Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-24

thorizes these corporations to insure the lives
OF these investors, and In case Of their death tc
| apply the insurance money to the liquidation
OF the mortgage The scheme proposes thai
title insurance companies shall sell to such
1 persons as may desire them homes, and whose
lives the insurance companies will insure, also
the real estate, taking as security mortgage
| upon the property as well as the insurance thus
| effected.
Payable By Monthly I'astalImeatS.
The purchaser is to pay monthly install
ment covering the interest on the money in
vested, the premium upon the life insurance
policy and a small advance upon the principal
/ of the purchase In case Of the death OF the
purchaser the insurance money will be suffi-
| cient to discharge the mortgage and thus leave
! the home unincumbered TO the family of the
/ deceased. In case of a forfeiture of payment
the property sold is taken by the title insur-
ance company under the terms OF the mort
gage, and the purchaser loses the amount oI
| premiums advanced on the lie insurance and
the interest on the mortgage.
A PIrTsBURG IDEA.
Is it not little singular that this COM
bination of house building and insurance,
which now finds such favor in the East
was tried in Pittsburg about 16 years ago
by the well known millionaire, Ralph Baga-
lev, and met with such a cool reception that
Ralph dropped the experiment right there
and went on making his millions in switch
signals and engines, ETC., while the work.
ingman and ;'home builder" continued to
blow his surplus" into the old-fashioned
building association or Savings banks. "
which do not save"
Mr.. Bagaley's plan combined novelty,
philanthropy and business in this way:
He owned several hundred acres at Wild
wood Park, near the terminus of Lincoln
avenue, and just over the city line. His
venture was plea for better sanitary con-
ditions, lower taxes, personal comfort, and
more rational enjoyment than the average
clerk or artisan could procure in the city.
Large lots were laid out on a park plan and
IA handsome dwellings, ranging in price
from $3.50 for handsome three-room Swiss
cottage on lot 40x100, to the more preten-
tious s., 600 IL or 12-roomed villa, with two
broad acres" The hand money for the
Swiss cottage was but 500, and the balance
was payable in rent at $40 per month. A
hand payment of $500 secured the larger
cottage, and the balance was payable in
rent at S35 per month. The buildings were
erected on the latest approved plans,
aesthetic in style, the material and work
manship being far superior to that Of or
dinary contract houses.
A hall for concerts and public gatherings
was one of the features of the Infant col
ony," and many inducements were offered
the better element to select rural home
at moderate figure. The landscape was
inviting. The deep tangled wildwood
was there in all its riotous beauty, and the
main thoroughfare was, if 1 remember
Alright, as picturesquely beautiful as the
hedge lanes in the rural districts of "merrie
England"
ON HIGH MORAL PLANE.
There was no provision for saloons or pool
rooms, or such social adjuncts as are found
in larger communities, but the public hall
opened up opportunities for the discussion
Of grave affairs of state Shanty life and
the ways of the slums were to be unknown
was on highly moral and
aesthetic plane, so much so that Phil
Knox, of Knox & Reed, loosely remarked
to the protector that ''the essential qualifi-
cations for resident In the "colony"
seemed to be membership in the Episcopal
Church and ability to play the cornet."
The ground plan and environment seemed
to contemplate an ideal American commu-
nifty, where all the virtues and graces might
thrive, and the Sheriff and the Taxgather
might starve. And the financial induce
ments were not the least attractive feature.
A comparison between Wildwood and the
East End was made, thus:
h. IaaJ