The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-03-20
MONTANAN WRITES
@ CALIFORNIA
MRS. BYRON e. COONEY DIES.
CRIBES CONDITIONS IN
LOS ANGELES s.
Says There Are 1900 Former Resi-
dents of Montana in Southern Met
ropolis; Most People Talk of Leav-
ing.

Cnero are 7,UOU former
ans in Los Angeles, city of wonder
ful growth of the south, and that
many with whom she talked are
thinking of moving to some other
field of endeavor. She says in
part:
Los Angeles will always boom
along certain lines, but it is not an
ideal place for the man who seeks
manual labor as a means of liveli-
hood. There is much building in
progress, it is true, and artisans and
craftsmen seem to be all working.
Skilled labor has had and is still hay-
ing its inning at good wages. The
wealthy are still crowding the higher
priced hotels and 1 waited two days
before getting located at the Biltmore
many people who are not wealthy
also stay at the best hotels.
Soldiers of Fortune
There is another side to the pic
ture. Thousands of men are broke
and ask you for a dime to eat or
Thousands are paying a dime a day
for the privilege of parking and
Cdlllp1h6 CT tAO PoDAAO PNA ~ "
have heard of bread-lines and soup
kitchens, but there is a free "gas
line in Los Angeles. The hopeful
tourist who started out with little
money and great hopes is there and
the "'free" gas line has been estab-
lished to give him enough gas and
oil to get on his way. They also
give free air-Los Angeles will al
ways "'give you the air" if you are
broke. 1 don't know how much gas
they stake one to, but probably
enough to get you away from Los
Angeles.
Most people I talked to were just
about to leave. They are heading
north. They talk of San Francisco,
Oakland, Berkeley, Portland, Taco
ma and Seattle, and even Spokane.
They seem to be especially tired of
high rents and faded opportunities.
The rush northward as summer ap-
proaches will be historic and the
exodus will be a good thing for the
city.
Lack of housing facilities has sent
rents skyward; anxiety to complete
buildings fast has created high wages
and bonuses for those engaged in the
building trades; the desire of peo-
pie who came there with money, to
acquire rooming houses, sent the
values ascending and the real estate
agent enjoyed his heydey. In Los
Angeles alone many Butte people
bought rooming houses-that is,
they took over the leases and bought
the furniture. Among those from
Butte so engaged is Ed. Cleary, Dan
Mack, Will Magill, Jr., Jim Lynch,
Howard Weatherwax, John X.
Jimmie Mccarthy, Will
liam Fisher, Mrs. Frank Walker,
Phil Levy Ga cafe), Jack Strobel,
Denny Egan, Joe O'Meara and doubt
less many others.
Quick Turns
The celebrity with which not only
rooming houses were turned but
city lots, homes, business sites and
operating business enterprises led up
20 an era of speculation somewhat re-
;embling a stock market furry. New
with cash would buy me day
and sell a day or two later, taking a
profit of a thousand or more. 1t led
20 margin deals, where an option
vas enough to trade on. 1t passed
he stage of investment and became
speculative-finally danger
,usly so. Real estate men from all
,ver the United States were there.
they are there yet, at every vacant
pace; they bally-hoo; they thrust
matter into your hand; they
rive you to their additions, and in
many hotels they clutter your mail
With pamphlets. But business along
hese lines has passed its peak, al
hough a Monday Examiner had SO
olumns of classified" real estate
.dvertising. Ultimately values be-
anne very much anticipated" and
ONE purchasers were left holding
he sack; they had bought and
ouldn't urn and were forced to let
o at a loss. Often the original
wners bought back their property
made a profit. This condition
Inally slowed up the game.
Street Scenes
The city is still feverish, as is any
ongested community. 1t is torn up;
luchN of it is being torn down. Build
lg operations crowd out into the
and make traffic jams. Traf-
C officers bid motorists to hurry in
,wn, and arrest them for speeding
the suburbs. The sidewalks seethe
18th pedestrians elbowing, crowd
lg, jostling, it seems, rather aim
,ss1y. In the streets a jitney from
laho, with the dust of the road up
n it, plumbers along, ignoring traf-
c rules, misses fire and stops the
Confusion M from
multiplicity of strangers, to whom
.etropolitan traffic is new and be-
ildering. There are many, many
who came to the pueblo
the City of the Angels'-with one
ing and one dollar, and are dismay-
/; you can see it written on their
.ces. There are others who come
it'll a white collar and a ten-dollar
II, and have a chronic objection to
hanging either one. These are the
Irface signs. Meanwhile, on a hum
ed golf links the more favored, who
low where they go from here, are
Toying life in su~perlative degree.
n miles of beaches thousands are