The weekly pioneer and Democrat., 1865-02-03

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; SAINT PAUhaiitai hi, Al
nara- ---.-l-4,- !. 11a u li.tlasI
!, ---Tarr-,1 a4.l,Ft sai risaA slla
hurry. to sell his cargo and befcsel be hal
got ready to dispose Of it, Sc cond ship
load coming in, glutted the market, Aand
Astor lost all the profit, 6f BaeSoyags,
which he bad estimated saas $50, Q,000s
Meeting, the Captain shortly ate after in
Broadway, he said: "I had better, have
paid for that chronometer of yours " ,','',
He was afterward glad to- get the Cap-
tain back into bis servicesq That same
Captain afterward saved Mr. a Astor s70,-
900. .Astors agent in China had died
with that amount Of his principals prop
erty In his hands. The Captain, who was
in Canton at the time, we'll knew that If
this immense property fell into the pos
session of the Celestial officials, not enc
dollar of it would ever reach America.
Byts series of bold measures be secured
thedmoney, and made it yield q profit to
the owner. Mr.. ,Astor acknowledged the
service. He said many times: "f you
hsd not done just as you did, should
never have seen one dollar of, my money I;
no, not one dollar Of it; but be never
paid him for bis services, though the Cap
tain had to support his wife and children
on Q salary Of 500 month, and his en-
ployer was worth ten millions, .,ao,s,..,
Once, also, he gave one of his Captains
immense trouble to get two pipes Of Ma
do;., ,,;ca k.,ro ,,uSo. a <e,S.->i ,of , &Aas
which he was sending to Amsterdam for .
market. It took two days to disinter the
casks. he promised the captain demi-
john Of wine for his labor, but be never
got it Once, afterwards, the captain res
minded him of his promise. Gal, !" said
Astor, "don't you know the reasona 1t
isn't fine yet; wait till it is fine, and you'll
| say You never tasted such Madeira" /"
| The captain waited, but never heard Of
the wine again. ia , y YAK u,
| HOW HE MADE HIS MONEY. 7da :
/ 1t was neither furs nor teas that gave
him $20, ,00, 900. When he arrived in New
! York, it contained only $4,000 inhabi-
tants. In 1900, when he began to have
money to invest, the city had begun to
double in population, and had advanced
nearly mile up the island. ~F2 q
Astor foresaw its future growth, and
bought al the lands and lots Just beyond
the verge of the city, that he could get.
One little anecdote will show the wisdom
'of this proceeding He sold lot in the
vicinity Of Wall street, in 1910, for $4,000,
which was supposed to be somewhat under
its value. The purchaser, after the pa
pers were signed, seemed to be disposed
| to chuckle over his bargain "Why, Mr..
Astor, +" said be, "this lot viii be worth
$12, 900. --.,.,,, -
/ "Very true, replied Astor !" but now
you shall see what l will do with this
money. With eight thousand dollars I win
buy eighty lots above Canal street. By
the time your lot is worth $4,000, my
eighty lots will be worth $50, ,0OO, :, which
proved to be the fact. In the course OF
time the island was dotted all over with
Ast0r lands to such an extent that the
whole income of his estate for fifty years
could be invested in new houses, without
buying any more land.
In 1909, more than seven hundred fami-
lies were residing in one-third of Putnam
county, New York, on farms, the titles Of
which were given by the State. - The land
| originally belonged to- a. family named
Morris, who were tories and their estate
was accordingly confscated. Astor dis
covered that Mr.. and Mrs. Morris had only
a life estate in the land, and accordingly
purchased the rights of the heirs for G2O,-
000yy Mr. Morris was then dead, and his
widow was nearly eighty, and very inHrm.
In few years be commenced urging bis
claims. There was, of course, great con-
sternation in Putnam county, Oommis-
sioners were appointed BY the Legislatnre
to investigate the subject, They asked
him for what he would compromise. he
replied $500, 900. This was refused. The
affair fingered on until 1897, when q test
case was, brought to trial. Daniel Web
ster and Martin Van Buren, were retained
for the State. Ennnet Ogden and Aaron
Burr, the latter privately, were Mr. As
tors counsel Hewon the suit, and on re-
csiving about half . million dollars the
titles vere secured to the occupants. We
pass over his magnificent AstOFian scheme
which, however grand in design, was not
SrA1'A Y y = = aaas.si 80 .ta;yfs Il
/. 70 Ta.'HD oRuHops AND HABrs. 1s'isssi
F. NJ. Astor xas 4 firm believer in the
destiny Of The Unitsd States. In other
wosdS b held il public stock in profound
| fespecko He had little 10 say of politica,
| but wss ! supporter, Of the Whig party,
and vss nsver better pleased than to have
Henry Oay aat hD houss.. The last oon-
s;d~Sble sum he NJ known to give, was
q constellation 10 nd ii the election Of Nr.
Olay. When askld hs ansvsrsd ]" / am
not iptscsdted IN Ahsss thing. These gen.
| Hemsu Who ~ IN. buIineeD ought to give.
don't mako lmouey any moee, and have
not any concern II he matter" One Of
| The oommitass ssplisd. !. I. Why 1r. Assoe,
yoa ase Ike AlsxaDdsf, when Be- wept be-.
canss there were 20 mots worlds TO con
qusrsn Yoa have IAade u ths money, and
nov tAsss b no more money 20 mako .
Ths ed go twin11sd q - Nsndsd con-
plimsas ana jssks "Ha, bA hal v9y
I Roo1 4 thntS yoRx Rood. XSH VII m