, 1875-05-02
Slx.BT-TEN SUBDIVISIONS.
WHAT THEY cosT THk COUNTY.

The great rise in Chicago real estate, and th,
consequent eager deeire of Ill sorts Of person.
to speculate therein, and to become immensal,
wealthy in short time and with very small OK.
penditure Of capital, have produced al sorts ol
swindlers, and grown crop OF thieves second
to mono in the world. These ''sharks," as the,
have come to be called, not having capital Of the
ordinary kind to trade on, proceed to make tha.
capital out Of the crcdu1ity OF their fellow
men. They aEo quick to note tho changes
in public taste, and to take advantage OF them
to lay still better schemes t. gull their patrons
The sudden rush o& people for suburban homes
which took place about 1868 gave the pirates d
new hint. Then they ceased to forge deeds to
property INSIDE the city limits, and proceeded to
enter into the business OF
FOUNDING SUBURBS.
To do this only required money enough to pur-
chase . few acres Of land far enough away TO be
unaffected by the rise in Chicago property. Hay-
ing procured the land they cut it up into as
many lots Us they thought they could dispose OF,
without the slightest regard to the convenience
Of the gulls who bought them. For instance, one
1and-pirate cut up few acres OF farming land
some dozen miles from the city into lots feet
By 10 inches, and sold them, ss may be sup.
posed, without specifying their size. -
This state OF things has long been known and
understood in Chicago, and tha 1and-sharks
have teased to swindle any one e1ceps tho most
utterly inexperienced and foolish. The general
verdict has come to be "served them right for
not knowing any better" in nearly eyery case
where swindle is reported, and the respectable
tax payer has ceased to think about tho subject,
and passed it by a. one that does not affect him.
This Is
4 SERIOUS ERRoB,
for the practice does affect him in tho matter Of
taxes, and it takes very respectable sum out OF
the County Treasury every year to enable the
1and-sharks to carry on their nefarions busIhess,
One instance of what is meant will serve to
illustrate the whole: - -"
"scoTrs BOULEVARD ADDITION TO CHICAGO"
50 called, is in the Town ct Worth, in thia coun-
ty, Or, technically, It is tho N. ". I,SW. 4, 10.
81, IS. Further, Gen. Lleb, County Clerk. tes-.
titles as follows concerning it's location and natu-
ral advantages and the size and value Of the
lots:
It hex nearly II miles in q direct line from The
CourtH House, and nearly miles from Washington
Heights, and is also miles from any railway: there
r. 20 acres cut Up into tweny-one subdivisions
ground ere divided into 672 lots each or lots In
there are 10 blocks in the 100 acres with streets
md alles. be:ween and through each tho lots aver
11lN square feet,-making no allowances for tie
streets or aeys that shown Of record the lots in
these 100 ncres lie under feet OF wzter. and sue
cessful drainage can never be accomplished: the in
bitanta In the vicinity composed mostly OF bnll
frogs and mud turtles the value Of such property il
entirely imaginary.
There ara three other subdivisions of the
Same character az to size in the same town and
four IN the Town Of Thornton, lying southeast
Of Worth, which Gen. Leib looks on with lisfaYor
The latter four are named South Lawn. Park
Ridge, Phillips, and Canaansport. It is enonrh
to SAY of them all that, in Park Ridge. the lnts
are. BY Survey, 1332< by II feet, the streets 10
feet, and the alleys feet.
Ihes9 inflnitesimal bits OF ground ara erave1v
considered by the Law as valuable, and sinco fho
plats are regularly fled in the County Clerk's
ot1ce, he cannot legally do otherwise than treat
them hke other property, aud consequently thew |
are yearly submitted to
TIE FARCE OF An ASSESSMENT, I
No the officers have to go though tho procesa
81 ieVylng tax on thom and then entering |
them up aa delinquent, getting Judgment On |
Ehen-nnd thaEe they stop these lots are never |
sold 1or ta1es- The most desperate aad har-
1ened tax-bryor would t1rn-: up his moss at !
hem, and the property is never eold for taxes |
because IT Is parfeotiy worthless in most c.aea |
:nd no ona will eYer be foolish enough to invest
any one can zee IN moment that tho nrocess
u levying taxes is not an iuexrensiya one md,
hat, since tue 1a1ea are narer collected fha az
oense falls on tho county. In ordar to gst nj /
lear sde. q THE gnitnde Of tho abuse, Which