The Washington herald., 1916-09-30
Seen and Heard BY George Miner.


New London, Conn., Sept. 7o.-The romance
of money hangs around Eastern Point, the broad
expanse of rocky land which forms the eastern
shore of the bay that leads, up to New London.
On the heights, in the center of this point, are
the crumbling ruins of old Fort Griswold OF
Revolutionary war fame, which Benedict Arnold
| so bravely charged and captured from the Brit
ish. Close to the shore is the new and magnih-
cent Hotel Griswold named for the fort, and
where the international Mexican and American
conference is now being held.
| Occasionally an old and somewhat feeble
looking may be seen strolling around the
lounges the verandas of the hotel. This
is Commodore Morton Plant, ono of the widely
known millionaires in the United States.
Many people recall him as the of the
great railroad and hotel builder of Florida. Others
as being railroad and hotel man himself on
the other side of Florida and large owner
of the Interborough in New York and of the
Southern Express Company. In many other i'm
portant corporations, Also he is a prominent
figure, for Commodore Plants fortune is one OF
the huge that have to be distributed over
many interests Few people, however, know him
as the genius of Eastern Point, sort of fairy
godfather to this neck of land.
Such, nevertheless, is just what he has been
and is Many years ago, he bought all this sec
tion of country He infatuated with it and
purposed to make it his home. The clear, in
vgorating air, the rocky headlands, the rolling
pasture lands and the ripping waters of the bay
appealed to him as just the right surroundings
for happy existence.
| So he built a stone palace to live in, gray to
match the rocks and with many lofty gables
around which the winds from off the Atlantic
whistled constantly. For acres and acres around
! h. 1aJ Il, 1alxa nd
and groves and flowers. Also, to make it al
worth while, he decided he would become a
gentleman farmer. And he did
1t was a dairy farm with chickens on the
side. The cows all full blooded and cared
for in the most scrupulously careful manner
They were MIXED by electricity and the very
last word in scientific management was
adopted for their benefit. Nothing too ex-
pensvc or elaborate for them. The same was
true of the chicken farm. The fowls scien-
Itifcally bred and raised and the most hygenic
chickens that ever scratched gravel. They were
assorted in groups that he had fresh eggs
every hour.
Naturally he thought that butter, milk and
eggs coming from such source would command
almost exorbitant prices. But they did not. The
down East Yankees thereabouts would not pay
any more for them than they would for any other
eggs to a Connecticut Yankee. If they were laid
in golden nest they would not be any better
to him.
So Commodore Plant found that he had
superfne brand of milk, butter, eggs and broilers
and market for them. He decided to make a
market of his own, he built the magnificent
big Grswold Hotel just to use up his farm
produce. 1t was success from the start and
has been so ever since. His produce has as good
market he could WISH for the rates at the
hotel very high and you pay full price fol
those fancy eggs.
Then, just to prove that luck always follow:
luck, a lot of wealthy decided that they
would also like to have fine country places neal
this hotel and Commodore Plants beautiful pal
ace. So they bought land from him around about
to build them and by these land sales it i.
said that Commodore Plant prohted something
like $5,ooo,oo
| At any rate, his white elephant fancy farm
has turned out indirectly to be an enormously
profitable undertaking
AS Commodore Plant is troubled a good dea
with gout he does not fancy the big palace tc
live in. There are too many stairs in it to clint
and gout makes stair climbing an unpleasant oc
cupation. So he has built another house in tht
grounds to live in which is all on one floor, lik,
Harlem flat. In this one-story bungalow
which sprawls all over two, Commo
dore Plant lives, and he uses the palace simply
as an ornament.
His yacht came in the bay yesterday. 1t i,
big white steamer almost large enough for ar
ocean liner. He built it several years ago. bu
he never uses it nowadays. He keeps it in com
mission simply for his friends to use On ac
count of the gout, he found considerable diff
Guilty in getting up the side of the yacht. He die
not let little thing like that stop him from
going on the water howeve:. He had construct
ed queer-looking craft, very broad and low, or
which he could step aboard without climbing ut
foot. This is the boat he uses for his owr
pleasure, but the big, white steamer is cruising
around all the time just the same.
| The lack of uniformity in the State law.
which affect some of the commonest operation:
of financing American business has long been Z
source of annoyance and even of some danger
| 70 fhA ha,ly ~ Al :