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The second week of the new year, has not been prolific in the line of‘: real estate transactions, the market 1 having fallen into 1). state of general dullness and inactivity. This is partially accounted for' by the un- hvorable condition of the weather for outdoor transactions, which has given agents at slight premonition of what their Esquimnux contemporar- l ice are obliged to encounter in sell- ing ten- acre lots around the North Pole. It has bi en so cold sinc e the holidays that the minority of capital- ists hsve not Cured to venture uvay from cheerful fires long _mioiigh to ascertain the condition of the market, much less to encounter the cold blasts in exgnining property. Ali- ," other reason, and perhaps the most powerful one, is the disinclinution to invest money until last years, ac- ' counts are balanced up, rind capital- ists know exactly how they‘fitfi'iid. Some, too, fancy that dullnessl in trade and an apparent stringency of the moneyimerket will have a tend- .ency.to' force (iown the prices of real estate, .hut701i what grounds they , base their ideas is not‘quite clear to those who have been trying to place ' loans at a moderate rate of- interest 0 without success. Prominent brglers eompiain [of the difficulty encount- eredin making desirable loans, there deeming to be but very little dediund, ‘nlthough large sums are said to be Awaiting investment iii that direction. During the week several wealthy Eastern gentlemen have been here for the purpose of investing in real estate, but so far they have been unx ' decided as'to what course they should ’ pursue. Several large ideal’s‘ are anâ€" yticipated, but they'have not. yet ma- I‘m‘ialjzed Property owners are not snxiousto sell, as they believe real estate in certain fieitions of the city has not: reached the limit of possible 1 ofiin hopes of adeclinc. Those who are reliably informed in real ‘estate‘ , flutters say there' is no reason why there shoul'd'be 'uuy revulsion" in the market, and that everythingindicstes a rim» or at least' a shbstantial and steuly evening up. ' ‘ ‘ â€" The Journal. FZNO< Z404 Qz< wk<kmm A‘Nl .flOZ<MDwZâ€" D. M. ERSKINE}, Jr., 'Ro-galrding the future a prominent \Vmflifigton Street bmkér says: “ I fan] (lunfident th tthis year will be -in every respect mag-e profitable. and jhan last. I form Imy conclusions from the healthy (ondition of the geneml real estfite maxket, and also froxfi the large number of inquiries that were made toward the close of last you. Then min, on:- city'io #11me “d Chicago Real Estate. mun» I! ' -D.‘ M. ERSKINE, Jana INSURANCE'AND REAL EST-ATE JOURNAL. substantiality. We have more money to invest, and there is a disposition to buy city property. Chicago is no longer a speculative market '58 in years gone by, the hungry speouletors l that only wanted to invest their money in property just long enough to turn it over and secure a few (lol- lnrs hnving gone \Vest where there is less 1 hey and more opportunities for qui k deals. Since the last great revival in real estate matters capital- ists have been investing with an idea of improvement, and the result is¢ that many large businessblochs have been erected, and are already meet- ing handSome returns, I believe there will also be it large nmount of im- provement mnde in large tracts of land owned by estates. I have infor- mntion that some estates will be leased forts term of fifty years. the i lessee building on them nnd sell-‘ l ing subject to the terms of the lease. This will no doubt be a. good invest- ment for all concerned, and will. "in- crease the vulue of ndjncent proper- ty. The acres are almost totally neglected, excepting in localities where large locnl improvements have been projected, such he Pullman, ’South Cliicaigo, and the new location of. the rollingâ€"mills, and even‘ there the feelingr is but lukewarm."’Iâ€"‘Trt'â€" _ [111118. Y . a. .aL--.. ._._.1,.‘-_..~_.‘.- Cln‘fsfimziéfa‘ziy; afid is now ‘unning .successfully. The atténduuceiu the evening is as yet not Very large, ow- ing to the unpleasant weather or the fact that many have not.yet got‘into ‘ the habit. of dropping in there. The room is pleasantlana cbmmbdâ€"_ ions, and will doubtless prbive a. great convenience as well as a lasting bene- fit. The preSent arrangement is to keep it open fxom 2 P. M. to 10 P. M” Sunday included. The. newspaper reading matter Iati‘ present placed regularly on the tables is as follows. Tribune, Times, Her- ald, ews,\_Vnukegnn We, Stunts- Zeitnn Swedish Yribii’n Harper’s nrp‘er 8 Weekly, Harpm ’3‘: L fimfi ‘JOURNAL. Besides these “various miscellaneous periodicals are iegulnrly or occasiorfi telly, contributed by individuals‘ We noticed among ”me the Carpenter Builder, The London Illustmtefl iNews, etc. The nucleus fer 11 library has been started 1.11 about seventy five volumes already contributed by vari- ous parties; many more have