The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1889-12-12
AS SEEN BY A VISITOR.
How It Appears To An Albany Investor.
interviewed BY Som. Real Estate Agents.

I From the Albany Herald, 10
1 ASTORIA, Dec 6.
. To the Editor of the Herald:
A letter from Astoria may be of in
terest to your numerous and intelii-
gent readers, who are anxious TO learn
what is taking place in this old town,
that is just beginning TO awake from
its long Rip Van Winkle snooze, and
take a tumble TO itself, vulgsrly
speaking, as the future great seaport
city of Oregon and the inland empire
that is seeking an outlet for her pro-
ducts and highway for her commerce
with the nations of the world.
The railroad enterprises that are
4 taking shape and fast assuming realis
: tic forms are not only ON paper and
In the minds of the projectors and the
public. but in the actual accomplish
ment Of few miles now in operation
and gradually reaching out mile by mile
towards the cities, towns and hamlets
that dot the valleys and perch upon
the foot hills Of the Cascade slope,
where the last golden rays of the de
parting un gilds the snow capped
peaks and rugged mountain, tops
where rolls the Oregon.
Thus you see the car of progress is
on the track and soon the silent dells
of Nehalem will echo to the rumble OF
the transcontinental trains that seek
these coal retreats, while the measured
putting and the screaming whistle OF the
iron horse will reverberate from every
hill top and wooded canyon, as he fol-
love- he lol, flN a
valleys to the sea.
BoOms, like cholera and smallpox,
seem to he contagious, but unlike
these diseases are to be sought for
rather than avoided, and now Astoria,
like Albany and some other towns,
having caught the disease, If not
checked, it will soon become epidemic,
while the real estate dealer and capi-
talist from other towns, in the far
away east, our immediate neighbors of
!; this very new west rush III to avail
themselves of the golden opportunity
that they seem to think only comes to
a man once in a lifetime. And like
the man of Scripture that went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell
among-real estate dealers. they como
and they find that the half has not
been told them. Talk is cheap and
they are all good takers, although it
is new business to most of them, the
boom having created a necessity for
the business. They will talk by the
hour and never charge cent. 1t is
also a pleasure to show goods; they
will climb the highest peaks and de-
seend into the deepest gulches; they
60 into the trackless forest, where
none but the adventurous surveyor
and his assistants have ever dared to
enter and hunt up the corners in
Riverside, Columbia or some other ad-
dition to this great city for the anxious
purchaser.
when Greek meets Greek then
comes the tug of war;" Two gentle
men, of Albany came along to size up
the boom and make some purchases.
And when they were yet great way
off, said Bob to Ben. Behold, these
fellows are rich. One of them has
heards of horses that roam through
the eastern Yallies of Oregon, and he
has cattle upon a thousand hills and
real estate in Albany till you can't
rest, besides some money in the bank.
and the other fellow is no siouch him.
sels. He's a big dealer in real estate.
Now let's get in and drill before the
other fellows catch on" And forth
with Ben, who is an auctioneer, turned
the full battery of his eloquence upon
the rich men from Albany. He made
the crooked places straight and the
waste places to blossom as the rose.
He talked all of the stuumps off of q
five acre block and built cottoges,
both neat and tasty, for the crowds of
people that could scarcely get stand
ing room on the steamers that arrive
and depart at all hours OF the day and
the night The lordly fir tree, the
giant spruce and the worthless hem
lock were made to dwindle into insig-
nifeance, because they CHANGED to
cucumber a block he was anxious TO
sell. The little city by the sea. with
population of 5000, was swelled to
metropolitan proportions of $4,000
| almost in the twinkling of Abe's eye,
while brick and stone blocks of man.
, moth and imposing structure
reared their massive fronts on every
, business street from Tongue Point to
Young's bay channel, while the whist
} ling motors and electric railways en-
} circled the city in iron bands, bringing
= the suburban homes of the mechanic
and merchant In close proximity to
the water front. Indeed, the real
, estate man, by the graphic power of
his auction eloquence, painted pan
Drama of such wondrous thrift and
beauty that his hearers were en-
tranced with the possibilities that the
} present opportunities and the glorious
future held in store for them and their
: heirs. - -.-- .-..-.-
MY dear friends" said the speaker,
'you know not what day may bring
forth; now is the time to invest, the
advances of tomorrow may fill your
, hearts with sorrow and regret.
And sure enough they did buy and
their purchases advanced s., 800 in
) one night on one block offered. De
: lays were dangerous and to hesitate
was ruin. They were glad they
bought.