The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-02-03
EDEN EASILY BEATEN.
How Barren Plains and Soilless Hills Are
Sold TO Credulous Tenderfeet.

dusty, struggling town. Scarcely had he landed
at the grimy railway station when the legend
Real Estate Office" met his eye and as the CEN
ter of the city was approached, to judge from the
frequency of similar signs. there but one bust
ness in the community. The four or five princl-
pal streets Swarm with real estate men. and their
placards line nearly every door post The win
dows are full of them, boys distribute the bro
kers' dodgers" the sidewalk sandwich men
bear loud advertisements, and the very atmos-
phere seems charged with the all pervading sub
ject of local daily existence-viz., Real estate to
sell. How shall 1 get customer During the
height of the epidemic of the Florida mania,
Jacksonville and all the other centers where the
cunning sharpers lay in wait for their custom
could not show many of the fraternity or
land operators an hours stroll in Los Angeles
Will discover.
Grocers will lease desk room in portion of
their shops. tailors will display trouserings and
land advertisements in their front windows,
small cubby holes under stairways are utilized
by a broker for his table and large warehouses
filed with agents engaged in the struggle TO
work off land on fresh buyers. Acommon prac-
tice is to let out desk room in large stores. You
enter from the street through doorway thlckiy
fringed by posters and hand bills, and behold a
long vista extending, perhaps. through the block
to another street. On either hand. leaving
broad alley through the CENTER are small spaces
inclosed by a low hand railing, each containing
a desk and several chairs. The sign of the desk
holder is displayed on the wall in the rear of
his inclosure. As many as thirty land agents
thus grouped in one room. The sidewalks
are thronged by eager vendors.
Nervous, active men with keen, vulpine faces
elbow YOU and stare anxiously the
stranger endeavorIng to read in his couutenance
the answer to the all important question. VIII
he buy landa The general get-up, natural and
artificial. of the trained expert in the art of ca
joiug tenderfeet Is characteristic. The same
personalities apparent in Florida during the
great speculative fever. or in Kansas City IN the
midst of one of her corner-lot booms. are met
with everywhere in Los Angeles Indeed. Kan
sas City has been a great nursery. a training
ground for many of the army of sharps. who
deployed abroad. to Florida and south
ern California, according as the cred
ulous lambs in the pasture of land specu-
lation followed some bellwether. Wherever
the lamb will wend his silly footsteps. there
will be found the shearer with his shears, his
skill in the manipulation of which might have
been acquired IN the great city Of western Mis-
souri, At the hotels the guest is approached by
quiet, polite men, who whisper in his ear that 1t
will be advantageous to call at his Office If
bargain is desired One aStute gentleman IN
troduced himself TO the Herald correspondent at
the Nadeau House, and after INDUCING in nu-
merous bland eeneralities regarding the fascin-
ations of ''our climate. sir; climate which
blends the air of an Italian eve with the morn
of tropic island" entered on a detailed de-
scription of the numerous untrustworthy per-
sons engaged in selling land about Los Angeles.
why. my dear SIR" he whispered. with
confidential snirk spread over his foxy counte-
nance, ''half the fellows with signs out in this
town are sharpers and swindlers. They live by
putting off worthless land on tenderfeet. Why,
my dear friend, could tell you some anecdotes
of the Los Angeles land-sharps that would make
your hair curl" Before this virtuous citizen
had ceased his exposure of the collective viii
lainy engaged in the real estate business III the
capital of Southern California he endeavored to
unload marvellous tract of land which will
sell for $4,000 an acre. sir before the end OF the
next year, SIR" at the 'aosurdly low price of
$500 acre, sir
II uff ard a n
question was as dry as bone and capable of
irrigation the topmost peak of San Bernadino
mountain The vir'uous gentleman who put
the Herald correspondent on his guard against
designing spectators was, according to the die
tum of number of other worthy land sellers.
zone of the worst sharps in the business Why.
he would sell town lot on the top of a mans
bald head"
And so it is throughout Los Angeles, hundreds
of men striving to earn fat commissions or
profits from the transfer of town lots, villa
sites or ranches all recognizing the truth, which
is that the enormous speculative movement has
reached the limit of its unnatural development
and that, like the row of bricks set On end by
child, a touch only is required to throw the
tire array on the ground.
Los Angeles at present contains perhaps forty
five thousand or fifty thousand people. How
much of the population is floating. how many of
the number are other than casual visitors it is
extremely difficult to determine. Every train
that arrives by either of the railway routes CEN
tering here turns loose swarm of newcomers.
The streets filled by people whom the resi-
dent Los Anglican of several years standing
will assure you strangers. The town is
overrun by excursionists, adventurers business
agents. commercial travellers and attorneys from
the East engaged in looking up property for sale
or already sold to client who is solicitous to
know if his title is good or if there is a chance
to get his money back on previous investment
The hotels are packed with strangers, a con-
stantly changing tfrong of visitors who tarry a
few days and then vacate to be replaced by
fresh nstament. Of the horrors of a Los
Angeles hote. but little need be said. G1ests
rarely remain long, for the pangs of starvation
speedily set in and speedy flight becomes
necessary. The prices those of the leading
New York hotels; the fare and attendance would
disgrace a fifth-rate New England country
house. The milk and honey of the adj
vertisements not realized in fact The high
scented butter comes from east of the Missouri
river and causes the traveller to sigh for oleo-
margarine. The meats are abom1nable, and al
though the country 10 said to be the home of the
orange and other subtropical fruits. Northern
apples the extent Of the products Of horti-
culture offered to the expectant visitor.
1t is idle to attempt discussion on the availa-
bility of greater portion of the land of south
ern California as home for men compelled to
earn a living. The land will, when
nered invariably 1reet you with the stereotyped
story of the wonders of the climate. The Flor
ida sharks devoted much of their printed space
solute perfection of the smiling skies and the de-
icious sunshine OF the balmy peninsula. This
was before the great freeze His Los Angeles
brother will sandwich the climate between near
d
mer
Good heavens, my dear sir. what do you ex-
pectf' quoth broker to the Herald correspond
ent who had been going through the form OF
for piece of decent land above the
mesa of the Sierra Madre. The man was at bay,
the worthless character of the land had been
pointed out, the absurdity of the price fully
upon. AS is usual he fell back on
The sheet anchor of the country. Assuming an
alr of solemnity intermingled with reverential
he continued: What is land in
a a upht a
% willing to live on bread and water the face
# rock to enjoy this glorious, God given
climate. Why, sir il shocks my religious feel
ngs to hear you talk. 1t sounds like CRITICS.
ng Providence. which gave Us the most beauti-
Jul, the most perfect. the most absolutely
RANGING climate known on Gods footstool sir"
And then he repeated the ancient gag about
elling you the climate at 81, QUO surface acre,
With quantity Of rock, sand. sage brush and
4lkali scum thrown in adjunct.
The city of Los Angeles is laid out for popu-
alton of akout 3 600 600 Assuming thu ordi- |