Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1891-07-16
bltl Held eN.
How Two Painters Went Into Real Estate
in the Northwest.

,,Bill is rich now and drives il his
carriage aud here am / as ppori dis ever
glad to get a days work once in in
awhile. And yet / had, more brains in
my little finger than that fool Bill had
in the whole OF. his big, fat head::''
''How did it happen. thenF" asked i
N. 7. Tribune reporter, seeming
story.
well, you see; young fellow ]. ]. Blu
when / picked him up at St. Paul,
Mimi, years ago, while the great
northwestern states were just being
opened up by the railways, and I'M
migration was beginning to flow into
them. He could sldeat 4 pail Of color
ovel, q fence Of the roof Of i house we'll
enough, but for anything much ahead
of that he was no good. Now, I was
an expert at my trade and a lirst-class
letterer, too, and I could mix paints
like an artist and had good taste and
correet eye for color; II I do Say 1t N.Y.
self. ] did not like hard work, though
while Bill fairly reveled in it. 1t never
seemed to tire him. Well,the long and
short Of it was that we formed part
nership. supplied the brains and Bill
the brute force.
eve travelled all through those little
towns Of the west that were then
springing lip like mushrooms along the
advance line of civilization, aid we
were welcomed everywhere we went
We demanded big wages for sign
painting and we Invariably got them.
made as high as So !, day fdt weeks
together at that work, and the reason
we found plenty OF customers was be-
cause we were always ready to take our
pay one-tenth in cash and the rest in
building lots. Real-estate agents were
as thick Us flcas out there, and they
wed with each other in having big and
attractive Signs on their little shanty
Offices. Cash was scarce and land plen-
ty, and any laboring man who would
take his pay III town lots was boon to
those fellows.
1--WE both lived economically, and
the feeling, strange to us, of being
genuine landowners kept up our am
bition for one long summer. Finally,
when the cold weather set in. and it is
cold up there when it really STARTS t
got tired Of the business and Thought
| could make more money in several
other ways. | was sure the lots would
not go any higher before the next
spring, and taxes would soon be falls
ing due. urged Bill to sell out while
the boom lasted and before the relapse
came, but he all at once became stub
born and refused Heretofore he had
been guided wholly by me. and his ac-
ton surprised me and made NE mad.
We had taken the lots in copartnership,
and one could not sell without the
other. Bill declared that he had never
owned land before and did not propose
to sell it, now that he had got hold OF
it. stormed ut him and pleaded with
him. all to no purpose.
We had sixty lots, and we could
have sold them out for $50 apiece east
ly, and then where were the taxes to
come from? l argued with the fool in
my most persuasive and convincing
STYLE but Bill would not sell and could
not buy me out, so we just held onto
them and put in a mighty hard winter,
getting bare food and lodging. The
lots went up to about an average OF
500 each in the next summer, and ]
fairly wept over Bill to get him to sell,
but the fool did not know anything
about real estate and would not part
with foot of land. Then the boom
| burst and the lots began to 90 back
just as said they would. Still Bill
wouldn't sell, and nearly made up my
mind to shoot him. Finally, when we
could not get $40 for any one of the lot,
sold out my share in them all to tina,
stubborn donkey for everything he
had $3.50 in cash, a spawned pony, hall
a dozen paint-brushes, a silver watch
q self-cocking revolver, and a mongre
dog.
II came east and left Bill still hold
ing on to his wretchcd lots. I soor
got rid of my assets in some brainy
speculation or other, while that fool
Just held on through thick and thin,
boom and panic, working for wages
with which to pay taxes and keeping
himself land-poor for years. He never
would sell one then, and he won't sell
one now, when he could get $40, 900 for
the poorest of them"