been promised and will doubtleéa beforth- coming A list of the books and donors is kept, and Mrs. Elisha Gray has been nbpointed 11 trustee of the same by the‘reading room directors, so that should the reading room he abandone‘d 1n the future the books ‘may be taken care "of or named to i the donors. ' . ‘ Reading Roo'm and Lib‘ra’ry. Our reading room was opened on We (union no my ‘wky‘more establishing a libruy in Highland Park; such I worthy and beneficial enterprise ought not to be left to the voluntary contributions of private individuals. Our city authorities would be alt most unanimously upheld in mnkfiig a. small annual nppropriatim1 or in levying [tax for library purposes. Two hundreddollm unuuully expend- ed in this way by the city, would be emerevlmgatelle, yet in tou years it would give us a reference library, that the city would be proud of. But what is better, the opportunity constantly offered {or the free reed- iug of choice periodicals, and stand- ard literature, would elevate the moral and intellectual standard of the middle uud laboring classes of our couimuuity 111 a very g1eut de- gree. . The Opportunity to procure bobks from the Chicago city library is open to but a few of our citizvus, and those havedemat need oi aiibmry, for most of them are able to purchase uhoico p1ivato libraries to place in thei1 11011818, but if 11. libiury could be egtublished in our midst all could then be supplied niikg. May we not. hope that some defi- natg steps may be taken in (this dij reution by those in authority. R. The Waukegan Gazette for one yen; was the first donation to the new reading room; we feel sum- it will be one of the most welcome contribu- -._* L... .â€" tionS-f The cold weather had the eame effect upon Highland ”Parkeri; as other individuals, end caused not 13. little activity to become apparent in the movement of all, old and young alike. When the mercury in the drugstore thermometer indicated 40 or less degrees below zero, we were walking leisurely on our way to the train, when it occurred to us that it would be well to gather some items‘ {01" this ;paper.- Taking out pencil and tablet we proceeded to interview some of the residents on various topics,- but with two hands grasping ‘firmly ‘21s many ears, they could not hem our voice: ‘Advsncing further, :uh individual enrappecl in a. fur- ‘ lined beaver cont, seal cop and gloves, was seen. standing erect, face wreathed With smiles, smoking 11 3401'â€" a-half dollar cigar, and imme- dintely shove him suspended a. sign bearing the words,“Plu1nb1ng and G118 Fitting” A nearer ap- proach proved him to be “Bill" Kenny, who greeted us with 11 smile and questioned us coh‘Cerning the cost of “cabin passnge’ to Furope Mr. Kenny Was the only man found who felt at all comfortable. The weather was indeed cold the dinnb lirutcs coming in for their share of .aufl'ei’liig navel], one poor dog. hyan not ginning admission to the not! lW‘M “was N“ «we 1!. The Coid Snap. hly to take the overcoat from Mr. Street’s back, but 1‘ Dick,” not. yet ready tQ-part with it, and yet full of sympathy for the canine, ofi'ered to give the deg part, which he did. At. the Police Station a brie} fire was kept constantly burning ah}! the un- fortunate tramp allowed to share in the hoapitulity there efl'orded. The poor we have always with us, but none were neglected during the severo‘eedeon. Of course our iceâ€"mun. like the plumber, were happy. Bruwn and Bawdcu are hmveating a large quan- tity of the crystal, $0 be distributed when the sun shines Deerfield Doings. The holiduis are over, and most everybody is glad of it, unless it be the scholars who have 11ml to resume their studicx xuul aclmol discipline. Some of the roads are lwlockadcd by the deep snows but travel is not stopped. The cold weather kept all indoors excepting an unfortunate few, who werewobliged to be out. Thermom» eter sloerSQ deg. beluw zero. ‘ Degrfield has Iiad.1ygreat many visitors Within the last few weeks. The Misses Ott of‘ Chicago are visit- ing at Mr. Rockenbach, Miss Hat- tie Smith, of Chicago, at- Mr Wilmots and Mrs Gu‘tzlers. . Jack 'Frost destroyed agreat many house plants. He got into the meat market and grocery stores. A ‘ Mr. J. E. Knecht is at his old stand; he says it; seems natural to be behind the counter again. Frank GutzI'er has returned from Ibis Ibwamtrip, rhe réports having 8 Had afsplendid time all around. Mrs. Fred “'0” died last Wednes~ day, leaving four' small children. On account; of the Intense cold the fun- eral was ppstponed till Sunday The directors of the cheese {ac- tory, and; Mr. Antes ha've begun to lay i? their supply of ice for ghe summer. ' a Chicago Narthwestern R’ y. HIGHLAND PARK. (foam; Nonfi. 1266 12:21‘ 10:00....,.... 1140 arrivem. 8:30 $I§nd|yn only “5m 11:30 . 9:03 Leave Chicago fur Hrghland Park: Sunkifis nfiiyfi. CHICAGO FEASI- â€"~ A, ‘-_._, Going 89m}! ”12:47 12-30 11:3) 5: 37 7:11 8:01 4:10 5:26