The Land of To-Morrow 1 1 



soap. It greased — so to speak — the ways of every 

 enterprise. Heavens ! what crazy crafts put to sea ! 



Town properties began to boom. At Los Angeles 

 men stood patiently in line for many hours waiting 

 to buy lots which they had never seen. The same 

 lot was sold again and again within a week. New 

 towns were hastily surveyed and put up at public 

 auction. The bidders fought with each other for 

 the privilege of securing corner lots on avenues that 

 were laid out on — paper. These auctions were ad- 

 vertised in all the daily papers ; excursions were 

 organised ; the railroads, of course, had more than a 

 finger in the pie. When the new town-site was 

 reached, meat and drink were provided for the hun- 

 gry and excited buyers. A band furnished appro- 

 priate music. 



Looking back it seems incredible that we could 

 have been such fools. The craze affected all alike, 

 rich and poor, young and old, wise and simple. If 

 you had no money the banks clamoured for your 

 patronage. Their gold lay in shining piles upon 

 the counters. You could borrow what you pleased 

 — at ten per cent. The men of business, the trades- 

 men, the lawyers, the doctors, and the parsons 

 bought land. We were all, in a sense, thieves, for 

 we robbed Peter to pay Paul. The saloons did a 

 roaring trade. Champagne, at a sovereign a bottle, 

 was the only liquor fit to slake the thirst of the 

 Native Sons. They smoked shilling cigars ; fat per- 

 fectos, encircled with gaudy paper bands upon which 

 was inscribed " Habana." Some of these full-flav- 

 oured weeds were made by Chinese cheap labour in 

 the stews of San Francisco. Perhaps the opium in 



