The Portland daily press., 1895-04-22
BOOMING OF ROME.


"Name it Rome, suggested one of them.
'Rome?" said anothe., doubtfully. st
wasn't built in a day, you know"
Rome, Italy, was not" said the first
speaker. "but Rome, Cal, shall be-
Those who played the parts of Romulus,
| Remus and Celer were the president, vice
| president and treasurer of the Glorious
| Climate Land and Water company. Their
names are not material, but conveniently
| to distinguish them one from another we
shall make use of their titles. respectively
| general, colonel and major. Dulce ct de-
corum est to serve one's country on the
| field of battle, yanquishing her enemies
and uphoiding tho honor of her flag. That
| is one way to secure distinction and a
| military title. A somewhat simpler meth
cd is to provide occasional drinks and ci-
gars for the gentlemen of the press. The
| pen is mightier than the sword.
Tho major had been citizen of Los
Angeles one month. He still sometimes
inadvertently said ''you" when he meant
eve
che colonel had two months longer to
his credit and intended to run for the
offico of county supervisor at the next cleo
ton.
The general was veritabie old timer
He had been living in Los Angeles now
nearly year.
Nobody knew whence they came. There
| they were-that's all. In this matter they
were no verse off Cor shall we say no bet
ter?) than many others at that same time
and place. The general, for example,
when he was introduced to strangers had
a way of saying in loud voice: Yes,
siri My Name is Bangs, sir. And that
was my name before came here Then
| he would look aggressively around, and it
happened not infrequently that of them
| that heard him one or two would turn a
| little pale and cast down their eyes.
All, whittier have they gone-those
| judges, commodores and generals who for
brief time seemed to own the town? Can
! it be that they are all in oklahoma?
The capital stock of the Glorious Gil
mate company was 5000, 000 of which
sum $3.50 had been subscribed and paid
in. 1t was well known, however, that the
company was backed by powerful Eng
lish syndicate. In those days when man
desired to enter upon any little enterprise,
such as building a railroad, constructing
deep water harbor or founding large
manufacturing center, he would always
take care first to secure the backing of
some powerful English syndicate. They
were always powerful. Nobody ever heard
Of a weak one.
The only other asset of the Glorious
Climate company was document bearing
the signature of degenerate scion of a
| once illustrious Castilian house-an op-
| ton on a piece of land favorably located
| for town site.
The general, for all that the seams of
] his coat were shiny and his cuffs some
| what frayed, carried about with him new
| ertheless a secret talisman. He had a
"pull'' with tho railroad. The informa-
ton had come to him from the inside'
| that the California OR Bust railroad (pro-
| jected) was to pass directly through the
tract covered by their option.
| Believe in this railroad? Well, they
knew the public did anyhow-the dear,
| trustful public that always believes in
| things.
The colonel had been newspaper man
in his early days and understood the gen
tie art Of working the press" In sur
| prisingly short time everybody in southern
| California knew that great things were in
| store for the new city of Rome. There
| could be 10 doubt of it because the news
| papers said so.
On a certain day in August the tract
| was to be thrown open to the public in a
| grand auction. In the meantime few
| lots were disposed of at private sale-prin-
cipally to newspaper men, public officials
of high standing, railway magnates, IA
| nous writers and actors.
The major was to act as auctioneer. He
admitted to his partners that he had never
sold lots in his life, his greatest efforts
! heretofore in the line Of Misrepresentation
i having been limited to the trading of
| horses.
| 'The principle seems to be about the
same, however, - he said. "Ask five times
what it is worth and then take whatever
is offered"
He was q cool and easy speaker. The
crowd, the music and the enthusiastic
cheering of the cappers moved him to ex-
traordinary effort Many of those who
came to scoff remained to buy
t No one was more astonished at the re-
suit of the sale than the conspirators
themselves. There was money enough to
transform the option into deed, pay all
the debts OF the company. establish a
handsome bank account and fill the peck
cts of all three with coin.
So much prosperity terrified the major,
who anXionsly inquired whether they had
not better divide up and bolt The Others
laughed at his fears. They had accom-
plished thus much with no money at all.
There was no limit to what they could dc
now with re-establishcd credit and full
locker.
But We must change our tactics, the
general admitted. Heretofore it has been
faith and not works that We have offered
the public We must show them that we
mean business; that we are laying Che
foundation Of great city,
The next day so men went to work in
Rome, anu tho dirt began to fly in all di
rections. They were laying out the city
Oh grand scale.
| a second auction sale was to take place