Evening Star Newspaper, September 4, 1926, Page 13

REAL ESTATE WASHINGTON, D. C, DISTRIBUTION COSTS CUT REAL NEED OF ébfiIERICA. SAYS BABSON Business Expert Avers Th;erc Will Be plenty of Coal Th 1s Winter—Foresees Failure for Bituminous Strike. BY ROGER W. BABSON. BABSON PARK. Mass., September 4—Not much was said in the news- 16 of the settlement te strike this Spring 88 o the exient of labor's defeut in this conflict. To make as little talk ble, out of respect to labor, of the agreement and ull parties to the agreement acted ge- cordingly. Since then, however. the settlement has hecome fully public and the defeat which the labor in- terests suffered hins been gradual recognized, and all. from Mr. Lew down to the lowest-paid miner, ve- gret having instituied ihe - e As vet the same thin, 10t be said of the miners’ strik- in England. The general strike called in sympathy with the miners was a distinef fiasco. but the miners’ strike has not vet been settled still a great shortage ingland. The raflway is zreatly « tailed being rationed service there and coal out, to the great inconvenience «f the | Iy, The coal commis- sion, however, is hard at work and wilt probably recommend o setile- ment which will be satisfact parties. [ hope thi4 settlement. how- ever, will be much more than a com promise hetween the owners of the mines and the operators. It should g» to the root of the eliminate a large number of workers ard shut down a number of mines This is the only practical settlement possible. and the saie thing might be said of the bhituminons in the United States public gene Jacksonville Agreement. stated. there is nothing in connection with the situation in this countr for some time to come. Wih the | fuminous situation. however. ihe con ditlons are entirely different. The Jacksonville 1ent, which expires March 31. 1927, hax been a thorn in the flesh of hoth the mine owners the operitors ever since it was enacted. Moreover, this agreement has been very embarrassing to the ad ministration at \Washington. which is ald to have approved it at the time hut has not insisted that it be lived o The f: s indicate that the Jacksonville agreement. which was made in good faith between the mine owner’s and operators. has been nored v certain the I owners who signed it and that the ad ministration has winked at this bad faith. IFor this reason both the mine owners and the Government will be i an awkward position until March 31 1 , when the Jacksonville agreement expires. This ix why we see almos nothing in the papers today about what is going on in bituminous industry. After March 31, 18 the do will e wide opes all fizht may be expected. little app those who have visited Ohio Joining States know that gradually the unions are losing their power over the bituminous mines Every week some new mine which formerly wa: a union mine s heing quietly opened as 4 non-union mine. Latest statis ties indicate that enly about 20 pe cent of the bituminous industry now union e plan is to have this near dliminated by next Kpring. It is very probable that official strike will be called in the tuminons industry on March 31, 1 but from the way things are workin out. 1 fail to see how this strike car amount to anything Probable. that such Government Legislat! There is one thing trike might do, namely, get the Gov- ernment interested in a veal. honest solution of the ¢ problem. In an ticipation of thix the adminis will doubtless present in Congress at it next session bills for the settle ment of the coul wage disput lar to the bill which was the last session ¢ ment of the r: Jers. however thix ha passing as wage disputes. must not expect a good chance ailway labor leg islation which wis approved by both sides. The probabilities are that the coal bill will not be approved by Mi Lewis and the other labor leaders. The important thing for the public to remember is that our coal troubles are far deeper than appear on the surface. Although we read merely of struggles between capital and la bor, the real difficulty is much morc serfous. The facts are that there ar¢ 2 more men engagec at least %5 per ce! in mining coal than are needed, an ¥ toall| problem and | ituation | | that these men should get employ | ment in some other industry. An) real solution of the coal problem ir the United States must provide fo the shutting down of many mines anc placing of many miners in other in dustries. It is even half of the miners now dustey could mine all the coal that § eeded. This means that our troubl iz practically the same as the troubl in England. and the solution of th: problem in both countries is the same Overproduction Is General. we must not think that this is the only industry in which we have over- | production today. In a general way | the same thing applies to many other | industries. Modern machinery and | invention has so increased the output of man’s werk that we are having | many more goods produced than can {be consumed. This applies to the | textile industry, the steel industry, |'the” copper_industry, the lumber in- dustry and many other industries. America developed a system of mass | production during he war which is | just beginning to have its What the solution will be no one can tell.” It may result in the shutting down of factories and considerable unemployment, or the solution may | be met by the development of forelgn { trade and the increasing of our ex- ports. I, however, firmly believe that many industries are living in a fool's paradise at the present timie and will | soon be