Morris tribune., 1883-11-17
Ruin OF THE SUMMER RESORTS.

People Who Are the slaves OF Their
Little Palaces--Greed and Extrava-
giant Prices.
"Gath" in Cincinnati Enquirer.
My observation is that greed and extrava-
CANT prices have ruined most of our summer
resorts. Saratoga was doing splendidly ten
years ago, and people who visited it thought
they would like to have residences there; but
real estate agents sat upon every corner and
began to boom the property. Mr.. A. T.
Stewart became disguised at the attempt of a
church to make him pay hugely for a little
piece of ground that INSTRUCTED the complete
ness of his block, so he built around them,
darkened their windows and paid no further
attention to property there. Judge Hilton
has been a sort of John Hoey to Saratoga of
late years, and if he should let go his interest
the place would probably subside relatively
Hilton's Windsor hotel, I am told, is next to
empty, and the news we get from Saratoga
in August is that the number of visitors has
been very small, running in some of the big
gest hotels not above 400 or 500, where
there are nearly 1 900 bedrooms. The best
piece of property there to do business is Con-
gress hall, which cost about $500, 1000, but
was bought at foreclosure sale for about
$780, 900, making rent of Sc, 600 or $1,000 q
year.
Coney island was devoured by Mr.. Corbin,
who made arbitrary rules governing cottage
sites and endeavored to play the game of the
A. T. Stewart estate at Garden City, where
no man was allowed to own anything, and
had to live somewhat like an English tenant,
subject to eviction, warming and moral dis
cipline. In like manner, Coney island, or
that part of it to which the title is good, was
picked up by two railroad companies, and
they seem to think that if it were covered
with gold dollars it would be cheap pur-
chase. think the time is coming when
Coney island real estate will be cheap enough.
Indeed, country real estate around New York
goes begging, and almost every man who
bought number of acres at fancy prices
twenty years ago has lived to regret his pur.
chase
have a friend who spent $50, 900 on Long
island, invented town, erected a large house
and spent plentiful money on his gardens,
and laid out roads, and few years ago, an
noyed by his uninteresting neighbors, and by
the willfulness of the railroad authorities he
shut up his house, abandoned the place, and
told me some time ago that if wanted a
piece-of ground there he would give me
uocu VI III lOr uOIulnS KNOW OF men In
New Jersey who bought picturesque plots of
land, and thought themselves rich, and now
are the slaves of their little places, and can
neither give it up nor be content to live upon
it. Perhaps, on the whole, the most con-
tented people about New York live in the
vicinity of Red Bank and Long Branch. I
am told that in the winter trains down this
way run full, and large trains, too.
The defect with all building enterprises in
the United States is the exaggerated idea of
the people that they are going to become
rich by buying themselves home The ho-
tel keepers expect to make $780, 900 a year,
when by their talents and amount of interest
they bestow they ought to be satisfied with
200 or 5000 year.
This idea that man can get rich in ten
years is one of the leading causes of high
prices in all things. That is why some hotels
are charging S. day and the rest 81, when
the people would be just as well satisfied with
less extensive bill of fare, and would fill
many of these houses, which are now nearly
empty, at the old charge prevailing before
the war of $3.50 day