Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-10-12
ADEADsHTIGANT.
An Operator Who Died Pennlless,
Leaving Real Estate ..s5@,,
Now Worth $500, 900, oO0---Men to Whom
Chicago Owes Mueh---Swamp Lands
Once Worth SIS an Acre Now
Worth $1,000 a Foot,

CHICAGO, October I0.-Sam Walker has
been dead several months, but he occasion
ally appears in the courts as a party to land
or bankruptcy litigation, and probably he
will continue to do so for hundred years
yet. 1t is fashionable in Chicago just now
to laugh at Sam and his queer ways. We
are not what might be called conserva-
tive people, bu we are considerably less wild
than we were when he was leading bust
ness man. Walker was an extensive real
estate speculator. He saw millions IN
everything. He laid out streets, planted
them with trees, paved them, laid out lawns
and advertised lots. He bought swamp
land, filled it in, built docks and roads,
dredged the river and built warehouses.
Everything that he could get his hands on
he bought, paid little on it, and then held
it for rise. He got along swimmingly for
awhile. The city was
Growing Like n Weed. ..
Speculation was everybody's pastime, and
Walker was in it deeper than anybody else.
| He owned or controlled at one time more
more than $20,000000 worth Of Chicago
real estate. But he spread himself out too
thin. When hard times came he found
himself unable to turn his property. His
charges, which were at one period in his
career more than sl25, 900 per annum, fell
behind, and at length he was forced to give
up nearly everything When he was APP
parently prosperous all the big capitalists
in town were interested with him more or
less. After his failure when the discovery
was made that he had got into" so many,
the thing was considered good joke, and
from that day until this Sans operations
have been referred to as of the wildcat var
iety. Yet Sam Walker was not wildcat
Spectator. He was simply little ahead
of his time He had not made any ar
engagements for panics. If he could have
retained possession OF his estate until his
death he would have left fortune of $780,
600, 900 instead Of nothing.
Chicago's Real Estate Men.
Chicago owes good deal to such men.
There were others Of them, some living and
some now dead whose enterprise was
profitable to Chicago, if not to themselves.
II. II. HonOre was one oft them. He was a
rich man at the time of the fire, which badly
crippled him. His faith was unbounced,
however He built one magnificent flock
and mortgaged it to build another Then
he mortgsged that and put up another
Three years later, under the pressure Of
hard times, he lost them all. Property had
DEPRECATED so that none of his buildings
would sell for enough to pay off the mort
gage. He is plain old man, who eats to
bacco as he would bread. His two daug hters,
both beautiful, were brilliantly married one
to Potter Palmer and the other to Fred.
Grant.
The first great real estate Spectator Chi
cago ever had was Doctor Eagan. He was
wild on the subject. lie got options on half
the vacant land in the county, and could
think of nothing else. A good story is told
of him. Although absorbed in his specula
tons he continued to practice. One day he
was summoned to the bedside of a lady who
was i'll. He diagnosed her case and left
prescription. AS he was leaving the room
she inquired:
How shall take this, Doctor
ooh, yes; well one spoonful now, and the
balance in three, six, nine and twelve
months" be replied, abstractelly.
When his attention was called to his OK
traordnary languO,e he apOlogiled with
the statcmcntthat rs mind was 50 taken up
with his real estate lrsiness that it was i'm
possible for him 20 think Of anything else
lie died rich
Luck of Chicago Land Owners.
Philo Carpenter and Timothy Wright
owned farms Of $50 acres apiece in the very
heart of the West Division. Carpenter just
hung on to his property, and he is alive to-
day and enormously wealthy. Wright
speculated with his and died poor. AT the
time of the panic Of 1873 he owned real
estate valued at 100000, and had cash
debts of 81, 100000 He tried to SETTLE but
the ST, 600 900 worth Of land would not pay
his Indebtedness. Nobody wanted it. He
left town owning no land but in debt over
$4,000.
Since 1873 there has been no speculation
in real estate here. The business is all
legitimate and prices are high.
The luck of some Chicago land owners
has been colossal Fifty years ago
whisky salesman from Buffalo named Ows.
lev came cut here to supply the natives
with winter cheer and sold his goods rather
recklessly When il came time for payment
one Of the purchasers was unable to settle
Owsley was sent out again with instructions
to square the account IN some way. The
DELINQUENT bad nothing but 100 acres Of
swamp land two miles and half west Of
the settlement, and this Owsley took in full
payment. On his return TO Buffalo his en-
ployers were so angry with him that they
dismissed him and refused to pay him his
salary, saving that he could take the land
and get what he could out OF it. With
heavy '...' D. .~'cei his steps to this city
and tn. adj. , sell the property. No.
hody wanted il. lie offered it for year or
two at S. an acre, but he could not find a
purchaser. He made up his mind to stay
here until he could sell, and with that de-
termination he built himself a cabin and
became a permanent citizen. In the course
of few years it occurred to him that the
property was good TO keep, and he did keep
it. He died rich the other day, and his sons
are in the enjoyment Of an estate compris
| ing two or three hundred dwellings,, and
many of the choicest building lots on the
West Division.
Different Kind of Luck.
A little different from this was the luck OF
a great many men who tarried here awhile
IN lS4O.45, and then sold out and went
north or west under the impression that
Chicago was too marshy to do any good. !
met one of these old gentlemen to-day, and
he pointed out as clearly as he could, con-
sidering the fact that the land is now COW
cred with solid brick and stone blocks, the
boundaries of his old farm.
What did you get an acre for itY was
asked.
Fifteen dollars" he replied, sheepishly.
What did you let it 60 at that for?
Didn't you know-couldnt You see that this
vas going TO be great town.
why. yes, of course. We all saw it and
knew II, but you see we had an idea that we
were too late. All the good land had been
taken and we made up our minds that we
were Just q minute behind time. How much
is it worth to-day?
Not less than 1000 foot"