Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-29
The sO-oared Aristocracv of Gotham.


Look at the AstOrs. Only a few genera
tiOns ago and they were butchers, selling
meat to anyone who wanted to buv it:
now they are considered the most eXclu-
sive family in New York. The Astors,
by the way, will celebrate the centennial
of the arrival of the first Astor i'm New
York some time next moth. Old John
Jacob AstOr came over here from Ger
many 100 years ago, and set up butcher
shop in the BOwery, where he made great
deal of money. The brothers of this origi-
nal Astor were musical instrument
makers, and when the famous John Jacob
started in the fur business in New
York he had musical instruments as one
of the departments of his trade. Between
flutes and furs he made about quarter of
a million dollars i'll sixteen years, They
were real merchants in those days, and
owned their own ships, and Mr.. AstOr
used to load his vessels with furs and send
them to London; from London they would
go to China and return to New York with
cargo of teas. 1t is said that he often
netted as much as $4,000 on a single inn
pOrtatiOn of that article. The greater
part of his money, however, was made by
ludiclOuS investments in real estate. The
AstOrs bought property up town when
other people were buying below Canal
street. believe they own as many as 800
houses in the most thickly populated up
town districts. Most of their houses are
built of grayish yellow stone, and are
devoted entirely to renting.
The AStOr home is now on Madison ave-
nue-at least that is where Mr., William
b. AstOr, the senior member of the fami-
ly, resides-and it is built of the same
colored stone as his tenant houses. Over
the front entrance is glass and stone in
closure devoted to flowers, which breaks
the monotony of the stone walls and gives
it very pretty appearance from the
street. Mr.. William b. Astor looks every
inch the millionaire, He is not pretty,
but he is distinguished looking, is tall
and stout, with ruddy complexion and
close-cropped mustache, and longish
side whiskers that grow straight down
from the ears. But Mr.. Astor is
very much afraid of getting too stout,
and he used to walk all the way from his
office, which was in the lower part
of the city-Prince street, | think-up to
his house ON Madison avenue. This is
about the only exercise that most OF the
New York men get. They dislike walk
ing for walking's sake, but will walk up
or down town once day as a sort of duty.
| fancy they find it necessary, because
most of these bankers and brokers are
high livers, and if they do not take some
exercise are very apt to be visited with
ills that come from high living. The
wealth of the Astor family now is said to
amount to $50,000,0O0 apiece for William
and John Jacob, She two oldest. John
Jacob has but one son, William w. Astor,
familiarly known as Willie, the present
United States Minister to Rome.
William III. Vanderbilt ought never to
lose his interest in hotels, for his father
once kept the Raritan House, New Bruns-
wick, n. j., which was a sort of canal
bOatman's tavern. The house is there
yet Just 5d as 81 II Nv was IN ISL, when men, the pre-
and when a sign dalgled from the door
post reading: &c. Vanderbilt, propFie-
tor" There were very few financial giants
in those days!