January 14, 1899.
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
64
at about Is. a week. The condition on which it was let to Mr. Staveley was that Mr. Clayton reserved the right to exercise his horses.
Mr. Sparke objected to this evidence.
Mr. Cooke put the gross rateable value at £29.
The Justices decided to dismiss the appeal with costs.
VARIOUS PREMISES.
The next appeal heard was that of Mr. Charles Wm. Everett, whose property was situated in Westgate-road.
Mr. C. E. Salmon appeared on behalf of the appellants, and Mr. Poyser for the respondents.
It armeared that appellant purchased property for £620, the gross rateable value had been increased to £35. Evidence as to value having been given,
The Magistrates reduced the assessment to £30.
In regard to the Bury Constitutional Club, Guildhall-street, the magistrates fixed the assessment to be on £110.
In the appeal of Mr. Charles Robinson, whose property was situated in Risbygate-street, the Chairman said they would! reduce the gross value to £20.
THE LONDON BUILDING ACT.
A “PARTY STRUCTURE” QUESTION. On Tuesday, at the City of London Court, before Mr. Commisioner Kerr, an action was brought by Alderman Sir Horatio Davies, M. P., against Messrs. Lewis׳ and Marks, merchants, 8, Finch-lane, for the purpose of setting aside an award which had been made in certain arbitration proceedings.
Mr. Macmorran, Q.C., was counsel for the plaintiff, and Mr. R. M. Bray, Q.C., for the defendants.
Mr. Macmorran said that the proceedings were brought by Sir Horatio Davies as the owner of Crosby Hall, a well-known building in Bishopsgate-street; and a dispute had arisen between him and the owners of adjoining premises. The dispute arose under the London Building Act of 1894, under which an award had to be made, subject to an appeal to that Court. The whole of the award was not in dispute. Under the statute in question the defendants had certain rights vested in them. They had served the plaintiff with a party structure notice, by which they expressed their intention to take down and rebuild the party structure. The way in which the defendants proposed to do their work was very strongly objected to by the plaintiff, and the matter was referred to arbitration. The arbitrators had decided that the work should be done, but the terms were of such a nature that the plaintiff was compelled to appeal to the Court for protection. If the rebuilding was to be done in the way asked for by the defendants the plaintiff’s business at Crosby Hall would be seriously interfered with. In fact, it would be almost impossible for him to carry it on during the rebuilding. The arbitrators had defined what a party structure was, and that they had no right to do. At present about 2,000 persons were accommodated with luncheons or dinners during the middle of the day at Crosby Hall, to say nothing of those who went there for liquid refreshment only.
Mr. Donald Campbell, architect, 4, Fins-bury-circus, who had acted for the plaintiff in the arbitration, was called in support of the appeal.
Mr. Bray addressed the Court for the defendants, and contended that it was not proposed to put the plaintiff or his customers to any more inconvenience than could be helped during the necessary alterations which would have to be made. The defendants were willing to take steps for the protection of Crosby Hall. It was a building, 600 years old, and the defendants would have to shore it up and in other ways take measures to prevent it from falling into the street, which was what would happen if the defendants were not allowed to do what was proposed.
Mr. Smith, the defendants’ architect; Mr. Henry Collins, F.R.I.B.A., F.S.I., the district surveyor for the eastern division of the City; and Mr. Gruning, F.R.I.B.A., F.S.I., were called in support of the defendants’ case.
The learned Commissioner said he would consider his decision. At the same time, he thought it was eminently a case for settlement, for if the parties went to the House of Lords, which was very probable, the expense would be simply awful.
