IN THE POULTRY YARD. 13 
views, but, above all, the intellectual converse of my friend Brown, 
who was not only a highly educated man, but a man of great 
natural ability. 3 
For a time all went well. Business was good, the interest was 
paid promptly, and Brown even thought of reducing the mortgage. 
But, alas, for human hopes and plans. One of those commercial 
cyclones which seem periodically to shake the very foundations of 
society, overtook us; business became as dull as before it had been 
prosperous, and Brown with the rest found his income reduced 
beyond anything which he had deemed possible. Economy was 
tried on every point, and his family aided him in every way to cut 
down expenses and make both ends meet, but without success. 
There is a point beyond which economy cannot be carried, if we 
would continue business at all, and Brown’s business expenses were 
actually greater than his income. As a necessary consequence he 
defaulted on his interest, and matters daily grew worse. He then 
tried to sell, hat found it impossible to get even the amount of the 
mortgage, for ieal estate had probably suffered a greater reduction 
than any other species of property. ~The speculation in real estate 
had run high; the opinion had been universal that real estate pos- 
sessed a solid and almost unchangeable value ;. that if it went down 
a little now and then, owing to local causes, it would soon rise 
again, and that at any rate it could never go very much below the 
prices at which it was held.. When, therefore, those who had held 
these opinions saw it go down, down, and never .rise; saw it go 
far below what they had always regarded as the lowest possible 
limit, they became panic stricken, and would no more have bought 
real estate as an investment than they would have bought Keely 
motor stock. And as for selling suburban residences, that was out 
of the question. AH who could afford to buy and to live in such 
places were supplied, and many who had made such investments 
were forced to give them up, since their diminished incomes no 
longer enabled them to support the expenses that were absolutely 
necessary. The market was easily glutted, and buyers with cash 
were able to obtain the most beautiful and comfortable homes: 
almost.at their own prices, 
