New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-05-10
Much Headway Being Made
i'll Clearing Rails of
Stalled Freight Cars
Due TO Recent Strike
Advance i'm Cement Cost
Price Jumps From $3.50 to
$3.50 a Barrel; Greater
Supply of Brick Here

Building material price advances
have probably never been as general as
those that appear in the New York
I current trade list when the market
closed Saturday. says "The Dow Service
/ Daily Building Reports to- day.
Items affected included Portland
cement, which moved from $3.50 to
$3.50 barrel, delivered, with % cents.
instead of Is cents, bag rebates; plate
glass, certain items in iron and struc-
tural steel, practically all the lists of
lime items. finishing plaster, plaster
blocks, which show a heavy advance
over former prices. and some lumber
/ items. Hudson River common brick,
which is temporarily in better supply
1 here than at any time in half year,
/ remains at $25 thousand. Wholesale
/ dock. New York, with the usual add
( tional charges for handling and haul
/ ing and Is per cent The stocks are
large because manufacturers sent in
! barges that their scanty supply Of
brickyard help has loaded in recent
/ rainy weather and it has lain here in
/ the city without d market except for
! speculative purposes. because There
has been no cement with which to lay
it. In this department tn brick
/ large captains are now Ia sing Of
striking for an advance in wages.
! There were rumors that ultmatums
would be forthcoming some time this
week.
Brickyards Short Of Men
In view of the already heavy charges
for holding brick here and the extreme
shortage Of help in brickyards this
year, once these barges unload and are
returned to the up-river plants, it is
extremely unlikely that they can be
! promptly reloaded no matter what the
current market demand may be because
manufacturers are already using what
men they have available TO prepare the
yards for brick making.
+ The best possible analysis Of the cur
rent building market is obtained from
the instructions going out to the trade
from various associations and from
other factors in the building industry
The current trade letter from the
Standard Paint Company, as fair eX
ample Of the general tenor OF instruc-
tons to statesmen, reads, in part. as
follows: Owe have continually urged
our customers not to obligate thcm-
selves to fiji any orders unless they
either had the goods on hand on knew
that their order, i'm turn, had been &C
copied. We have consistently refused
to accept orders from new accounts"
The National Association of Building
Trades EMPLOYERS communicates to its
members this clause to go on ali lump
sum contracts: "Thc above pronosition
is based upon the cost of labor and ma
terials as Of this date If increase or
decrease in cost Of labor or materials
ocurs ON this work. the owner Will be
charged or credited for such increase
over or undcr nriccs which existed at
d.to Of co,,t,.octr Tho recommendation
also Includes the nrovision that if any
work is done at any othcr time than the
REGULAR working dav Of eight hours.
The cyIra exp@nsc incurred by the
ronfrartor, doinp ouch yor1; hc added 10
tho oririnol srr1 stimulated in tho CON
.trac, Ovo,lin,o work. is condemned
o. de,rimert.l 70 thn hest intorrslq Of
Tho hn;idin,, indi,strv. that All con
t,,.,to,., ,,o'7,t,i,o 40 rncoirooo voni,r
mem to cnter the building Trades to
make mn for the present dcarth of
IahoT and fnrthor condemns The uso
If The Uord "miniT,r' in connection
Win tbo aoreod vu0a scales in the
bnildino trades
c CO.
he'iVi H'""o" ''' SUN
The next four weeks should show
marked change for the better IN the
I entire building material ana ccHSifuc-
ton markets, if present indications
count for anything, Within that time
the railroads expect TO again have the
rails cleared Of stalled freight some
roads arc becoming cleared now. Ihe
latest wage adJustmcnts Tor the hulId-
ing trades give more SoHdlty TO prom
lScd peace IN IN" culture IocaI INDUSTRY
than mas char4ctcr'zeo N'iS market III
many years inns IS especially assured
oY inc provision 'na' the wage sc"lc8
may ne teQpeheo Ior aa uSll!eHC il"
AugusI' u V"e g2sI OF IlDins cot fIl'
TO %GV"hce. Ightehihe o! nance
ana ChT c"h!p"'sn 1SaIHS' nisH Ie'"II
81 Yes pS .It W
~ ;dov ei.,,Uae cn,.or;Ipo, +%o cast e.
o,, ro'cho3 tI,or Sicr,ost ,,oi,,
If th to,,d .; n,,,,i,,,,.d : Viii 20
ionot '0 ,.a Any tor.ord ottTacfi(, inboS +"
thc bniIdino trados y,itb t6o nroson+
v,aoe schedules
Further adiuetmcn+s in thc now
huildinp tra6es wace ecalea S,lnnla.
mentinS thc trades7 announced iaet
week AZ havinc receiven tbn Voluntary
81 increase. Include the cement and
concrete masons. who will receive $3.50
a day; portable hosting engineers. who
will receive 1925 a week: cnpineers
Ia, L, 90,