The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1877-04-07

Illness Of . New York MIllisnaire.
Mr.. Peter Goelet lies dangerously i'll
of pneumonia at his house. He was
quite we'll until Friday of last week,
when the sudden change in the. temper
AZURE brought on bad cold which set
tied on his lungs, and has so far obsti-
nately maintained its hold there. He
is now over seventy-six years of age,
having been born in January 1901, and
although. generally robust for one of
his age, his friends and DR.. Markoe,
who attends him, fear he will not be able
to recover. Late last evening he was
very low and slowly sinking, so that his
death may be expected at any moment.
Mr.. Goelet, familiarity known as
"Uncle Peter" has for many years
been one of the "landmarks'' of old
New York. His spare figure and alb
sorbed air were almost as well known
as his spacious residence at the corner
of Broadway and Nineteenth Street,
with its lawn, peacocks, storks, pleas
ants, guineafowl, and other ornamental
and instructive creatures. He is one of
the half dozen richest men in the city
his wealth consisting mainly of real es-
tate leased out for twenty-one years,
with the privilege of either one or two
renewals for the same time. He is
opposed on principle to selling land,
and some years ago when the late Com
modore Vanderbilt wanted to buy of
him several blocks necessary for carry
ing out the railroad improvements in
connection with the Grand Central De-
pot ut Forty-second Street, he utterly
refused to part with them, and was
sorely vexed when they were taken from
him under the law. After that he fire.
quently denounced the Commodore's
action, and was probably long in for
giving him.
Uncle Peters eccentricities are mani
fold. While in his solitary life he has
never spent money over-lavishly, at the
same time he has always believed in tax
ing such pleasures as are to his taste.
His geological collection is one of his
dearest joys, and the usually rigid mus
cles of his face have always the most
readily unbent when his pets are COM
plimented. Everybody who has passed
his little country-place on Broadway
knows that, besides specimens of the
feathered tribe, there is generally q fine
specimen of the species COW, to which
Uncle Peter has been said to be passion
ately attached. He is fond of fast
horses, too, keeping half dozen in
the stables adjoining the house. Fur
Their, liking good living, he always man.
ages to earn his right to it. He is fond
Of all sorts of machinery, and there is
probably nothing in that line in the
city unknown to him. His collection
of tools is quite extensive, and lock-
smithing is a passion which he shares
with Louis XVI, frequently working
hours in his little factory.
Mr.. Goelet is the descendent of old
New York.merchants. John Goelet the
founder of the family, was a Huguenot
refugee, who, in 1718, married a daugh-
ter of John Cannon, whose name occurs
in New York business history as early
as 1858. The foundation for his wealth
was laid by his grandfather, q partner
of Peter T. Curtenius, in the hardware
business on Hanover Square, at the
sign of the "Golden Key" In 1865
the ancestor of Uncle Peter bought
his partners interest and dealt in the
same articles as heretofore at the old
stand. What the hardware business
meant in those days may be CLEANED
from an advertisement in the New York
To.,~~,n1 ~ G,~1~oI l<I.,o~f:oo~ rs Nov
%, 1776, wherein after a general intro
duction saying that the goods had been
"just imported in the last vessel from
London" and that they would be sold
son the most reasonable TERMS" there
is given in q column of closely printed
type the name of nearly every article
needed by civilized man in those days.
Old Goelet was evidently a good custo-
mer for the newspapers of the time,
and found his profit in it. His business
increased largely, and orders came in
from all parts of the colony so that
when he died Peters father found him.
self in possession of one of the most
prosperous establishments on the island.
The wealth descended to Peter in due
time, and by judicious nursing increased
to sum variously estimated at $5, OOO,-
600 to $15,OOO,OO0. The "Goelet
leases are well known in the real estate
market and among uptown household
ers. Mr.. Goelet makes it point to
collect all his rents and attend to the
other routine matters connected with
the management of his property in per-
son. For years he has been known as
the great pessimist among the million
aires Of this city. Things never did 60
right, and every thing would 60 to ruin
he said. There was no hope for any
thing retaining its value in the general
insecurity. Even when real property
was doubled, trebled, and qaadrupled in
value, and he had become Il very rich man
thereby, he even then shook bis head
ominously and remarked, "Yes, yes,
that's all very we'll; but you'll see,
you'll settings are getiing worse
every moment, and ruin will be the end
of all" As one of his friends once
said, " Ten minutes conversation with
him will make q rich man feel poor and
a poor man hungry" When the vari-
GUS panics came, which he lived to
weather, he found consolation in
descanting upon the truth
of his representations and
in prophesying worse for the future,
so that among those who knew him he |
became q quotable authority for the
darkest views upon all subjects. A
politician he never was, and in fact |
never mixed himself up with affairs of
a public character-not even with |
banks, insurance companies and the
like. When asked to join in any such
his invariable answer was
that he had enough to do looking after