confronted by the same prob- {lem that already confronts the coal | industry. The great problem facing \merica today is not production but distribution. Selling costs must be reduced so that prices can be reduced {and consumption increased. We | must do our utmost to solve our prob- | lemshy increasing consumption rather | than by increasing production. This situation explains the action of the Babsonchart in the fact that it still continues to stand about 10 per cent above normal while so many | people feel that business is poor. | Profits are poor, but the volume of business continues to be exceptionally good. The Babsonchart registers volume of business rather than profits. ‘The difficulty is with the excess of production and the high ost of distribution. This tends to reduce profits and makes people poor even though statistically business Is very good. Readers have nothing to fear as to the supply of coal or any other standard commodity the coming Winter. There will be plenty of goods all. We, however, must strive to see that the people are kept emploved and are given sufficient wages to enable them to buy the goods that are produced. 1Copyright. 18260 'BUSINESS IN LUMBER " IS STILL IMPROVING Report for Week Ended August 28 Indicates Healthy Condi- | tions in Market. Reports received this morning by | telegraph from 379 of the more im- { portant softwood, and 208 of the chlef havdwood mills of | the week ended August indicatg | that the lumber business of the coun- |try is still improving, says the Na- tional Lumber Manufacturers’ Amso- ciation. In comparison with the previ- ous week, the softwood mills reported | production and shipments practically | the same and a considerable increase in new business. When compared with | reports for the same period of 192 | production is practically the same | with substantial fncreases in | ments and new business. Cumulative orders for the first 34 weeks of 1926 exceed those of the same part of 1925 by 410.000.000 feet. The hardwood operations show no noteworthy change when compared with reports for the week earlier. The unfilled orders of 233 Southern pine and West Coast mills at the end of last week amounted to 661,590,554 teet, as against 665.739.088 feet for 232 mills the previous week. The 124 identical Southern pine mills In_the group showed unfilled orders of 262, 544,004 feet last week, as against 255, {700,772 feet for the week before. Massachusetts Park Washington's most beautiful residential section of detached homes. Containing seven millon feet of forest-covered land, with six miles of improved streets. Includes what remains of The Triangle of —between Connecticut, Mas Over 250 homes built and under ménts and home values exceed lots, central ahd side hall home Increasing Values chusetts and Cathedral avenucs. r construction. Actual improve- $10,500,000. \Vooded villa sites, s, with lots from 30 to 300 feet front, from $25,000 to $200,000. Middaugh & E 717 14th Shannon, Inc. ABLISHED 1899 St. NW. We Know WHAT to DO vhich is as important as knowing HOW to do it W due to a where to permaiiently effect comes the variety of causes. Our ex- perience tells us what to look for—and Rose roof work is ‘e because it over- cause as well as remedies it. find it. Put your roof under our care— and youw’ll therproof The find yourself under a wea- roof. 5 will moderate expense be budgeted for your cowvemience effects. | the country, for| said that one | in the in | in a discussion of the coal industry | | | | | | | EN it comes to roof troubles, they are| | | | ! i 7 2 lhe Zpenin TO LEVEL FOR MAY Activity Index of 164 11 Points Lower Than Figure . for June. Real estate market activity for July slipped hack to its May level, accord- ing to the index compiled monthly by the National Association of Real Estate Boards. The compilation Is made from official records of transfers and convevances recorded in 41 typi- cal_cities. The index for July stood at decline of 11 points from the figure. It is 14 points lower 164, a June than the index for July of last vear, which | figure, however, represented a more than usual spurt in demand, and measured the highest point reached in any month of what became a record year. = The highest point recorded by the index so far in the present year was reached in February, when the asso- rjation’s barometer of real estate ac- tivity registered 185. The present figure of 164 indicates that the num- ber of transfers and conveyances -re- corded for the past month in the cities reporting was G4 per cent higher than the average number recorded for the month of July in the years 1916-1923, which is the period taken as the norm Building permit reports from 475 | cities as collected by S. W. Starus & Co. showed a decline from July of 1 and from June of this yvear amount- ing to approximately 11 per cent. A drop of 1 pe cent is reported for July in the index of construction volume, based on statistics as to build- ing contracts awarded in 37 State: compiled by the F. W. Dodge Corpe ration. This was accompanied by marked in industrial construc- tion volume, public works and utili ties contracts in the Central West, and by falling residential construction volume. The total volume of building con- tracts awarded for the country as a whole for the first seven months of the present year is approximately 7| or § per cent more than the total for those months of last year, according to the same report. Solarium Gains Favor. A solarium is a more economica} use of space than an open porch, and space is becoming