

Passing by almost half millioy
dollars the S6,3O0,000 Victory Loar
quota, the building trades Of New Yorl
felt on Saturday that they had le
down the last bar of wartime building
restraint and faced free construc
ton market, the size of which seems
to be beyond current conception, ac
cording to The Dow Service Daily
Building Reports"
Several contributing factors com
bined to make the day memorable
First of these was the fact that the
leading building brick distributors OF
the city had at last come into the
market to make forward purchases at
current prices of SIS thousand, with
even higher quotations for especially
fine grades of brick. Next was the an
nouncement that the price situation
was at last to be governed by supply
nalism, and finally, engagements for
applicants for many months had been
freely granted, with far brighter pros
poets for something like a normal lend
ing market at once.
Structural Steel Situation
Structural steel interests reflected at
the weekend the general sentiment re-
gardng the future of building material
prices, j. e., that the bottom has been
reached for the immediate building
market. No conservative authority on
Saturday would say what the trend of
prices next year would be, but the opin-
ion is prevalent that prices, thrown
upon an open market by the removal of
the last restraint by Federal authority
with the passing of the Industrial
Board of the Department Of Commerce,
would stimulate construction. The
whole construction market has been
hoping against hope that steel prices
would be forced lower, and that if they
dropped other building material COM
modities would also drop. A general
postponement of construction work has
followed, while the scarcity of houses
has become intensified.
Glass Manufacturers Fall In Line
The building material dealers of New
York took the first steps toward price
imitation some time ago, and last week
the glass interests Joined the move
ment. Like other basic building mate
rial lines, when manufacturing
prices were advanced some time
ago in order to stabilize the
lobbing market, the distributors abb
sorbed the higher rates, thereby keep
ing the price to the consumer such as
not to make him fear to proceed with
his building plans. The manufacturers,
last week, in line with further efforts
to stabilize the market on the price
correction movement common to all
other building materials, dropped their
price six cents foot on all plate glass
over twelve square feet, which puts the
market back to what it was before
building construction assumed activity.
although the change does not affect
the price. to the consumer any more
than did the price advance to jobbers
some time ago.
Architects figuring elaborate inte-
riors will be advised that further sharp
advances are heing made in Italian
marble, this product now being sold
here at SS foot for second material.
Black and gold Italian marble is entire
~ out OF the market and none can be
mad. There is, however, a liberal sup
ply OF domestic marble at nominal
prices for immediate acceptance. but
the same causes making for restricted
quarrying in Italy are beginning to be
ieiI IN domestic quarries, namely, lack
OF labor ~ ~