The New York herald., 1921-05-02
BUILDERS APPLY
BRAKE OF CAUTION
Speed of Construction Work Ii
= Checked by Instability of
Material Prices.

Material PFlceS.
Precautionary brakes are beginning to
.sgi'ind against the wheels of building con-
struction progress in this and neighbor-
Sing markets, say the current Dow SER
vice Daily Building Reports.
Reaction has been caused by lack or
stability in building material prices and
by the apparent inability of the pros
pective building investor to understand
( why New York wage scales are still at
peak levels when elsewhere in the State
and in many parts of the country wage
reductions have been made. even in some
cases voluntarily. Those who have
taken this attitude with respect to New
York wage scale are. of course, un-
aware of the tremendous loss Of man
bower that the building trade as a
body has suffered during and Since the
war, caused by the dearth of apprentices
entering the crafts to take the places of
skilled workmen leaving their trades by
accident, death or more steady employ
ment in other industries such as the au-
s1omobile and furniture mills.
~ The fact is that the building industry
Is coming once more dangerously near
to complete estoppage as far as present
actual building construction work is
concerned in this market. 1t is the nat
ural result of a woeful absence of gem
cral building material price stability at
the crucial time when the building con-
struction movement of a few weeks ago
was getting under way The adage that
buying is never active on falling mar
ket has held rigidly true
signal for General Pandemontum.
Steel represented the moral backbone
OF the market, but its price collapse was
the signal for general pandemonium.
especially In the New York market
since then cement manufacturers shifted
their bag rebates from 20 to 10 cents
and this week the dealers cut off 80
cents from the delivered price. making
the quotation to consumers $500 bar
rel, less 10 cents for empty sacks returned
I'm good condition. This makes a net to
The consumer to-day Of $3.50 per barrel
The sand market has collapsed, with
prices current at anywhere from $1.60 a
sgublc yard to So. Common and finish
fishing lime prices are off 80 cents. Cur
rent hollow tile prices are merely nomi-
nal. Common brick has dropped to S14-
SIS 1000 in the wholesale market.
sAsphaltum Is So lower. Oak and maple
flooring has cropped SIS and SO 1000
feet in a week. North Carolina pine
1oofers are also lower.
= Much Of this price decline is due to a
strike of the brick barge captains
against a wage reduction. The entire
Hudson River inflow Of common brick
has stopped. Rather than run the risk
@sDf barges being cut adrift with their
cargoes some manufacturers have towed
their loaded barges of brick up the river
to their plants. Where there should nor
mally be about 100000 brick in this
market. only one barge load of S50,0v0
remained In the wholesale market at the
week end. There are little or no dealer
stocks.
= When brick stops coming into the
market other basic building material
sales slow down. Hence the building
situation in New York to-day is as acute
.Hs il ever has been. Brick plant activi-
ties are normally resumed at this time
OF the year. AS brick, manufacture can
proceed bare.y six, months year there
Is a growing possibility that the industry
has been checkmated for the larger part
Of the season. Many plants have been
closed definitely for the year.
A..f. Again Faces Brick Famine.
The fact is that New York is facing a
brick famine and in the trail of such
conditions In the past building stagna-
tion has followed. As a final bid for
sustaining business, building material
prices are being unconservatively
-siashed. In many departments the sell
sfng price to-day is actually below pro-
duction cost II price cuts will not re-
vive building the next alternative is to
cut down production capacity. When
production capacity Is diminished pro-
duction cost is increased and with prices
at their present level consumers are pur-
chasing below the margin of profit. Such
u condition cannot long prevail.
Building material price reductions
have proved futile In stimulating build
ing construction activity this spring. al
though they have been in progress since
last August. When prices seemed to
have reached safe bottom a few weeks
ago definite signs of a sizable resump
-tion of building were easily read by
any one. To-day that activity has per-
ceptibly diminished. In an increasing
nuInber OF departments activity is reach
"fng zero Some contractors have stopped
estimating in competition for building
work.
The outcome can be looked for in only
one direction-stability This applies TO
wage scales as well as TO building ma
terial prices to freight rates as well as
10 conditions affecting building financ-
Ing If the wage scales in New York
are. to remain as they are without
change the investing public viii continue
70 wait until such a policy IS formally
announced. IL adjustments downward
arc TO continue in building material
prices the purchasing public will walt
until Il Is sure that the bottom has been
~reached and when that has occurred
prices will again begin TO sweep up
ward so as to permit the building ma
terial manufacturer to dispose of his
product at a legitimate margin above
his production costs. And this upward
turn may be expected before very long.
Buys Estate of Edith Tewkesbury.
Frederick Brown purchased the beau
tiful estate OF Miss Edith Tewkesbury
on North street. White Plains, in one OF
the most desirable sections OF the Quaker
Ridge district Estates in the imme-
-diate vicinity are those OF Il. Smithers,
anthony Eiddle Jr Mrs. Ida Greer and
the Beresford estate The property is
twenty acres of land and Colonial resi-
dence which has Just been completed.
Miss Tewkesbury has taken in part ex-
change an apartment house at 35 West
Fifty-second street. New York city.
George Howe and George Levy were the
brokers.
Apartment House sold.
norf. n. Cbnra anid fn~ NJ. N