My Garden Diary for 1899.—This most useful and dainty little production, of which we had occasion to speak in terms of appreciation upon its first appearance last year, has just been issued, and forms a most admirable little handbook for amateur and other gardeners. It is beautifully printed and got up, and the cover is quite a work of art.
house as having an exalted name, and the Assessment Committee must have had in their minds at the time that it was like Windsor Castle, or Belvoir Castle. It was simply the Castle, Bury St. Edmund’s. The house was assessed up to £115, and they would expect to find certain accommodation. As far as kitchens and other places for the servants in a house which would be so assessed, there was nothing like that in his house. He had a very nice garden, which contained about two acres of ground. The lodge cottage was a very inconvenient one, and only contained three small rooms on the ground floor. It was not a desirable approach, and they could not get rid of the fact that St. Andrew’s-street South was a back street.
By Mr. Poyser : He had laid on hot and cold water for the bath room. He had only had hot and cold water in the kitchen ; there was a soft water tank. He thought if he were to let his house with the garden, etc., he should think himself very lucky to get between £70 and £80 per annum.
Mr. George Blencowe, auctioneer and valuer, of Bury St. Edmund’s, said he knew the house in question and grounds. He had known them for some time. Since the present appeal had been entered, he had been through and gone into details as regarded the house. The accommodation was not better than would be found in an ordinary £40 house. He considered it a bad approach. The cottage was no use for a man to live in with a family.
Mr. Chas. H. Bullen, auctioneer and house agent, of Bury, stated that he knew the house and grounds which were the subject of that appeal, and he had had a great deal to do with it at the time Mr. Boby lived there. He had seen the premises since the notice of the appeal. There had been no structural alterations except the greenhouse. He thought anyone would be lucky to let it for £85 a year. Mr. Bullen considered a great deal of the ground would be a drawback ; people willing to live •״here would not be in a position to keep up so much ground, and no one wanted such large stables ; instead of adding to the place he considered it a drawback. He did not consider it a good approach to the premises.
Mr. Poyser contended that the value of money had gone down and property gone up, and the assessment of 30 years ago was no criterion of the value of the house at the present time. The house he considered that Mr. Sparke had got was a very charming one. It was a house to be occupied by gentlemen of position, or they would not have found Mr. Sparke residing there. It was difficult to know the value of the property when in the occupation of the owner. He hoped they would regard Mr. Bullen’s evidence critically.
Mr. W. G. Cooke, A.R.I.B.A., 35, Walbrook, London, said he had had 30 years’ experience as a valuer. He had valued in the Eastern Counties, and as far as Durham in the North. He had viewed Mr. Sparke’s premises. He considered the garden a perfect Eden. He advised the Committee to assess it at £100.
Mr. Henry Stanley, auctioneer and valuer, of Bury, said he knew the house belonging to Mr. Sparke. A tenant from year to vear would give a rent per annum of £100 gross. He had heard what Mr. Bullen said aDout the garden. He considered it added to the value of the house. He thought the stabling was in keeping with the house and no depreciation to the value.
The Justices fixed the assessment at £90.
A PADDOCK.
At the same Sessions was heard the appeal of Mr. Charles Walter Clayton. The ground of the appeal was that the assessment was excessive and far above the letting value, and the description was erroneous. The appeal was in regard to a paddock. There was no house on the property.
Mr. Charles Walter Clayton said he attended before the Assessment Committee on an appeal. The gross rental of the property in question was £15. He let the property to Mr. Staveley in its entirety, and he exercised his horse on it on suffrage ; he paid the district and poor rate. He let it for £15 a year ; they had put it up to £25.
By Mr. Poyser: It was a verbal agreement. There was a track round where he exercised his horse sometimes. The stables were let for £10 a year, he had heard. He (witness) went through the shed and there was a loose box, which was the tenant’s fixture.
Mr. Geo. Blencowe, auctioneer and valuer, of Bury, said he had been over Mr. Clayton’s pad-dock. It was a little over two acres׳ of grass land and a small stable. The letting value was about £3 per acre.
By Mr. Poyser: He understood it was let for £10 a year.
