Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/498

 404 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [Dec, often built with such tender solicitude, until they seemed real, vanish away, leaving nothing but ashes in our grasp ; so, with joy and ambitious aspirations, the builder sees his real drawn from the unreal ; his dream made tangible ; his A r ision of 3"ears at last realized ; in the substantial erecting, with material of form and substance, a castle not evanes- cent, but almost enduring as time ; a monument of his skill and energy; his creative power transmitted to wood and stone, speaks greater volumes in the histoiy of man, than all that poets sing, or painters paint. The age we live in is progressive. In- stead of a builder erecting one or two houses in a season, it is now not so very unusual for one man to project, erect and finish a hundred houses in a single season. To do this, requires a large outlay of capita], and a thorough knowl- edge and experience of the science. The speculation of profit ; the hazard of the resolve ; the thousand contingen- cies of success and failure ; the prejudice of the unskilled, and the terrible ordeal of condemnation by the ignorant ; are all unknown issues, at once accepted by the builder^ and as he drives his opera- tion through, guiding it with a skilful hand, and wary eye fixed, like the mar- riner's, upon the polar star; he must make no mistakes ; no false reckoning ; but, calmly taking daily observations, satisfy himself where he stands, hold his helm steady, and, instead of drifting to shore with rudder unshipped, sail into port, under full canvas, spread victori- ously ; defying calumny ; and covering his detractors with shame. The more rapidly a builder runs his houses up and finishes them, the more he is slandered ; his business injured, and buildings condemned as being insub- stantial. It would be thought hard, if any one were to say of a grocer, that maggots infest his cheese and skippers his hams ; or of a merchant, that Iris goods are inferior or worthless. But, how often it is said, " Why, that man's houses are only run up ; they will fall down, being only stuck together ; you had better not purchase." The censor thereby ruining a man's valuable prop- erty, and causing it to remain on his hands at a great loss ; for no builder can afford to keep all the houses he builds. Many a man after struggling hard to get his houses through successfully and put them in the market, has been met with just such an unexpected and undeserved issue; and, after vainly combating with a false public opinion, has, at last, suc- cumbed and sold out, for much less than cost ; only to see the buyers realize a handsome profit in a few months, while he has entailed upon himself debts, that it may take him years to liquidate. The slightest whisper may damn a building, but it takes a long argument to convince a buyer of its merits. It behooves a builder, to guard as much as possible, against such contin- gencies ; and the only way to do it suc- cessfully, is to make the operation pub- lic ; and, instead of waiting to sell houses, after they are finished, dispose of them, as rapidly as possible, during their progress of erection. Sell them, accord- ing to plan and specification ; and j T ou then make eveiy buyer a builder, and concentrate so many different interests around the operation, that the position is strengthened with the houses left for sale, when you are through ; and in every purchaser you have a defender and eulogist. A successful builder must possess mer- cantile qualifications, to enable him to dispose of his heavy stock of goods. He must be a good and reliable salesman. While it is comparatively easy to build the houses, with means and credit, the whole pith of the enterprise depends upon the sales, for, with their proceeds, you make up your deficiencies ; pay your debts ; strike your balance ; and cany it to the profit or loss side of your ac- count. It is only then, jovl can determine the result of your labors ; and after the smoke of the battle-field