Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-09-26
Real Estate in Leadville.

All this excitement and influx of
masses of men and the consequent
irregular squatting anywhere upon
unoecupied ground, began at once
to produce discord and a fever of
speculation in real estate. A certain
corporation claimed to own the
whole town site under a patent from
the government, and tired to exact
payment from every tenant; but the
illegality of this was asserted, and
pending decision, everybody not on
ly laughed at the company but pro-
ceeded to buy and sell original squat
ter claims as though no better title
was ever in eIistence-a supposition
probably true at that time. Town
lots rose from nothing to fabulous
prices in a day, and fortunes were
made and opportunities neglected
accordingly.
Next time period of dumping, "
that is, getting forcible or fraudu-
lent possession of property. Men
would call with a paper having le-
gal appearance and politely inform
some man occupying the cabin they
coveted that they had bought the
property from the owner.
"You know, pard, ," they would re-
mark affably, "that you just settled
down here cause 1t was convenient
like, and nobody said nothing about
it; but now the owner thinks be or
ter have some good from his proper
ty, and we've bought it. We don't
want to be unpleasant, but 1t looks
like you'd have to VamOOse." "
''That's all right,-nO ofense,
the shaggy-headed cottager would
reply quietly, ''but 1 reckon eff the
owner or anybody else wants this
we're cabin they've got to take it,and
THEY'VE got to hold over me, and get
up right 'arly in the mornin' too"
and he lays a loving hand upon the
hilt of his six-shOoter, while the
would-be jumpers anathematize their
way out of the door.
There were, however, clear cases
of tenancy of land where no title
was held, and here the occupant, II
unruly, was likely to find his cabin
timbers falling about his head In the
middle of the night, under the Wig
orous stroke of a band of citizens
who proposed to see the real owner
mt in possession then and there.
Needless fellows would insist upon
putting there trading shanties or
dwelling houses anywhere in the
streets and alleys set apart for pub
lie use, and then down would come
q squad of police, hitch q span OF
horses to the underpinning and raze
the obstruction in ten minutes Hard
words were a matter of course IN all
these little public and private tran
saotiops in real estate, and every
5av or two a man was shot or beaten
half 10 death; but public opinion
and the numerous witnesses quickly
and loudly decided the right of the
case. and the coroners Jury was ve-
ry likely to formulate the popular
verdict. Truth to say, the UoE pop
ttlS in these cases was usually ABOUT
right. Outside of a case Of robbery
by ''bunko thieves" if a man gets
shot in Leadville, it is safe to con-
clude that he has got his deserts.
Speculation in tOwn-lots dld not
last very long, however, and now
real estate is down to a pretty solid
basis of value. The probability IS
tbat the future will see a decline in
nrioes, as a whole, rather than an
enhancing of the value Of real estate
within the corporate limits, as no
doubt Leadville has seen her high
tide-mark of population.
SeribReT's for October.