Evening Star Newspaper, July 24, 1926, Page 19

REAL BULDING PROMIES * TOTIE 25 WORK June Spurt May Mean More Intensive Activity Than Ever Known Before. From reperts of building permits is- sued and plans filed in 462 cities for the first half of the eurrent year it is evident that buflding activities gener- ally throughout.the count ceed during the rest of the year on a bagis not greatly at variance from conditions that prevailed throughout the year 1925. The totals from these cities, as re- ported to 8. W. Straus & Co. building permits issued of $2,218,002,- 775 compared with $2,343,308,089 for the first half of 1925, a loss of 1 per cent. Against this slight falling off, the figures for June revealed a rather syr- prising volume. Permits issued in the i 93,412 compared 71 per cent. figures lies in the they represent a ga year of substantially is abnormal. Decline in May Not Unusual. Normally, there is a rather sharp deciine between May and June, some- times running as high as 10 per cent. Tast year, when building activities were proceeding with unprecedented momentum, June permits were just about equal to those of May. Whether this June spurt marks the beginning of a period of even more intensive building activity timn has ever before been experienced in the United States or whether the June reports represent a considerable volume of accumulatéd projects that were deferred from the Spring months, due to unfavorable weather conditions, cannot now be determined. An important feature of the semi- annual review he further gain of construction work throughout the 12 Southern States, notwithstanding the spectacular activities that have been in progress there for the last three years. The 161 leading cities of the South reported building aectlvities for the six months period 26 per cent greater than for the first half of last vear. This is, indeed, an impressive showing in view of the 1 per cent loss for the country as a whole during the same period. The same Southern cities gained 11 per cent in June com- pared with the same month last year. South Sets New Records The leading cities of Florida, Texas and North Carolina submit :d reports indicative of record-breaking activities. Elsewhere in the South the pick-up from last year was unusual. Atlanta, for example, reported\a volume of building permits during the first half of the year almost twice as large as during the first six months of 1925. Substantial gains were also shown in Birmingham, Memphis, New Orleans and Knoxville. New York continued to lead all the cities of the country by a wide mar- gin. Plans flled in the five boroughs for the half year were well above the half billion dollar mark, and were about 11 per cent ahead of the first half of 1925. New York's gain in June was 131 per cent. Losses were shown in most of the other major cities for the half year. Of the 25 leading building cities of the - those showing gains for the r were New York, Detroit, San N. J.. Milwaukee, ouston, Yon- . Those report- , however, that over May this per cent, which ., and Alban s for June compared with the same month a year ago were New York, Detroit. = Philadelphia, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Yon- kers and Albany. Twelve Leading States. The 12 States, based on reports of the half year, which led in building ectivities, were: Seattle, 2. Wisconsin . s The downward trend of building material prices since the beginning of this vear was checked in June. Most of the materials were quoted at the same ! s as the preceding month, You are ESTATE. but structural steel shapes were firmer and only lumber continued weak. Sand, gravel, crushed stone, crushed slag, lime, Portland cement concrete reinforcing bars, common brick and hollow tile remained un- changed except on the West -coast. San Franeisco reported declines in ‘the prices of crushed stone and con- crete reinforcing bars; Los Angeles withisssed a snarp deciine in common brick and a decline in Portland cement. ? New Treasury Ruling. For the country as a whole all Southern Pine flooring, drop sidink and lath items declined and many Douglas fir items as well, including flooring 1x4 No. 2, dimension'2x4 No. 1 common and ished 1x4 to 1x12. Most localitles reported various lum- her declines, the only increases oc- curring in Douglas fir at Denver and Seattle. Linseed -oil, although con- siderably below the price of a year ago, is steadily rising from the low figure to which it had fallen. De- cided steadiness in the structural steel market was noticeable in June, with firmer prices, 2.00¢, Pittsburgh equivalent, being asked for shapes. The Treasury Department has ordered that 60 days after July 1, 1 all imported articles must bear on 'h unit the stamp of the manu- facturer and the exporting country. This no doubt will greatiy reduce the fmportation of building materials and it will be interesting to watch for the effect on the prices of those materials where imports were becoming a factor. Employment were tranquil, conditions mainder of the The princi- pal controversi which caused some apprehension earlier in the year were in the main settled amicably. There is a slight tendency toward mented if the building volume in the second quarter of th ear should prove to be of increasing magnitude. The efforts to unionize the carpenters on the Pacific Coast continues to be MILLS ARE KEPT BUSY IN LUMBER INDUSTRY Gratifying Reports for Week End- ed July 17 Show Increased “Production. The National Lumber Manufac- turers' Assoclation received tele- graphic reports oday of the status of the lumber industry, for the week ended July 17 from 389 of the larger softwood. and 152 of the chief hard- wood mills of the country. The 3872 comparably reporting softwood mills show increases in production, ship- ments and new business, when com- pared with reports from 377 mills the previous week. It is interesting to note that despite the fact that 15 more mills reported for the