The Washington herald., 1915-01-13
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Foresight of the Late E. H. Har-
TIman.
CWhtten Expressly for The Washington HeraldJ
By DIR. Z. j. EDWARDS.

By DIR. E. J. EDWARDS.
The late Edward II. Hartman rarely
found himself beaten in 4 bargain, al
though it sometimes seemed just after a
bargain was closed as II Mr.. Hartman
were overreached One of his experiences
to which he sometimes alluded, with the
funny twinkle which he occasionally per-
mitted to shine in his eyes, was associ-
ated with the purchase of certain land at
Seattle, Wash. This land was visible
only when the tide was low. for at hugh
tide 1t was submerged. II was fiat land.
not available for anything of commercial
importance, as 1t was thought. There
was a good deal OF it and it all had been
placed in the hands of real estate agent
| This agent, who was very successful in
most of his undertakings. found no GUS
toners for this piece of land. He thought
1t eXpedient to advertise H. but that
tempted no one to his office for a long
time.
At last one day. n shrewd-faced man,
whose eyes wandered all over the walls
of the real estate office when he entered,
appeared. and. after some preliminary
subterfuge, spoke incidentally OF this
land, asking what was 1t worth and what
1t was good for. The real estate agent
named a price which seemed to appaIl
the visitor, for he said it was absurd
he returned, intimatlnG that he might
like to buy that piece OF land. He was
told that the price had gone up So, 600
Again he said absurd" and departed
but he appeared once more and asked
for an option on the land at the price
last named. He was told that he could
get an option. but the price had gone up
81, 900. lie did not take the option.
A few days later another man entered
yhn aEF Cd Io
Hartman and the Oregon Short Line He
asked for an option on the property, and
seemed disappointed when he was told
that there had been an increase of IS, 900
in price. He asked, however, II the offer
would remain open until > o'clock, and
was promised that 1t would hold good
until that time. At 2:3O he appeared
again to say that he was ready to pur-
chase an option on the property.
That was the price up to o'clock.
Now the option would be upon a price
s25. .OO0 more" he was informed
This time Mr.. Harriman's representa-
tive thought it wise TO take no more
chances and secured the option. In a
few days the transfer Of the property
was made. A little while after Mr. Har-
riman made a trip from San Francisco to
look over these fats. They took him out
to the flats once at low tide and once at
nlBn tue. lie was not more IMAM mo-
ment or two in surveying the entire prop
erty, and he said at last: We'll, they
have stuck us with a very moist. damp,
watery proposition
That was not what Mr.. Hartman
thought. however. He perceived the
lurking value that was in this property
and realized how It could be made avail
able by filling in and by constructing
bulkheads for his railroads. When this
was done, there came the realization that
Mr.. Hartman had for a comparatively
small sum in payment for the title and
also by the expenditure OF not very
large amount in improving the property
got substantial waterfront easily worth
millions.
Copyright. 1915 by Dr. Z. ]. Edwards All rights
RCseTyed.I
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell Of "A
Successful Mans Advice to Young Busi-
ness Men