more valuable every year. With such a latitude for color and variety of _furnishings, many a housewif~ tinds the sun porch the most lived in room in her hom T 2T P TTT T2 A Simmons Model Home In Takoma Park 7z T L T T T2 2277 2 2777200 Automatic L Cedar Closets _Concrete Porch | %1&? SATURDAY, SEPTEM Upper: Hilltop Manor, an eight-story apartment building to take up the entire block fronting on Fourteenth street between Otis place and Ogden street. It is to cost more than $2,000,000. The new structure will contain a | large number of co-operative apartments and will be built by Morris -Cafritz Construction Co. The architectural design is French renaissance. There will | be stores on the ground floor. Harvey Warwick is the architect. Iower: The new Carlton Chambers to be built on the site of S d H streets, ill be built by Harry Wardman, and cost | between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000 when fully completes contain 200 rooms, ballroom, d Wadsworth's home at Sixteenth ! Church. The new apartment hotel M. Mesrobian and ete. nator across from St. John's It was designed by ng rooms, lounges, LECTURES TO JANITORS. Chicago Workers Given Ideas on Reducing Smoke. To aid in reducing smoke in Chi- cago, the renting and management { division of the Chicago Real Estate Board has been arranging a series of “better firing”’ demonstrations. Practical talks are belng given by experts to the janitors of apartment buildings in an effort to obtain more efficlent management of heating and to lessen the smoke evil. The Chlcago Flat Janitors’ Union bas been co- | operating in th demo For $12,950 Model House, 6620 6th St. N.W. (6th and Whittier Sts. N.W). ights Heater Electric Refrigerator Instantaneous Hot-Water MANY FIRES IN CELLARS. Underwriters Estimate High Per- centage Originate There. Fire underwriters estimate that 618 dwelling¢ throughout the country are afire every day of the year. They also estimate that nearly three- quarters of these fires originate in cellars. s 1t is not until the fire has developed to such an extent as to be seen or felt that the householder Is aware that his investment, his domicile, 1s in serious danger. More than $1,000,000,- 000 worth of property was licked up last yea: I LT T 2l 772227 e e e e 2. T 2 27707 STUDIES FACTORS IN CITY'S GROWTH University School of Finange and Commerce Surveys Economic Conditions. Research in factors which aré of practical value in determining the growth of the community is being [ conducted by the University of Penn- sylvania through its Wharton School of Finance and Commerce as part of its regular real estate coursp, accord- ing to an account given the National Association of Real Estate Boards by Frank Parker, professor of finance. A_thorough survey of all undevel- |oped land in metropolitan Philadel- nhin within a 10-mile radius of Cit | Hall was made by 40 seniors Jast year as a research problem. Data were collected dealing with arterial high- ways, transportation facilities and other public utilities, the tax rate, population growth and records of as- sessed values of land in the area studied. The facts were later used as a_nucleus for the initlal work of the Regional Planning Federation of the Philadelphia Tri-State District. !In the school year just closed addi- | tional studies have been made of the population movements and _trans- portation facilities that are likely to affect the well ordered development of the city within the next 25 s In these studies also the researcl students in real estate have worked in conjunction with the current ac- tivities of the Regional Planning Federation. Outstanding _realtors are invited from time to time to lead seminar dis- cussions on_the economic development of city and suburban land, types of buildings that should be erected thereon, principles underlying the erection and management of office bulldings, loft buildings and apart- ment buildings and the mechanical valuation of real estate. BER 4, 1926 HOME & GARDEN 13 CONCRETE IN PRESS BUILDING WOULD BUILD 15-MILE ROAD * Estimated That 4200 Freight Cars Will Be Needed to Handle Material fpr The concrete to. be used in the con- struction of the National Press Build- ing, the 14-story structure being erected here by the Natlonal Press | Club, would build 15 miles of road 16 | feet wide. Tt is estimated that more than 4,200 freight cars of material will be re- quired for the erection of this struc- ture. The common and face brick to be used will number 3.500.000. or suffi- clent brick to build 94 attached six- Toom houses, allowing each dwelling | a frontage of 16 feet and a depth of |32 feet. This imaginary row would stretch about 8 blocks, figuring 200 | feet to the average city block. The rods of reinforcing steel if placed end jo end would stretch 50 City to the United States Milita Academy at West Point, N. Y. The rods have a tenslle strength of 70.000 pounds per square inch. It would re- quire the weight of 500 men to pull { or break one of these rods in two; all lof the rods would hold. suspended. 000.000 men, or more men than were | nobilized in the United States and | Canada for the World War. There will be 81 structural steel columns, each 80 feet long. The com- | bined length of these columns will be 6,480 feet or about a mile and a quarter. The columns will require approximately 100,000 rivets. 