The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-18
BUILDING IMPETUS NOW NATION WIDE, l STATISTICS SHOW
Increase of 47 Per Cent Shown in Month, While
 $226,123,29O Invested

NEW YORK, March 17.-The coun- ] try's greatest building boom is now i in progress. Reports from districts, 1 small and large, scattered through ] the length and width of the nation, tell the same story-buiiders arc i hard at it. These reports show 47 per | cent more money went into building i last month than during the corre- | spending month of 1922, which all agreed at the time was one of the greatest building periods in the his-
 tory of building. There were few who thought at the time that Feb
 ruary, 1923, would find builders en- gagged on program comparatively as extensive.
 information obtained from 179 cities shows an expenditure of $266.-
 123, ,290. against s156.675.445 for Feb
 72.447,S45, which all will admit repre- sents considerable amount of con- struction.
 Operations in the central west show an increase of 96 per cent, the
 Pacific west 52. the cast SSh and been obtained by s. W. Straus & Co.,,
 from the building departments of leading cities in these sections.
 Cities showing the largest gains
 over February, 1922. in the eastern
 section were New York s26.5o ,429 l anu IUlldutlp1id. @I.flc'oSos III lhS south Nashville led with s1.227.554. Leading gains in the central west
 were Chicago, SUBMISSION; Cincinnati,
 s1.134,2e5; Cleveland, s2773,560;> De-
 troit, s4.oo5.T44: Omaha, $1,osS,640; St. Louis, s1,379,165.
 i led with gain over last February of l S4,5O0,5i2 and Long Beach. Cal. showed a gain of s1,SS1,20l.
 Prices May BIock Isoem.
 WetSer or not the boom will be checked depends on how much higher building materials prices will go. l The Associated General Contractt rs
 of America have issued warning 1 that a buyers strike" will result if
 prices continue upward. The con l tractors have petitioned the Fed
 erated American Engineering socie-
 ties to appoint committee to set in l motion a cooperative movement, na .
 tion wide in scope to overcome what they term a serious situation.
 Richard c. Marshall, Jr.. who. as a 1 brigadier general, was in charge of
 construction for tha war department l during the war, has sent the petition i to the engineers. The charges are 1 that every material used in cCnstruc- l tion has started on an upward price plane. The increase in cost of con 1 struction may have the effect it was
 said. of deferring work which was l planned for this season.
 Great Program Planned.
 1 Dwellers. business men and build CTS are hoping that the checkmate looming ahead of this great burst of construction will be removed and 1 the program permitted to go on. If not blocked it is believed that the housing needs of business and resi- dents will be greatly relieved by the work which has been planned
 Cities showing gains of more than s500,000 over February, 1922. in cluded. in the east. Albany. s62o,0o0; Baltimore. s7s0,00O: in the south
 Louisville. s691 ,O00: Memphis. s522,-
 06o; in the central west. Canton Ohio, SS95, 900; Columbus, Ohio. so12,- 900; Evanston. 1ll., s622.00o: Milwau- kee, s945,00O, and Toledo. s615.000. l Among the cities in the ast with l large building totals for February were: Baltimore, s4, 100000; Buffalo. l s1, 800 .o00; Montclair. N. J.. s5oS.ooo 1 Newark, s2.219.Oo0;5 New York, S7e.- ] 7s000e including Sl5495.000 for Man 1hattan, s27,1os. 900 for Brooklyn. $lo,-
 227,ooo for Queens and 31s.sse,ooo for the Bronx Philadelphia had total
 Washington, D.. e., ss,sso,Ooo, and l Wilmington, s5A5,000.
 Building In South.
 l III tHS Soulh oOiHS VI ehS
 February totals included: Atlanta s2,000, ,00e: Birmingham, so67. 900: lChattanooga. $e45, 900; Dallas. s1,S5o,- oe0 Fort Worth, $55S,000; Houston. q, ,6s5, 900; Jacksonville, sSo3,0oo | Knoxville. s648,o0o; Louisville. S,- l5i, 900: Memphis, $2.o51,o0o; Nash
 vile, s1.511.o0o; New Orleans. SeSo'- eco; Richmond, s1,2ii0e0; san An
 tonic, $624,000, and Winston-Salem'
 s577,00
 l In the central west the cities with 1 substantial February totals included
 Akron, s575,000; Canton. l.029,o0O;
 Chicago, s27.712,000; Cincinnati, $2,- 1 t174.0QO: Cleveland, $4,257,000; Colnm- l bus, s1,256,000; Denver, sl,024,o0o Detroit s7.2S7,o00; Evanston, Ill.,
 ss2s,O0o: Grand Rapids, so55,o0o; 1 Kansas City, s1,676,0o0; Lima, O., Sl,- 752,o0o: Milwaukee, s1.29S.ooo Min I neapolis. $1.20s,00o; Oak Park. II, s566 900; Oklahoma City. s65o,oOO; Omaha, s1,5S4, 900: St. Louis. $2,664,-
 0eo; St. Paul, $9o0.000; Toledo, s9ls,- 0oo, and Wichita, s505,o00
 In the Pacific west the cities with large February totals included
 Berkeley. Cal. $503.0o0; Long Beach
 s3.045.O00; Los Angeles, sls,oSO. 900 | oakland. S.,041,o0e; Pasadena, S59,-
 600: Portland, e1,6f4.000: Sacramento, s5s5,0oo; San Diego. $67S.00o; San francisco. ss.e7s.ooo, and Seattle