172 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



woods. High prices were quoted for lots and 

 houses on my property. The figure on the best 

 block was a hundred dollars a front foot, and on 

 other blocks nearly as much. Houses were sold 

 on that basis, but the supply was far in excess 

 of the demand. How I worked to make the 

 property popular ! I couldn't cut prices directly 

 to bring people in, but an interesting, enterpris- 

 ing man with an attractive family likely to be 

 good for bait, could have traded me lots in Sa- 

 hara for at least the equity in my most desirable 

 holding. Indeed, I made many trades and be- 

 came possessed of much outside property, from 

 farms to a cotton mill and from a lumber plant 

 to an encumbered store in Broadway. Yet de- 

 spite all sacrifices, I was doing well, and as 

 houses were finished it was easy to mortgage 

 them for two-thirds of their cost while waiting 

 for a customer. 



Then the Wall Street office contributed many 

 and many a timely check. The success of the 

 enterprise was the talk of the country round and 

 there was rivalry on every hand. Usually it was 



