New-York tribune., 1919-05-19
Early Resumption
OF Building Seen in
Material Demands
sh;nmenis in for First Ten
DAYS of Month Show Big
Increase; Help at Brick
wards Hard to Obtain

DEALERS in New YORK nhd the SITUATION
.s,srding price movements here, as
sT as in several sections Of the
Wv r.-v to have been almost entirely
s.~erssd within the last few weeks.
..ordipg to "The Dow Service Daily
gnIlding Reports" to-day.
n;stributers reporting 80 per cent
..,-,ase in the volume of building
.ss,srjals. leaving mason and lumber
-~nnIv wards here in April. as against
80 yolume moving to structural oper-
..;ons in March, and almost two-thirds
a. .be April gain reported for the first
-, dsvs Of May uncover a tendency
~ ,ase advantage of the building
.sortage and rents crisis by boosting
r-ices. This tendency exactly reverses
.bs trend Of the market scarcely a
,oon.h ago when all efforts were being
,ads 10 hold to a stabilized market
srsinst threatened stampede to lower
cnotations on almost every commodity.
sush sharp turn about in building
rsterials is unprecedented, and in the
,hsence OF guideposts of experience,
mere has resulted degree of unity
Al purpose that BODIES much more fav-
.,ablv for the builder and construction
interest seeking to relieve the present
housiug shortage than could have been
.Yoscted if the flavor of wartime CO.
.usration and singleness of purpose
h,d mot been nurtured for exactly the
,xigencies mentioned five months ago
by sThe Dow Daily Building Reports"
Building Movement Under Way
There is no question that the
building movement is getting under
xay, and with this fact growing daily
more deep seated in the mind of build
Ing material manufacturer, distributor
and assembler there looms greater
need almost hourly for strictly holding
down to present price levels as long as
possible But there are individual and
economic factors that within the last
week have combined TO force prices up,
on the argument that there is an abb
normal demand, and therefore there
should be an abnormal price, especially
since the supply is abnormally low.
|. seems to be wholly conservative to-
day to say that all basis and many
supplemental building materials have
reached their lowest level. This seems
70 be true Of structural steel, common
brick, no matter from what section
they are brought into the market, sand,
gravel, grit and crushed stone, Port
land cement, asbestos and plaster, as
phaltum lead and zinc. linseed oil, and
lumber. Instead of it be-
ing a question OF how soon building
material prices will drop, it has sud
denly resolved itself into question of
how long can they be held at present
levels
There are individual causes for this
remarkable change about in every line
But common brick being the principle
basic commodity in the largest average
Of buildings, whether it be Of homes or
ssyscrapers, the situation fairly re-
sects that OF all lines
Laborers at Brick Yards Quit
The Hudson River brick yard. at
tempted to resume brick manufacture
asst Wednesday at Haverstraw The
manufacturers were we'll pleased to
'aink they had been able to get SO
many returned soldiers and other
sborers to man the machines, the pal
let's and the yards. The yards opened
a. o'clock. At noon of 100 machines
'niy three we're in operation and
these had TO be closed down because
the men shifted the line" which
Means IN brick yard parance that
instead Of working normal half a
iay they had arbitrarily stopped work
-or the noon recess ar hour and half
lsead OF time. and when objection was
nace oy the employer in one yard, the
nen all caught the next train back TO
New York and the machinery was
sosed down. The case is typical Of
ne conditions under which brick
aaaufacturers are operating along the
'ndScn River this season, and at
aeeting OF manufacturers on Friday
ONE Of them actually talked Of not
tempting to resume brick manu-
aesure this year, but TO sell what
lex they had on hand and close up.
'ons'derlng the late start Of the sea-
on and labor conditions, not more
nan 20 per cent OF the normal years
s1put can be expected, which means
aa' Of ll9 plants in the district not
'ore than thirty will operate.
~ Is just such conditions as these
lst has spurred the desire to make
a'ek recovery on wartime losses in
ss1ain Quarters and the only agency
ID. IS successfully combating this
'hoency IS the distributor and the
i'-s'ghted manufacturer working
we we together TO keep the market
''nin the grasp Of the building in
'a"s VINO can proceed with his prof.
= with some hope Of relieving the
'cse shortage next winter.
Marble on Way from Italy
The building pulse IS being reflected
'ne movement for decorative in
'''or materials. Various authorities
s'e various views on price trends.
on foreign marbles. Cur
.a' 'tocks are unquestionably low,
:, 'nere Is now on the ocean fne
sa,an AND Belgian marbles, sufficient
;, ksep the market well supplied
"'s veined Italian marble, familiar
commerce has advanced 120 per
~ MACK and gold. 100 per cent on
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