New-York tribune., 1922-05-01
Brick Buyers
La Mad Rush.
Police Called
Unrest at Yards aud Coal
Strike interferc With
Manufacture of Material
Needed for Construction

Building material dealers in various
sections of the city withdrew all quo
tations for delivery at tho week end,
according to the current Dow Service
Daily Building Reports"
The action. while not general nj
the close Of the week. was nevcrthc.
less destined TO become so by the frst
Of the month. 1t came at a time whom
bonuses were being paid TO bricklayers
greatly IN excess OF the official scale
and was due to the utter inability Of
dealers to buy brick in anything like
the quantities required. Connecticut
oricK manufacturers are completely
sold out, except for deliveries still to
be made on local contracts. Tho Rari-
tan River brick yards are closed tjpht
by strike Of brickyard workers and
are sold up TO immediate CAPACITY he
sides. Long Island and Staten Island
brick manufacturers are sold undo r
contract to dates far into the summer
and Hackensack district plants have no
brick to sell.
In the Hudson River distr;ct thcre
are stlll about 25.000 900 to 10000 600
brick ready for delivery TO New York.
This is estimated to be a wholly in
adequate quantity. They are being
shipped here as fast as men can be ob-
tanned to load them at up-river plants.
Last week th'rty-e eight barge loads ar
rived. Ihree had been carried over
unsold from the previous week, making
total of forty-one barge loads on
sale, and on Saturday all had been
sold.
At one point the rush for brick be-
ing unloaded from barge was so great
that the police had to be called to re-
store order, Some speculative build
ing operations have already been
forced to stop operations Others in
great numbers Will be compelled 10
cease operations entirely before the
arrival of new brick, even though the
unrest of the brickyard workers up
! the river does not eventuate into
strikes or the coal shortage ends in
the next few weeks.
TO Operate More Machines.
Brick manufacturers ara planning
% operate so per cent of the Hudson
River brickmaking machine capacity
Immediately. More than so per cent
has not been operated for many
years. To facilitate production man
utacturers arc going to the extra ex-
penso Of trundling brick long dis
.asccs from the "hacks' to the kilns
for immediate burning rather than
await the manufacture Of enough
brick to fill nearer kilns. This partly
accounts for the rapid advance in
brick prices from sl6,6O to $17.O0 a
thousand. with some prices reported
mere and there at even higher figures.
For the first time since the war,
which was the first and only prece-
dent for such action, all building ma
terlal prices out OF dealers hands
were declared nominal and are sub
Ject to momentary changes.
Tho open price for Portland cement
at the week end waa So a barrel, as
against $3.50. Hollow tile prices have
been advanced in some instances, due
70 scarcity Of coal. Secondhand brick
has advanced s. load of 5000, and
IS increasingly hard to obtain. Lin
lar mark, having reported two ed
"a cents q gallon in lots of less than
five barrels and $l.o5 for Calcutta lin
seed oil in barrels.
Limo, plaster and all the calcined
building materials arc without stable
price levels in building material deal
ers hands.
Coverings Cause of Uneasiness
This situation is ascribed to uncgsi-
ness on the part of the dealers as to
lust how much reliance to place upon
"coverages by manufacturers. The
market remembers the situation i'm
mcdlately following the war, when de-
iiFeries We're not made according to
contract beverages and counter idding.
TOR deliveries forced prices entirely out
of precedent.
Public pillorying OF building material
dealers, upon whom the blame was laid
for this priceracing, has forced them,
at time when r similar situation is in
the making, to place their wares upon
an open market price basis, as brick is
solo namely, the wholesale price, plus
the cost Of handling, haulaee and 10
/ per cent--and thus let the responsible
/ l1y Tor the advance in cost Of building
construction at this time rest where it