“When the real-estate boom struck Vancouver in 1905,” continues the
_Courier_, “Alvensleben was quick to see the opportunities in land.
The old wild gambling spirit of his youthful days was still strong
upon him. He was the man for the moment, reckless, willing to take
chances, and a born mixer. He cabled relatives in Berlin, who had
heard of his early successes, and induced them to invest large sums
of money. His first investment yielded enormous and quick profit, and
thus established his prestige in Germany, for he promptly repaid the
investors with a 1,000 per cent. on their money. In the next three
years he made several visits to Germany, brought men of royal blood to
the Pacific coast, and was given several audiences with the Kaiser,
whose accredited representative he became. In all probability, at a
very conservative estimate, Alvensleben caused $20,000,000 of German
capital to be invested in British Columbia and Washington State.
“In 1908, after a very romantic courtship, he married Edith Mary
Westcott, a popular Vancouver girl, daughter of one of the leading
society matrons. Following the marriage the financier purchased the
largest private estate in Vancouver’s most select residential district,
Point Grey, where he erected a magnificent home. His name, high foreign
connections, and expenditure on entertainment that set a hitherto
unknown high mark in the very British city of Vancouver, quickly
brought him valuable social connections.
“His business ventures broadened with astounding rapidity, but most of
his purchases for himself and clients were made on ‘agreements,’ with
the expectations of making big margins in the prevalent boom. A good
salesman himself, he was also the easiest mark for wildcat schemes
who ever came out of Europe, owing to his gambling mania. Soon his
companies became loaded up with timberlands, bought at inflated prices,
wild lands, doubtful mining leases, Alberta oil shares, and other
unproductive assets. Some of his wealthy clients thrust upon him their
useless sons, whom he was forced to maintain in his office at high
salaries.