Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15
REAL ESTATE BOOMERS
TEACH LONDON A LESSON
Special Correspondence of The Star.


LONDON. February %. 1908.
- NGLAND has learned many lessons
n from America. and just now she Is
- learning the art of real estate boom
ing with William j. Appleton as profes-
sor Incidentally Mr.. Appleton is finding
his educational efforts very profitable tc
himself In fact. he may be compared 10
the philanthropist who teaches his friends
to play the American game of poker.
Mr. Appleton is a graduate of tht Amer
lean school of real estate booming. and
many Of the suburbs of New York owe
their existence to his efforts. while he in
turn owes most of his wealth to their eX-
istence. He is now only thirty-one years
old and ten years ago he was the young
est mayor in the United States. He was
elected mayor of Deal Beach. n. j., in
1895 some months before he attained his
majority. The election was contested on
the ground of infancy. but Mr.. Appleton
won and Deal Beach was so satisfied with
his management of its affairs that il re-
elected him three times.
Deal Beach. as a matter of fact, had
been largely developed before that by Mr..
Appleton. who saw early in life that there
was money to be made in real estate.
Other suburbs which he developed, buying
the land at farm prices, cutting it up into
lots. making streets and selling the lots
to builders, are Laurelton. Long Island
Rosedale Terrace. Long Island, and part
of Atlantic Highlands, n. ].
Six months ago Mr.. Appleton was mar
ried and NE decided to take a short rest
from real estate booming and spend his
honeymoon in travelling in Europe. He
got only as far as England. however. and
when he reached London and looked on
it's undeveloped suburban acres. the de-
sire to show the English what could be
done was too strong for him. He went
out one day to Golders Green. which is
the terminus of one of the new tubes.
as the Londoners can their underground
railways. and when he came back he was
the owner of promising farm" OF
twenty-five acres within five minutes
walk of the tube terminus. 1t is true that
he paid rather stiff farm prices for rather
rocky soil, and the simple agriculturist
who owned ii congratulated himself on
his bargain. but Mr.. Appleton saw his
way to raise a more profitable crop than
oats or potatoes.
Within a week he had made up his mind
that England needed teaching and that he
was the man to teach. He cabled TO
America to his agents nstructing them to
sell out all his holdings there. and within
month he had Invested himself Of his
American property and had gone into the
business booming England.
The result has been remarkable and ii
must be admitted that the English real
estate men have been ready pupils. Mr.
Appleton put his farm up into lots and
began to advertise them widely and sell
them, and when the Enslishmen realized
what was going on they hocked in and
the price of farm land in Golders Green
went up. Houses sprang up in rows. and
so effective were Mr.. Appleton's methods
that when only two houses of the first
row of twenty-five were rooted in and
some had not even gone beyond the hole
battle-ground stage every one of them
was sold. Land which was bought at so
much an acre a few months ago is now
selling at from $1,000 to $4,000 per 10
foot lot and the prices are still rising.