Connecticut western news., 1909-10-07
DONE BY A WOMAN,
By M. QUAD.
Copyrighted. 1909, by Associated Literar!
 Press.

wife or the carpenter, was smart woman. 1t was not so much that she had the Monday washing out an hour ahead of any other woman in the vil- lage or that her hens were laying eggs right along when other hens were rest ing, but that she was always putting smart ideas into her husbands head and he was always telling of them. The only reason none of these ideas were carried out was from lack of capital. A village carpenter working for So a day never has bank account to back him mp in specuatiOns calling for thousands of dollars. That was the trouble with his wife's ideas--it wanted a lot of money to carry them out Besides. Mir. Carson was not born Speculator He was simply good natured, easy going carpenter.
 The day finally came when the car penter sickened and died. He left home clear of debt and a life insurance of $3.000. Some of the neighborS said that was more money than his wife could make in fifty years, notwith- standing her smartness, and others predicted that she would take the cash capital and open the eyes of the town. Within month after the funeral it was known that she was making move of some sort. The fact that she had sold her property could not be con- cealed from the public, but as to what she was going to do with the cash in hand she was reticent. The minister of her church called and offered his snI I,.s. hut T T not f,s be greatly appreciated. Squire Hen derson, who was supposed to be one of the cutest capitalists and specula- tors in that part of the state, called and tried for m hour to convince her that pork was sure to go up and that she could double her money by invest ing in hogs. but she would not promise to follow his advice. Advice came in from all sides and was received and laid on the shelf.
 A mile west of Highlands and on the same line of railroad was a farm of POO acres. It was one of the oldest and poorest on Long Island. It began at the railroad and ran back to the shores of the sound-not exactly to the shore, but to a marsh and bayou and three or four tidal channels, the breeding ground of malaria and mosquitoes for ten miles around. The farm had been for sale since the oldest inhabitant could remember. It had passed from father to son two or three times. It had steadily gone to decay with all changes. and the day the Widow Carson made her call and an- nounced she might buy it if the price were right she was regarded as an angel straight from heaven. The price was made right and a promise was i extorted that the name of the buyer should be kept secret for a certain length of time. Even before the deed was signed men were at work cutting down the dead and scraggy fruit and other trees, burning up rotten fences and clearing off the site everything but the house. That was left for the real estate office of the Highland Bluffs Improvement company. No one had ever seen any bluffs there, and no one could discover any bluffs there. But what of it?
 On the same day that arrangements were made with the railroad company to build a suburban station at the bluffs surveyor was in the field lay ing the old farm out into parks. ave nues and streets. A few days later the maps were out Then followed the advertisements of the new town. The Widow Carson came to the front now. She was handling the good tI,nf f- I,n cash to her assistants, and that ended their interest in the matter.
 The Widow Carson went on the prin-' ciple that the bigger her advertise ments the quicker they would be read and the more they would convince. She therefore took half pages. It was costly business, but even bankers came forward and offered to advance any money needed. and every day or two new reporter came down from the city to give the only woman in the real estate business another fine writeup.
 Did you eyer soc woman auctiuuper: Well, the hundreds from the city who went down to that sale and got off the train where the foundations for the new depot were being dug saw one. 1t was Mrs Carson. 4 lawyer and a notary were at hand to make out the deeds. but she took her stand on Il box to act as auctioneer. It was a novelty. The crowd had come down feeling good natured. and the novelty further pleas ed them. There were beer and sand wiches, and the day was lovely. The tide covered most of the mud flats and the marsh. and if any one missed the bluffs he wasn't mean enough to speak of it. That auction sale went with q rush. Between 10 o'clock in the fore noon and 3 in the afternoon 400 lots were sold for cash down. The horses nose bag used to hold the greenbacks was nearly full. After the first forty lots went the rest was all velvet for the widow. It is said that she quit over $25, 1000 ahead of the game. Quit? Oh, yes! They always do that. you know. She went up to the city and invested her money in a store and made it pay, and if you will go down