160 Concrete Colamns. The structure will have 160 con- crete columns, each 140 feet long. If placed end to end they would measure 22,400 feet, or more than 4 miles. Each of the concrete columns will hold a weight of from 300 to 500 tons. The building will weigh 125,000 tons and will be so constructed as to hold four times its weight, or 00,000 tons. This is technically of safety of fou More than 500 miles of electric wir ing will be used in wiring the building. miles, or as far as from New Yv.)rk‘I known as “a factor | The electricity to be used will be 1.580 kilowatts. This is sufficient current to light the homes of a city of 10,000 in- habitants. - The total area of all partitions of the structure is wbout 300.000 square feet, or approximately seven acres. It will have a rental area of 225.000 square feet. This does not include the space to be occupled by the National Press Club or the 3.500-seat theater that will occupy the lower and fn- terfor portion of the building. The theater will be the largest south of Philadelphia and has been leased from the date of completion to the Fox Theaters Corporation for ears at an aggregate rental in excess of §7, 000,000. Two Miles of Corridors. The buflding will have more than miles of corridors, 472 office rooms. 000 windows and an equal number of doors. 1t will be equipped with 7 elevators, all 7 running on an aver- age of 42 miles an hour, or more than 300 miles daily. This does not include the service after business hours, but mileage between 9 a.m. and 5 pm.. in clusive. There will be 24-hour service for the club. The heating plant will be so ar vanged that either coal or oil may be used for heating. If coal is used it will require 1,040 tons annuaily. Tf oil is selected $19 gallons of fuel oil wiil be use The building will occupy an acre of ground and the cost, including the land. will be more than §10.000,000. Tt will be completed the early part of next vear and will have an official valuation of approximately $11,000,000. The above description of the size and material to be used ‘in the erec- tion of the National Press Building will give the reader a “close up” of | what_ will bhe the largest privately owned office building in the Nation's Capital. TILING GROWS IN FAVOR. Floors. In old houses the desirability of tiling bedroom, toilet and Kkitchen walls and floors, to say nothing of sun rooms and porches, is now universally | recognized. cally as in a new building. Nothing adds more to the delightful cleanliness of a home. Hard needs attention occasionally. lock is a_little plece of intricate ma- chinery that may go indefinitely with- out fault, but here and there you will find a lock requiring a little oil, or a knoh needing tightening. FOURTEEN HOMES SOLD. Notwithstanding the very inclement weather, the demand of home-seekers for ! tfnued high, as shown by the report | Gravatte. Fourteen homes and two desirable building lots, aggregating in value $131,500, were conveyed. French "Hendiné” Described. By the term French “heading” is meant that heading where the full- ness of the curtain is taken up by groups of outstanding pleats, evenl distributed at intervals, depending upon the amount of fulluess to be pleated into the window measure ment. A French heading should be about two Inches deep on soft. thin material—-with heading turned in double—and deeper up to four | inches, depending upon the heaviness of the curtain goods. /.;- (OB O (R S s T o e May Be Applied to Old Walls and | Tile may be applied to| old floors and walls quite as economi- new and resale properties con- | filed this week by the office of L. T.| APARTMENT BUILDING DEALS ARE REPORTED Four Transfers of Large Structures Among $752,000 Sales Announced by Realty Concern. Continned activity in the realty field 1s indicated in a report issued vester- day by the office of Hedges & Middle. ton of the recent transfer of residen- tial. busines# and investment property aggregating in value $752.200. Sev- eral apartment buildings are among the transfers. These apartments in clude: A new fourstory fireproof apart ment building, 1220 N street north west. recently completed by ‘Stern & Tomiinson, was purchased by John H Harwood. This building contains 32 partments of two rooms, kitchen and bath. A new apartment building, 1441 Har- vard street northwest, was acquired by Caroline L. Bonini from Bacas Bros. This bullding is of modern fire. proof constructfon and contains 20 apartments of two and three rooms and bath each. Bacas Rros. in turn acquired a. four-story business struc ture, 729 North Capitol street. The apartment building, 316 I street northwest, was sold for Harv Bricker to Robert Glorios. This build ing was erected several years ago by Stern & Tomlinson and contains 30 apartments of two and three rooms each. The Walter Reed Apartments, cor- ner of Georgia avenue and Butternut street northwest, was acquired by Robert Glorlos from a local investor. | This building contains 10 apartments | of four and five rooms each AR - N\ ou Can Buy a Gruver Home for $500 Cash! Perhaps, under ordinary circumstances, that low first payment would be no great attraction—but when it purchases a Gruver- built home you are getting real value, because Gruver homes represent the utmost in skilled workmanship. the desirable location. 37th St. above Burleith Near the New Glover Parkway Sample House—2020 37th St. N.W. Six large rooms, tile bath; breakfast and sleeping porches are both copper screened. In the kitchens—spotlessly white enamel cabinets and one-piece sinks, outside pantry, etc. To Inspect , Realtors In addition—note Drive out R Street to 37th, then North to Houses Open ANl Day Sunday and Monday Hedges & Middleton, Inc. 1412 Eye St. N.W. Franklin 9503