country simplicity, sauntered along Coney Island and astonished the
owners by inquiring the price of what was supposed to be worthless land.
They, thinking him crazy or a fool, named a thousand dollars, or five
times what it was supposed to be worth. He accepted the offer on the
spot. A million dollars would not buy the land to-day. The supposed
countryman’s “folly” has been repeated many times since. The owner of
Bergen Beach has made a fortune in this way during the last two or three
years. As cities grow, pleasure resorts must be found. Buy a bit of
seashore and make it into a Bergen Beach or a Bowery Bay. Or, purchase a
grove within easy distance of the city, and make it into a pleasure
park. In either case, railroads or trolley connection is indispensable,
but with these and plenty of enterprise and money you cannot fail to
reap a large harvest.