Mr. W. G. Cooke said in regard to the property in question, the gross value was £29, and rateable value £26. Clayton was the occupier and Staverley, Boby and Avis were lodgers. Staveley let the land at £6 per annum, and he let the stable at £10 per annum, and in connection with the stable there was a loose box, let
There seems no finality to the growth of bank dividends. The past half-year has been an exceptionally good one, and in nearly every instance the leading institutions are paying higher rates of dividend than they did a year ago, while m some cases the payments establish a record. This is the case, for instance, with the London and !South Western׳, which, by reason of its go-ahead nolicy, is enabled to pay 1 per cent, more than it did a year ago, and carry forward £6,000 more. Probably no London bank of importance is carried on in a more economical manner, and ,we doubt not that the staff will view the continued prosperity with jealous eyes. A goodly proportion of this bank’s profits is made out of its small depositors, who are mulcted in a charge of 5s. 3d. each quarter, when their balance is below £40 or £50.
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The Chairman of the Union Bank of London, Limited, has unconsciously entered into a controversy which is occupying the attention of not a few. Addressing the shareholders on Wednesday last, he expressed the hope that the closing year of the century (meaning this year) might be one of peace. We all hope this, but we are not all disposed to concede the point that this is “ the closing year of the century.” On the contrary, we ourselves emphatically say that it is not, and we are surprised to find such a prominent personage as the chairman of the Union Bank of London falling into the error of those irresponsible people who argue the other way.
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The Great Eastern Railway Company have lodged a Bill for next Session, the object of which is to assist in settling the disputes between them and the London, Tilbury and South-end Railway Company, as to the amount payable by the Tilbury Company for the widenings and improvements of the London and Blackwall Railway, which were carried out for the accommodation of the expected Tilbury Dock traffic. The Bill, although lengthy, simply proposes to amend the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Act of last Session, so as to give full effect to the suggestions of the Railway Commissioners who delivered judgment on this dispute in May, 1897. The effect of the Bill, therefore, is to entitle the Great Eastern Company to receive about £500,000 from the Tilbury Company, under the Commissioners’ judgment, in respect of these widenings, but subject, if this Bill passes, to an allowance in respect of the extent to which the Great Eastern Company derive direct benefit for their own traffic from these widenings and improvements.
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Messrs. A. Barsdorf and Co. have received a cablegram from the Chamber of Mines of the South African Republic, Johannesburg, stating that the total gold output for December of all the mines of the Transvaal making returns to the Chamber amounted to 419,504ozs. for the Witwatersrand district, 21,170ozs. for the outside districts—in all, 440,674ozs. The production of the Witwatersrand district was 393,310ozs. in November, 1898, and for the outside districts 20,207ozs. ; total, 413,517ozs.
THE RATING OF
PROPERTIES AT BURY ST. EDMUND'S.
A PRIVATE RESIDENCE.
At the Bury Petty Sessions, on Thursday last week, several rating appeals were heard.
Mr. C. J. E. Sparke said he was in the unfortunate position of being one of the appellants in the first case. Besides himself he was there to_ support the appeal on behalf of his sisters, Miss Sarah Sparke and Miss Anne Sparke. The grounds of appeal given in were that the assessment was excessive and far beyond letting value after deduction of tenants’ rates and taxes and cost of repairs, insurance, etc. He thought he might say in starting that he was somewhat surprised to find his learned friend Mr. Poyser before them that day, which was an unusual course at that Bench, and he considered they were highly honoured to have counsel, and he felt proud he had got so able a gentleman pitted against him in ■that appeal. He should not have been there to appeal if he had not considered a gross injustice had been done him in his assessment. He had lived in Bury a good many years and considered he had some standing as a solicitor in the town. He would go into the witness box and give his friend, Mr. Poyser, every opportunity of cross-examining him. Mr. E. Sparke was then sworn, and stated that he resided in the house in question, known as the Castle, Bury, with his two sisters, who were also appellants׳ in the case. It had never been let in his time, and he might say that of his predecessor, Mr. G. Boby. Since he bought the property of Mr. Boby he had made no structural alterations in the house ; he had built a small greenhouse off one of the rooms. The greenhouse was 10ft. by 5ft.—quite a little place, to keep the draught out of the breakfast room. The roof had been raised on one of the servants’ bed rooms. Mr. Sparke described the
Ctig
[SPECIALLY CONTRIBUTED.]