same period a year ‘ago, there are gratifying | creases in all three factors this vear. The 152 hardwood operations show substantial lincreases in all three items when compared with reports from 142 milis the week before. The unfilled orders ot 231 Southern Pine and West Coast mills at the end of last week amounted to 684,309,025 feet, as agalnst 666,608,138 feet for 228 mills the previous week. The 123 identical Southern pine mills in the aroup showed unfilled orders of 243, 108,174 feet last week, as against 245, 033,404 feet for the week before. For the 108 West Coast mills the unfilled orders were 442,200,851 feet, as against 421,474,734 feet for 106 mills a week earlier. Altogether the 372 comparably re- - | porting’ softwood mills had shipments 102 per cent and orders 102 per cent of actual production. For the South- ern pine mills these percentages wevre, respectively, 103 and 99, and for the West Coast mills 106 and 111. Ot the reporting mills, the 337, with an established normal production for Ak for Descriptive Booklet—I's Worth Looking Into The Architectural Triumph! Breuninger’s E 2, % Star Model Home Alaska Avenue and 13th Street é A CHARMING DWELLING —in a perfect setting— tastefully supplemented with all 4 desirable building. structed Colonial home, fully fur- nished and equipped now awaits your inspection. superbly situated in ! of modern features ' quality - con- a This See it today— a f b NSPECT this most desirable community NOW! Note the : : E the week of 228,376,872 feet, gave actual production 89 per cent, ship- ments 102 per cent and orders 104 per cent thereof. BUILDING CODES HELD IN NEED OF REVISION Cost of Construction Frequently In- creased by Overly Strict Regu- lations, Says Official. “Badly drawn and antiquated build- ing codes are responsible for much of the high cost of home buildings,” John M. Gries, chief of the housing division of the Federal Department of Commerce, declared recently before the National Realtors’ convention.. “There's a lot of talk about high bullding costs being due to wage scales, union restrictive rules and ma- terials prices,” he said, “but we have a lot of bullding cqde provisions, such as requiring house walls to be strong enough to support an office building, that take no account of modern science. “We also have building codes drawn through influence of politicians or of supply manufacturers which command wastefulness. These must be eliminated.” ‘Sufficlent data are not available to forecast the extent of the current recession in commercial and indus- trial actlvity. Crop conditions are of paramount importance as indica- Real Estate Salesmen Wanted Two first-class men to sell Chevy Chase prop- Excellent opening for live men to handle erty. high grade properties. Edward H. Jones & Co., Inc. Chevy Chase Realtors Chevy Chase, Md. 5520-22 Conn. Ave. Terrace Quincy and 22d Streets N.E. A Kite-Built and Controlled Community Take G Dept.—to St. cars, opposite distinctive types of homes being erected here—the refinement and natutal beauty of the surround- ings—then you will KNOW that SHEPHERD PARK is the place for your home. Located at 13th and Alaska Ave. Open Daily from Ten to Ten Drive out 16th Street to Alaska Treasury 22d - and R. I. Ave. Northeast—walking north. Or the bus will carry you within two squares. Our representative, Mr, Ham- ilton, is at the Homes every day and evening, including Sunday. 706 Colorado Bldg. P Avenue—on to 13th Street Realtors B A S S R A N e N N e e A S YRR AR repherd Park Will Be 4 Community of over 200 Ideal Homes dangerously S near disappointment— for with the exception of 2—all the original group of Homes in Chevy Chase Terrace On Davidson and Norwood Drives —have been sold—and remember, we warned that further development would of necessity be at materially higher cost. Both the remaining Homes are of specially pleasing design and attrac- tive location. - Lots 50 and 75 feet front and over 130 feet deep—prettily planted. Each Home is fitted with Frigidaire Electric Refrigerator—and has its'own separate garag® of ornate design. . $12.950—%14,950 With Special Terms. Open 9 A.M, to 9 P.M.—Every day and Sunday Out Wisconsin Ave. to one squave seuth of Bradle Lane-—opposite golf eourse of the Chevy Chase Clul 14th &K CAFRITZ Owner and Builder of Communities REAL ESTATE. tors from now on. American busi- ness will have to contend with intense BEuropéan competition. It is not advisable to make long-pull pur- chases in the stock market at the present time.—Poor’s. 7-ROOM HOME $500 Sast Balance Monthly Inspect Today and Sunday EXHIBIT 611 Fern St. N.W. William S. Phillips & Co., Inc. Main 4600 1432 K I've Reversed the Order of Things NSTEAD of building a lot of houses of nondescript character —just for speculation —I've planned Homes that will appeal to the home-loving family. Homes in which the wife won’t find housekeeping a drudgery—because everything has been provided-for her convenience—and the husband won’t find it a finan- cial burden to carry—because I've made their cost rational—and the terms of purchase reasonable—less than rent. s That’s why these Homes in Quincy Terrace will appeal to you strongly. There’s nothing like them in Washington—I mean in those details which spell com- fort and convenience—and which you can buy confi- dently, because you feel secure with Kite construction back of you. I’'ve worked over thesé plans—revising and revis- ing—until I got them precisely as I know you’ll want them. There isn’t a thing you'll change. Your furni- ture will fit right into its provided place—and you’ll be happier and more contented than you’ve ever been in vour life—knowing that every dollar you pay month by month you are paying INTO your own pocket— not out of your pocket 'and inte some landlord’s. The price and terms are like the Homes—different from any you’ve heard of—and that rent-day pang will be gone for all time. A Harry A. Kite (Incorporated) 1514 K Street Main 4846