Evening star., 1899-03-16
BIG PURCHASE OF REALTY
Old Base Ball Park Passes to q New
3
Ownership.
Other Portions of same Square Said
to Be Sold-SpeculatiOnsC Com
Frnins Sale.

n s.7k,
Deeds were placed on record yesterday
afternoons by~whieh Mr.. Chester A. Snow
transfers the@~hoie of the west half OF
square 6Is, fronting on the east side of
North Capital street between F and G
streets northeast. formerly known as the
Capitol base ball park. The name of the
purchaser is given as James c. Brown. who
is said to be wealthy retired resident of
Baltimore. The price paid was S225,0O0
and there was assdeed of trust recorded for
S200,O0a As, there are 170,t47 square feet of
ground, the price paid was about S1.31 pei
square foot, 5.
1t is stated that all the details have been
completed for the sale to the same person
of the lots at the southwest corner of the
same square, g and 1st streets northeast.
This property is owned by Mr.. Thomas w.
Smith and contains 70. 435 square feet. The
price agreed upon. is about $4,000, which
is at the rate of about s1.3s per square foot.
The other corner of the square, that at
street and 1st street CIR Delaware ave-
nue., comprising 37,429 square feet. which
belongs to the estate of the late William
M. Gait, has also been sold, but the pur-
chaser, 1t IS stated, is not the same per-
son who appears as the buyer of the other
pieces of property referred to above. The
idetity of the last is not revealed, and as it
will be some time before the deeds are
placed on record it will not be possible to
1t is, however, stated that the purchaser
is resident of this city and is engaged in
the coal business. The price was about
$4,000, which is at the rate of about S1.33
per square foot.
The remaining piece of property in the
square is 81, 1T9 square feet, belonging to
Albright & Barker, coal dealers of this
city. This property lies between the Smith
and the Gait tracts, and has frontage on
Delaware avenue. 1t is the opinion of those
cd IN hi hot ha LOT for
piece will not pass. for the present a least,
from the hands of the present owners.
Purposes in View.
The purpose of this purchase. or series of
purchases is not known, nor is it known
whom the purchaser represents. This un-
certainty has led to some speculation on
the part of the public interested in real
estate, and one theory advanced Is that the
property was bought by the same interests
that recently acquired a number of the
street railroads in the, city, and it is the
purpose to erect on this site a central pow
er station, where the electric current can
be produced to operate the entire system
which is to be formed
An inquiry was made today at the office
of Mr.. Frederick c. Stevens and Mr.. o. T.
Crosby in this city, who represent the in
tereStS referred to. In the absence of bot h
of these gentlemen from the city it was
stated that the plan which had been decid-
ed upon of making the plant of the Poto-
mae Electric, PQwer Company in George
system Of strgat railroads % has @ not tf been
changed, aftd that the electricity needed to
operate thes,lines in question would be fur
nished from that source.
1t was neither affirmed nor denied that
the property referred to had been pur-
chased on beha~ of these interests. How
ever, some are of the opinion that if a
central power House is not erected on this
int CT in nj IL
ably it is intenaed to use the ground for
depot and other purposes.
The theory is also advanced that the pur-
chase was made bn behalf of the Baltimore
and Ohio Rairhad Company, and that the
corporations intends in this way to provide
the facilities for handling. freight in this
city which, is claimed, are greatly need
ed. portion Of the. property is now occu-
pied by thsstraeks of the B. and o., under
lease fromithe. IOwners. and the ground is
used as a dumping place for coal.