Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1879-02-01
THE vANDERBILTS.
Pc cuIiarttses and Eecentrieiti~s of the Old
Commodore-How He Treated His Chill
dren.

10 the Baltimore american:
While the great will case "draws its
81 ow length along" we have the de-
ce ased Commodore Vanderbilt and the
whole Vanderbilt family to point the
moral expressed by the pious Agar.
The opinion Il very general that, if this
now celebrated case could be brought
before a jury on any collateral issue,
the viii would be broken. Juries care
but little for the declarations of dead
men, and are much more apt to be led
by their own sense OF justice and the
chivalry innate with the majority of men
where other women than those Of their
own family are concerned.
Old Commodore Vanderbilt's coarse
ness and looseness of life gave him a
contempt for women in general which
was shown in his treatment Of his
daughters. The case of his Oldest
daughter, Phebe (Mrs. Cross, was
particularly hard. She was the first
one 10 come to New York, with her hus
band and two children, twenty years
ago. Her father then gave her a
house, which she has always lived in,
ard had right TO consider her own
The deed, however, was never put in her
possession, but, suppossing it would be
made all right in his will, she did not
trouble herself much about it, the old
mans violent temper and the difficulty
of approaching him on any personal
matter rendering his own children eX-
tremcly wary of raising his ire. AT her
fathers death il had been her home for
20 years, but, as the will made no men,
ton OF ii, she appealed 10 her brother
William, who told her it would be all
right. Shortly afterwards, however,
unable 10 resist the temptation of put
ting more money in his own pocket, he
sent demand, through his lawyer, for
the property as part of the estate. She
was powerless, and so had to yield, but,
believing she could make better bar
gain by negotiating through stranger
than by offering to purchaee the house
on her own account, she negotiated
through real estate agent for the pur-
chase of her home for $50, 000-an offer
which was accepted, and Mr.. William
II. Vanderbilt was astonished to receive
the check for that amount signed by his
sister IL was evident that her father
had intended his gift TO be bona fide, for
no deed could be found, and undoubt-
edly he had forgotten to have it prepar-
ed and handed over. The deed which
Mr.. ". II. Vanderbilt gave TO Mrs
Cross he had TO have made up from city
records.
The harshness with which the old
Commodore treated his own family was
well exemplified in the case of his eldest
grandson, the son of Mrs. Cross. la re-
ply to an application for position of
some sort he gave him that of conductor
on the Harlem Road, place which he
held for six years, working for the same
pay,the same hours. land in every respect
on precisely the same footing as the 9TH
er conductors of the road.
The young man was fine, healthy
young fellow; well liked, faithful, and
popular with its patrons. Finally, Mr..
Vanderbilt's lawyer, who was cognizant
of the circumstances, became interested,
and appealed to the old man TO do some
thing more for his grandson. He was
then promoted, to his great surprise, TO
1920 per annum clerkship in the
freighting department., where he remain
ed until a brother-in-law offered him su-
perior opportunities in the West. His
management was despotic. An order
once issued must be obeyed, no matter
what the consequences. One of the sons
of William II. Vanderbilt was reported
to the Commodore as getting ." a little
wild" The Commodore ordered him to
get married, but he protested that his in
-.tsa .v,I hat kx.x