The Finance, Ministry to-day announced the amount of the foreign trade transacted during March last ae follows Exports Adverse balance Astor Road from the Astor House Hotel.
Rough plans have been drawn up, and are being worked out by arch: fi tests in New York Cit There will be seating accommodation for from 5,009 to 6,000 persons, and the shows will be continuous rom LI am, until midnight. paratus will be heating, cooling and condition the ai effects and other fixtures are being worked out by experts, Part of the seven mow lot will be taken up in parking space, and there is a possibility that above the theatre a number of apartments Will Lo constructed, We wish the Shanghai Land Investment Ca. all success in their undertaking.
In connection with the demand for modern residences and apart ments we will have to confess again that we "don't know where all the folks come from."
The demand for accommodation is ea strong that many builders of both foreign and Chinese properties ave refraining from placing their names on the development, as the constant stream of applicants and ities is most difficult to handle, though the rentals obtainable for residences and apartments compare favourably with those at home, in many eases being greater than the vent required for similar accom modation at-home, the rentals for office space and shop space in the central district are still very yea sonable, A real estate owner from Los Angeles recently informed us that was obtaining the equivalent of approximately Tls. 6 per square foot per annum for ordinary office space, Similar accommodation can obtained in Shanghai for from Tis, 1.25 to Tle. 2 per square foot per annum.
A fow years ago we read of the Lenefits to be derived from insulating residences against heat and cold. Now the majority of the residences built by the Asia Realty Company are completely insulated with heat resisting sheets, and tenants profit to the extent of from 80 per cent. to 35 per cent, on heat= ing expenses.
A few days ago we were reading fan article describing the process whereby the air in residences or other buildings can be automatically. heated, cooled and controlled as to moisture content. We were informed that during the winter, in the United States the air in most homes ig slightly more arid than the minimum found on the Sahara Desert, and considerably more dry. than the humidity (20 per cent.) to be found in the average dry kil.
We ate making no rash promises fat the moment, but who among us can foretell the development in living comforts the next few years will bring?
It is a known fact that centrally heated residences' induce all manner of illness during the winter months and that due to the dryness our furniture cracks, our walls wrinkle, xd we are uncomfortably chilly times even in a super-heated room, The question of controlling hui and cleansing the air we breathe in our homes is worthy of careful study. A chart compiled by the United States Public Health Service shows how respiratory diseases crease during the months of de artificial, indoor heating.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.