The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1891-03-14
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
Mr.. VAN cRIp,s FORTUNE.


In 1910 Mr.. Van Grip purchased from
the Van Snort estate lot of land 'front.'
ing on Broadway, below Fulton street,
for $4,000 An old building stood on
the lot at that time, and Mr.. Van Grip
had it torn down and . new building
erected in its stead. The new building
cost 500, 600 and created no little stir
and gossip in New York in those days
Besides giving . minute description OF
It in their news columns, the Bugle and
Bladder treated the subject editorially
and in glowing terms praised the enter
prise and public spirit of Mr.. Van Grip,
and wound up with wish that New
York were blessed with more men like
him. Enterprise and public spirit were
not Mr.. Van Grips only virtues. He
was q religious, God-fearing gentleman.
loving husband, good father, .
thorough business man who was not too
proud to look after his own affairs,
which he always kept in the straightest
order, keeping accurate accounts of all
his transactions so that at any moment
he could tell exactly how he stood with
respect to any particular one OF them;
In short, he was model mana man to
be looked up to and copied.
Years rolled by. bringing poverty,
hunger and rags to many and riches,
plenty and fine linen to few. The
civil war broke out and thousands of
hot-headed patriots left homo and kim
dred to sacrifice their lives on the altar
Of freedom. Hitherto it had been cast
iron rule with Mr.. Van Grip to personal
~ represent himself ON all occasions
where matters of any moment were at
issue, but in this case he was satisfied
to appear by proxy. So he hired an
agent to represent him at the 'front.'"
and remained at home himself to look
after the interests of society and to see
that the business of the metropolis was
carried on in o ship-shape manner. The
public veal demanded this, and, as Mr..
Van Grip was heavy taxpayer, the
city could not very we'll spare him. He
was one of her representative men.
In 1886 Mr.. Van Grip died, in the lam
guage OF the eminent divine who off,
ciated at tho funeral services, ''uui-
versally regretted" and was peacefully
laid to rest in the family plot, where .
handsome marble shaft records his many
virtues for the edifcation of future gen.
erations.
EARLY in 1857 the lot of land and the
building (now an old one) on Broadway
were sold in partition proceedings for
the snug little sum Of $3.50, 900. 1 have
incidentally remarked above that Mr..
Van Grip kept accurate accounts of all
his transactions. and here take the lib
erty Of glancing at the accounts relative
to this particular one. not to satisfy any
morbid curiosity, but simply with view
of learning lesson from the enterprise
and public spirit OF the exemplary gen.
tleman.
The account il written in . neat hand,
every 'i'' is dotted and every It" is
crossed. and 1t is most beautifully ruled
OF in red ink. On the debit side are en-
tered payments for taxes, water rates,
insurance, repairs, ETC., and interest at
the legal rate on the $125. 600 invested;
and on the credit side appear the
amounts Of rent received. For the
first three years (1S41-s) the debit and
credit sales of the accounts exactly bal
ance. During the following seven years
(1644-50) the credits exceed the debts
by *, 500; from 1851 to 1860 the excess OF
credits over debts is $11, 900; from 1851
TO 1870 this excess amounts to S12. 500;
from 1871 to 1880 the excess amounts mn
to $4,000; and from 1881 to 1885, inclu-
sive, 1t is s., 900; the grand total Of ex-
cess of rents over and above payments
for taxes, insurance, water rates, re-
pairs, etc, and the amounts which Mr..
Van Grip allowed himself for interest
on the principal sum invested during
the forty-six years being ISL. 900.
Now let us work out two little prob |
lens, one in subtraction and the other |
in addition. From tho price at which |
the property was sold in 1887, namely,
$3.50, 600, deduct the cost price, namely.
$125, 900. and there remains S225, 900, to |
which add $51, 200. and we find the net |
profit on this little transaction was S276,-
600 or course, have not taken into |
consideration interest on the surplus Of |
receipts over disbursements which &C
crued annually from 1874 to 1885. and Of |
which surplus Mr.. Van Grip was suffi-
GENTLY enterprising and public spirited |
to take appropriate advantage
Two hundred and seventy-six thou |
sand dollars! Phew! To think OF it |
makes my head swim. What geniusi |
What enterprise! What public spirit! |
Compare this with the puny efforts OF |
twenty pigmy contemporaries OF Mr.
Van Grip Those twenty clods Of hue
manity started in the race with him.
They drudged End delved for twenty |
years (1S40-6o), and as the result Of their |
drudging and delving averaged $525 |
year per man. they all earning during
the twenty years $40. 600. which these
good-for-nothing fellows squandered
- fast as they earned It |
The Var broke out and the whole |
twenty marched OF to the
''front" from which six of them return
ed alive to resume their drudging and
delving. For the next twenty-five years