St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-08-16
BOOMTOWN'S COLLAPSE.
Accelerated by tho Loss Of Both
Its Paper and Editor.

You remember. no doubt. the boom
that struck the West midway in the SOS.
You remember how towns sprung up
with greater rapidity than was dreamed
of the days of Aladdin; how what was
yesterday . prairie became to-day . will.
age, and tomorrow a city; how specula-
ton ran riot and fabulous fortunes, on
paper, were made almost in night You
recall how companies, or rather, syndi.
Gates, were formed in every city Of the
Nation for the purpose Of taking I'd.
vantage of this wonderful growth OF
towns by buying up land, planting 1t
into city lots, and selling again. You
,reccllect how the older cities of the
plains extended their limits almost in
definitely. until 1t seemed IS though
the saying Of an old farmer friend of
mine would be realized. "Bgosh," he
ned to. remark. 'tif you town fellers
keep ON layin' out editions to yer cities
thsre won't b any land left for farmin.
It'll all b cut mp inter buildin' lots and
railroad right o way&"s
1t was indeed, z-awe-inspiriAg-or
would have been II it had not been 20
pitiful-the boundless hope indicated
by these additions which stretched out
in every direction from every hamlet,
like 50 many octopus feelers encroach-
Ing upon the rich leagues of prairie
earth that lay In biIlowy folds spread
ing away 10 the far horizon.
Boomtown was simply and purely .
creature Of the speculative form. It
had Its origin in the back parlors Of
Henry Manley's law-ofice in the city
of Philadelphia It was the result of .
coolle and carefully conceived scheme
to make = fortune easily. And to Henry
Marley must be given the credit for the
plan.
Gentlemen" he had said, when .
half-dozen OF his fellow-capitalists in
vited to his Office one February after
noon had taken their seats, ''there is
money in this tide Of BODYBUILDING. II
we can raise sufficient funds, We can
make . fortune - well - the rest OF
them. l have looked over the ground
We will buy four sections Of land. favor
ably situated, lay out one section in
city lots. erect some buildings adver-
tise the thing, have IN auction sale, and
sell enough to more than pay for our
outlay; then We will dispose Of the re-
mainder 1t our leisure - clear profit
What do yoa say?'
They .vere agreed ~. to the feasibility
Of the scheme, and by the middle Of
summer, Boomtown WAS in the height
of prosperity, With houses stores. sites
for sehoolhouses. churches, and even
the State capitol, and other public
builainos-and Arstof all the Boomtown
Syndicate (imited) Of Philadelphia had
more than realised the amount Of the
Investment and was gathering in the
profits.
Then there came . lulL Somehow,
lots did not sell quite - rapidly Is be-
fore and some Of the stockholders were
becoming little uneasy.
A meeting WAS held.
"I'n tell you what 10 the matter"
said Marley. the president Of the COM
pany; 'Boomtown needs . paper"
That's it. exactly" said the spruce
little bankers son, who was secretary.
The people must b informed. you
know, Of Boomtown's existence.n
''We must let folks know that there
Il such . place." translated Marley for
the benefit Of the others
Haven't We advertised?" asked one
stakeholder.
"fes, but You see, 1t has all been out
side places to get people there Now We
must keep up their courage, 90 that they
will not 60 away"
This WAS good logic, and the directors
ordered the officers to arrange fer start
ing paper in Boomtown.
1t was done. In answer to an adver-
tisement, one A. C. Chelton was en-
gagged IS editor and money enough fur
nished for the plant"
Henry Marley, IS he correspcnded
with the future editor. became much
impressed with the vigorous character
Of that individual and actually longed
TO leave his law practice and 60 and as
sist in getting out the first number Of
the BOomtown Herald-for he had
'stuck type" once upon time himself
Six months went BY. II Boomtown
belied her name, and did not boom, It
was not the fault Of the Herald. There
never was paper that did 20 much
Tor its home city. Vigorous
editorials. pithy locals. sharp criticisms.
all told Of . mind alert to the best In
forests Of tho plaza The paper had not
nads nopey, but It pushed" the town. !