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UNIVERSAL CHAIN THEATERS CORPORATION 481
competition, and the past sales of the Universal Pictures Corporation products in that district.
The survey was conducted by a man sent out by the real estate department of the company. This department managed the details of buying land and supervised the erection of theaters thereon. It took care of leases and contracts, inspected the theater buildings which were offered for sale to the company, and made surveys of districts in which the company was considering buying or erecting theaters.
The district under consideration in Brooklyn centered on New Utrecht Avenue, a long street with fairly important retail centers at the subway stations. It was a residential district in which old wooden single-family houses were being replaced rapidly by twoand four-family brick dwellings. The survey included, as being within the sphere from which the theater would draw patronage, an area of 20 square blocks, which was thought to constitute a district community. This district had a population of approximately 150,000. The population had increased about 10% in 1923, 10% in 1924, and 30% in 1925. The unusually high rate of increase in 1925 was due to a real estate boom. The executive in charge of the survey estimated that the rate of increase in population would drop to 10% and remain at that level for a number of years. He believed that this rate of increase would be made possible through the replacement of one and two-family frame dwellings by small apartment houses. Most of the people were of the Jewish race and of the middle class ; there were a few well-to-do families in the district. A large proportion of the population was employed outside the district and commuted to and from work. There were theaters near this district, which regularly drew people from it. Many families in the district owned motor cars which they frequently used to go to motion picture theaters outside the district. Many of the people also attended theaters in uptown New York, using the subway to go and return.
The only theater in the district, however, was situated on the corner of 43rd Street and New Utrecht Avenue and was owned by Loew's, Incorporated, a company which owned and operated a large chain of motion picture and vaudeville theaters. Loew's, Incorporated, also owned a company which produced and distributed motion picture films. The theater was housed in an old building with a seating capacity of 2,200. An average admission