that they would be bought up for water purposes later by the city.

Somehow, I always guessed about right, and shouldn't I enjoy the
profit of my foresight? It was rather amusin' when the
condemnation commissioners came along and found piece after
piece of the land in the name of George Plunkitt of the Fifteenth
Assembly District, New York City. They wondered how I knew
just what to buy. The answer is-I seen my opportunity and I took it.
I haven't confined myself to land; anything that pays is in my line.

For instance, the city is repavin' a street and has several hundred
thousand old granite blocks to sell. I am on hand to buy, and I
know just what they are worth.

How? Never mind that. I had a sort of monopoly of this business
for a while, but once a newspaper tried to do me. It got some
outside men to come over from Brooklyn and New Jersey to bid
against me.

Was I done? Not much. I went to each of the men and said: "How
many of these 250,000 stories do you want?" One said 20,000, and
another wanted 15,000, and other wanted 10,000. I said: "All right,
let me bid for the lot, and I'll give each of you all you want for
nothin'."

They agreed, of course. Then the auctioneer yelled:
"How much am I bid for these 250,000 fine pavin' stones?"

"Two dollars and fifty cents," says I.