The Red Cloud chief., 1893-10-20
TOO VALUABLE TO SELL.
Where Property Can Scarcely he Bought
for Love or Money.

''N w Wv
There are twenty or thirty great
business centcrs in the city of London
where property is Of almost equal
value and rated exceedingly high. To
buy the four acres now occupied by
the bank Of England and bounded by
Princess, Thrcadnccdlc and Lothberry
streets and Bartholomew lane it would
be necessary to- produce a well certified
check for the snug suin Of $40, OOO, 900.
Ten million dollars per acre Is the
valuation made not long g on n lot
In the vicinity Of the bank, and a lease
was made on that basis. Piccadilly,
Strand. Fleet street. Charing Cross md
other business streets in London have
corners worth from $4,000 to 500, 600
a front foot.
The of this property, being
as a rule men Or estates of great wealth,
are satisfied with 8 to ~ per cent. on
their Investments, while here the own
crs OF such property expect 0 to 8 per
cent, consequently land is a great deal
higher In the business center of London
than 1t is in Chicago. notice that on
the secondhand business streets in
London land Is held about twice rs high
as II is here. In tho suburbs of Lon
don a great deal Of property has been
sold out by tho lot by methods similar
to ours. London is fast becoming n
great city Of home The man
ayers Of large estates that were held
for a number Of years upon leases made
on a low valuation concluded that II
would be better to sub-dividc the prop
erty and sell II out in lots, and reinvest
the money. This has been done TO n
great extent in all parts Of the city of
London, and probably accounts for the
wonderful increase In population dur
ing the last fifty years. Small build
ings, such rs we sell for $500 to 81, 900,
are sold in London for almost twice
that sum.
In Paris little property IL offered for
sale; In fact q sign board Ia . rarity, al
though occasionally you see n piece Of
property or the back streets for lease.
II Is very hard to get any information
about property in Paris. Most Of 1t is
held by owners who are wealthy and
refuse to sell, but on the principal
streets the rem Of stores Is high, con
sidering their size. the stores being
very shallow and small. Prices are no
doubt higher. the rental value consid.
cred, than in Chicago.
In Venice scarcely any property Is
offered for sale. The city has decreased
in population, but there seem to be no
vacant houses, and the only way I
could ascertain the value of property
was to figure out the rents on the bust
ness streets, which were higher, all
things considered, than in Chicago. In
the old city of Rome rents on two or
three Of the principal streets ARE very
high, and the stores being small 1t
would seem that q small income must
be produced according to the value
held upon the land. In some directions
from the center Of Rome buildings are
being erected, and land for ain ordinary
residence lot, in q rather poor locality,
compared with any of our suburbs,
would be worth about 30 or 40 per
cent. higher than the prices we ask.
Even in Cairo, Egypt. the price of
lots along the business streets would
astonish an American. I asked the
proprietor Of an English store called
the Manchester, located neal Shep-
heard's hotel, what reiat he paid. The
| store was about IS feet front by about
40 feet deep, with a small annex half as
large. lie answered That he paid about
&C., 900 per annum. II did not look to be
worth over $500. Cairo has . popula.
ton Of about $4,000, and there are
some stores in the Turkish quarters,
where the bazaars are, about 4 feet
square-room enough for the proprie.
tor to sit tailor fashion and sell his
wares to passers.by-which bring about
$50 a month.
Even in Jerusalem,a boom Is in prog
ress, on account of the railroad having
been extended to the city, and lots
were selling for $500 to $500 that we
would consider high at 800; and I dis
covered in nearly every city I visited
even In old Athens, which Is rapidly In
creasing In population under the ad
ministration Of King George, that lot
were selling on the outskirts for $500 Il
s40O.-Chicago Post.