Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1891-06-04
HOW THEY GOT RICHES.
WHILE THERE'S LIFE THERE'S
HOPE" a TRUE SAYING
Money Made In Flat House-Ducats
from q Soap shop-A Clerk Becomes a
Railroad King-"Which of Us Will Soon
Be Rich and Famous?"
Especial Correspondence

| Be Rich and Famous?"
Especial Correspondence
WASHINGTON, May 1S.-A few days ago
| a number of government officials met in
one of those well known gossip centers of
the Capital City, the dairy luncheon rooms,
which swarm near all the departments,
and over their sandwiches and milk fell to
talking Of the ease with which money is
made in this world. fancy this is favor
tie topic of conversation with all sorts of
people. under all sorts of circumstances,
and therefore these government officials
cannot be accused of indulgence in dreams
uncommon among their fellows, nor of use
less waste of Uncle Sans valuable time.
"What's the use of being poor all ones
life?" exclaimed an official of the treasury
department, who every day of his existence
is responsible for millions upon millions of
dollars, and who as rule is hard pushed
to pay his grocer and his doctor and buy
shoes for his large family of girls. "Now,
let me tell you. The last time was in
New York / met an old friend of mine
from Buffalo. Fred Gerlach is his name.
When knew Fred he was q twelve dollar
a week clerk in Dun's mercantile agency
in Buffalo, and he used to borrow quarters
and half dollars of me between pay days.
That was only six or eight years ago. Now
they tell me he is nearly a millionaire. He
is the owner of the big apartment house
which bears his name, and which rises
something like ten or twelve stories, near
Broadway, about Thirtythird street. How
did he do it? That is what / asked Fred,
and he told me the secret of his success.
1t seems SO simple that any one might do
it. Getting tired of bending his back over
a desk in the mercantile agency, he came
down to New York to look about.
Noticing nice apartment house for
rent one day he was seized with the idea of
taking a lease of it and subletting it. He
hadn't any money, but did have good adj
dress and lots of cheek, and greatly to his
surprise the owner, who was rather hard
up for tenant, signed the papers with
him at once. Fred had to borrow money
to pay for his first advertisements in the
papers, but it wasn't more than two or
three weeks till he had the house full of
tenants at good prices, and he found him
self the happy possessor of a net income of
thousands year. After this all the rest
was easy. Having made one success, land
lords were eager to have him take hold of
their property and he leased building after
building, always subletting to good adj
vantage. In the end he built the great
apartment house which bears his name.
Of course it isn't all paid for yet, but the
prices which the tenants put up for their
quarters are paying not only the interest
but rapidly eNtinguishing the principal
outstanding"
''It seems easy, doesn't it?" chmed in ar
official from Michigan. "but in my opinion
luck has a good deal to do with it. To
illustrate my meaning, let me tell you of
the case of friend of mine who used to
live at Monroe, in my state. I won't give
you his name, because don't suppose he
cares for that sort of notoriety. Six or
eight years ago he lent some money to
scheming relative of his-one of those
chaps who are always going to make big
strikes if some one else will only advance
the capital-with the usual result. The
scheme didn't pan out, and my friend had
to 60 down to Cincinnati to see what he
could get out Of the wreck There he
found that his debtor had started soap
factory, and all there was to show for the
money advanced was a dingy old shed,
Shiny and greasy, with few thousand dol
lars worth of machinery and a small guam
tity of material on hand
"My friend didn't know any more about
soap making than he did about building
locomotives, but there was nothing else to
do but take hold of the wrecked business
and try to make something out of it. At
first it didn't prosper very well, but after a
few months things began to look little
brighter. My friend learned something
about the business, and being q pretty
ShraypH fol 1otU nd rpo6 ,tr;x,
to increase the sales of the establishment
every month. That was, 1 think, about
five years ago. My friend is still there,
and his whole family has moved down from
Michigan, and they are worth half mill
ion dollars if they are worth cent"
"That reminds me of the manner in
which certain railway magnate got his
first big start in life," said an official from
Minnesota. 'He was clerk in the freight
department of a railroad, and his duty was
to go down on the docks and check off
freight. His pay was 5000 year, and he
was hard up all the time, going broke be-
tween pay days as regularly as pay days
came The road was a bankrupt sort of
concern, and the stock wasn't worth five
cents on the dollar. It was practically
owned and controlled by the bondholders.
GIN o'Ao Oohuo WSAo hCoi1y uclu Ill
land. The Dutch capitalists finally became
much Disguised with the property, and
sent man over from Amsterdam to in
quire into things and see what could be
done. The agent proved to be an amiable
but very thick headed person, and when he
presented himself at the offices of the COM
pany, and said he wanted to take trir
over the road for the purpose of making ar
inspection, the superintendent concluded
to detail some young man to go with hin
as matter of courtesy
'sThis clerk had little pull in the Office
If the superintendent, and contrived to get
the detail, more for picnic than with any
idea of making money out of the trip, but
he hadn't been out long with his guest
from across the water till he became pos
sessed of /. brilliant idea. He started in de-
'iberately and systematically to bear the
property in the estimation of the agent.
He pointed out and exaggerated all the
weak points, and managed to cover up the
strong ones. He ding donged into the
Dutchman's ear that the road was bank
rupt concern, and always would be, that
Its permanent way was nothing but a line
OF dirt, covered by mortgage and streak
of rust, and the rolling stock was SO badly
run down that millions OF money would be
required to renew it. |.
tt6rha clerk WAS n nratfv al1arns hou 1uI,ov,