Bank Rate 4 per cent, (changed Oct. 8, 1898)
Expectations ran high on Wednesday that the Bank directors would lower their rate of discount, but Thursday’s Court passed over without any movement, and now all hopes are centred on next week’s meeting. There seems no reason for maintaining the rate at 4 per cent. It is quite inoperative in attracting gold, while the market rate of discount is about If per cent, below the quotation. It is to be noted, too, that a material improvement has taken place in financial affairs on the Continent, as testified by the rising tendency of the exchanges on London. Gold is still being shipped from the market to Germany, but in smaller quantities, and there is evidence of the Berlin position assuming a normal course. Under the circumstances, there seems no reason, as we have just pointed out, why the directors of ■the Bank should not bring their rate down to a figure which will approximate more to market quotations.
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Irresponsible Paris journals are once more exciting their readers to a state of frenzy over the so-called “ strained ” relations between France and Great Britain. They write of “war” as if it were a subject to be discussed with the flippancy of a wedding announcement, and their opinions are flouted on the Bourse, and amplified so as to produce almost a panic amongst speculators. From Paris the uneasiness spreads to other Bourses, and even the London Stock Exchange at times “loses its head” as a result of the feeling prevalent abroad. The latest outburst of vituperation on the part of the Paris Press has, however, been passed over with something of a smile. Consols have not been shaken, and there has been no run upon the banks. War with France, indeed, it is now becoming recognised, is a contingency so remote as scarcely worthy of discussion. Were it seriously entertained, Consols would not be standing at 111, nor, indeed, at 105 ; but at par, ■or possibly less. When “the man in the street,” therefore, reads in his daily paper of the excitement at Paris over the relations with Great Britain, he has only to turn to the money column and ■look at the price of Consols, to see what is the view on the subject held by the highest authorities on finance, and these authorities are worth following.
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We have had another outburst of animation in the South African Mining Market this week, and the fact is not surprising when regard is had to the remarkable developments in the industry, not only in the Transvaal, but in Rhodesia. For the past month the output of gold in the Transvaal was 440,674 ounces, which is not only a record, but considerably in excess of any other return. The inclusion of many “deep level” properties in the list of producing companies is largely responsible for the expanding output, and each month should see an increase from this source. For the benefit of those readers who may care to take a hand in what we have reason to believe is a movement based on solid grounds, we would refer to the following shares as hkely to have an early and substantial advance. (1) East Rand, now quoted about £6?-. but worth on merits about £10 ; (2) Modderfontem, now quoted at £8 for the £4 ; (3) Rand Mines, now quoted at £34¿ for the £1. The latter would seem a very big figure, but the company’s interests are enormous, and there is every prospect of the price approximating to at least £40. Rose Deep, now quoted over £9, would probably stand higher but for the low grade of the ore ; the company’s prospects are, nevertheless, excellent, and it is quite possible that the shares may yet get up to £10 or £12 .
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American Railway Securities have undergone some violent fluctuations during the week, and each day the market becomes more dangerous for the unprofessional dealer. We should not be surprised to see a big break in prices before long. Everything is now being painted “ couleur de rose,” but we notice that much rate cutting is going on in the States, and that expenses are rising more rapidly than earnings. And expenses will go on increasing in a still larger ratio if there is a continuance of big gross “takes.” There is no difference between the American workman and the British workman, except, perhaps, that the former is more arbitrary. When, therefore, the former sees that the line he is working for continues to handle an enormous amount of traffic, he will immediately put in his claim for higher wages, and experience proves that his chances of success are more than good. The point is an important one to bear in mind; so important, indeed, that it alone should exercise a restraining influence upon those whose fingers are itching to take a hand in the gamble in shares.