ROCKEFELLER'S NEIGHBOURS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 72, 21 September 1912, Page 13

ROCKEFELLER'S NEIGHBOURS

Mr. John D, Bockefeller, the "Oil King," ia engaged in a battle against the advance of business premises into the district in which his home on 54th-street, New York, is located. For some time i etail shops have been slowly moving up 54th-street from Sixth-avenue towards the Rockefeller home, and the movement has caused the oil magnate to be disturbed. He has accordingly adopted the method of buying up every property that) comes into the market in his vicinity, and offers a higher price than the business buyer can afford to pay. For some months past he has been spending nearly £40,000 a month in order to accomplish his purpose. He is carrying out the same policy on his estate in the Pacantico Hills, on the Hudson. For fifteen years he has been seeking to round out his property there by the purchase of two small farms, the independence of whose owners hampered the extension of his estate, and he has finally succeeded in buying them both out. It is admitted that the multimillionaire paid a high price for his hobby.