Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-02-12
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
THE STORY OF A cooNs,

L
III Tue city OF ST. Louis: Fourth street
JEFFERSON aveaTce (which is now Tween
tS-Aourth street,, Market street and ST
Sharies- Ikis bit of ground is twenty
pleciis long and five wide. til the
ne.rt OF ~. Louis. Mr.. Lucas paid for
IL Si'ooi II hard money of the United
otases- Up to the time of his pur-
chases. shaved deerskins at two and
Oile-hfaai pounds to the dollar had been
Tie medium of exchange. lizard
money was preferred and was not
prenatal The purchasing power of a
haid dollar" is difficult of comparison
WI the money of to-day: but it was
Pfc nably worth in st. Louis from fortv
10 y per cent. more than the dollar
CT 1890 Accepting the latter. Mr.. Luz
cas's land cost 81. O46.
IN 1916 Mr.. Lucas added by deed a
str1p OF ground, five by five block. to the
Io"n' Dut 1t was some years before the
limits OF the town extended to include
'iilS addition l think it was about 1926
When tie western limit was moved from
fourth street to Seventh street. and
about lS43 when it went west to Twelfth
street II l am right about the last
date. and | think / am. the southeast
D.
on one side by Chestnut street and on
"nother by Seventh street, was not
within the city limits when. in 1898,
James Brotherton bought it from J. Il.
{ Lucas for 81, $50 hard money of the
United states
This little bit of ground was just LOO
OF the ground Mr. Lucas had bought be-
tween nineteen and twenty-eight years
before for S1.364.
MI Brctherton conveyed this quarter
block to his sister. Mrs. Matilda Settle,
for 50. in 1874, and her husband several
years later built upon it row of five
brick houses fronting on Chestnut street
and two +~ame houses fronting on Sew
e1lth street. In 1874 the two frames
were renting for 5000 per year. The
Ger hrsciS house fused as a saloon)
rctGrned $1,000 per year. and the other
four houses in the row returned $500
per year each. That was not less than
twenty FIVE years after the houses had
been built. They had deteriorated
through age and use. but the loss in
these directions had been made up by
the growth OF the city about them.
How many wears they had been earning
&4.400 90 not know, but it is rcasona-
bic to Suppose they never earned much
less.
In 1866 the quarter block, with all OF
its improvements, was assessed for tax
alton a. S26.230. and paid State. county.
school and military tax amounting to
S4I9.6S.
George T. Settle inherited this prop
cry from his parents. and in 1870, when
a commission was looking for site for
ii custom house in st. Louis. he offered
this for $50. 900 The commission agreed
to buy. hut changed its decision and
bought a block two blocks away. In
1874 MIR. Settle sold the property TO
Henry Corwith of Chicago for $50, coo.
1t was assessed that year at so. 300, the
taxes amount to 500. II. and the income
was, as have said, Sf,4OO per year,
Mr. Corwith spent little for repairs.
hut the city required Sl62.33 in special
taxes for the Improvement of the two
adjoining alleys. and II for the
paving of the streets on two sides Of the
property with granite blocks The as
s,.ssment fell off to $751; in 1881 from
S.,G.:,5C in 1874: but the tax rate had been
incrca. ID and while in the earlier year
the amount was 500. it was now nearly
s..G30. l., 1881 the assess ment had adj
ylaced To- s50.+0C, and the taxes to ST.
$500. In 1855 the assessment fell 500
AID the ,.::cs $500.
"a Gould bought the property in 1881
frr - 900. The buildings on Il were
Very poor. but We're still renting for be
tween -,,.CG0 and 5000. Mr.. GcJ,ld was
tneu asking fayors of the municipal as.
syinhlv tur his railroads. and 70 conciIi-
axe II. iouiSans he caused an announce
lent 10 he made that he intended TO
EuiiI u ten-Story structure on this
ground. To give color to this ne caused
the oil, Ursightly buildings To be re-
moved.
in ISIS. when the assessment was
made. the quarter block was bare, save
tor scene worthless foundation stone.
and hi,d TO mere value. apart from its
.,e;srncss 10 large numbers OF men and
q cenirrs of trade. than It had when
Pierre and Joseph Becquette. Louis
Ride Rene Kiercerau, Louis Bissonet
and Joseph Gamache cultivated that
and adjacent land in the fear of Indians
and s:ght of the fort. However. the
assessors. probably taking into consid-
Grafton the fact that Mr.. Gould had
paid SIS. 900 for the property, assessed
il at SEQ. $50. and the tax bill that year
was S:.3S0.69. The land yielded Mr..
Gould nothing. He would have paid
the same amount of tax in 1899, but be-
fore the taxes for that year became
due he sold the property to Daniel Cat
lin for 5000 He had held the prop
cr-ty seventeen months and had gross
profit of s. 200 ont of it. If you charge
against that the 81, 3S0.69 taxes you leave
S5.619.31. which is equal to seven per
cent. Gu Mr.. Gould's investment.
Mr.. Catlin did even better. He paid
the tn. bills of 1889 and 1S90-the latter
amounting to 81. 1855. 1G on an assessment
of 500. TS0-though on May 20, 1890. he
had sold the property to Mrs. Catherine
II. wainwright for S127.400- He had a
gross r,rofit of $50. 400. and Il next profit
leaving out of the calculation agents
,.or,roissions-of S:}4.4S4.15, in eight
months, on an investment of 100000
II, the eight months of his ownership he
had 1cnc nothing to the property
Gould had cleared it. Catlin left II
cleared. From the fall of 1887 to octo-
her. 1890. three full years, this property
was bare and unproductive- Yet its
valr,e increased more than fifty Per
cent. The community THAT is, the city
and St..te} took OF this, in taxes $50
"a. ,;o1,ld and Catlin took so, 10;i- +6
Mrs. Wainwright, having PAID the
4 taTr