New-York tribune., 1919-04-21
Building Activity
Encouraged by
Material Dealers
More Manufacturers Agree
on Set Prices; Arrival
Here of 100000 Bricks
ii Happy Sight to Builders

ultimate relief OF tho increasingly
critical rent problem whs assured py
cobperntvs action Of tho building ma
terinI distributors Inst week, according
10 The Dow Service Daily building re
ports.
perhaps tho most notable evidence
os unity OF purpose 20 felleVe the
building shortage here was the feht or
moving more than twenty barge lohds
Of Hudson common brick to brooklyn
where the dearth OF homes Is greatest,
despite the harbor strike, thereby plac-
ing at the disposal Of prospective
builders approximately 100000 bricks
at time when practically the last
brick was being moved out of dealers
reserves. This was accomplished by
pressing into service all sorts OF tow
ing devices. The biggest single move
ment OF common brick into this market
for moro than two years totalled 80
barges, 26 of which were sold hardly
before they were tied up to the West
Fifty-second Street wholesale docks.
There were four barges waiting to be
shifted to unloading docks in Man
haitian Saturday morning and three for
Jersey City and Newark, leaving thlr-
teen unsold here over the weekend.
The prices, DESPITE u demand as great
AS known in recent years. still held at
SIS, or S150 below the government
fixed yard price basis, rejecting the
zation that has featured cement and
lime during the last week, and which
now also obtains in the sand, gravel,
grit and crushed stone markets.
Took Long to Reach Price Level
After MANY weeks of effort the sand,
crit and gravel companies reached an
acceptable price level last week with
out Federal assistance, and once more
these important building commodities
are quotable in official lists. The new
base prices for delivered material at
Job Manhattan and Bronx are: $50
for sand and grit; $275 for gravel and
S275 cubic yard for crushed stone.
simultaneously announcement was made
at Washington that after May ] 10
cents a ton rebate would be allowed on
freight rates for sand, gravel, stone
and grit where the rate is over 40
cents q ton.
The plaster interests Of the country
are the latest to fall in line with the
general movement, that seems to be
growing national in scope, to guarantee
prices to consumers at fixed levels for
the 1919 season at least. The nego-
tiations had not reached a stage Sat
urday noon when a public statement
could be made, but it was said that
definite progress toward this end was
being made.
BY way of showing to prospective
builders what this movement of guar
anteeing prices means to the manu-
facturer Of basic building materials,
he vice president of one of the largest
Portland cement manufacturing com
panies prepared a statement wherein
he said that if the cement manufacture
ors of the country could be assured a
profit Of q dollar q ton on their com
modify they would be elatedk calling
attention to the difference between the
profits on this basic material and that
of steel which is nearer $40 q ton.
Cost of cemont at his mills in 1913
averaged 62 cents u barrel and sold at
SO cents net. In 1918 the cost per
barrel was $144 and the net selling
price was S1G2, and with five barrels
10 ton the net profit per ton was
only 80 cents. The capitalization OF
his thirteen plants is S24 200, max