The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-01-03

a list of the wealthy men, or heavy tax
payers. of Washington. There are not
| many Vanderbilts among them. but the
number of those who manage to grub
along on few hundred thousands is quite
l4respectable The richest man in the Dis
| trict of Columbia is probably the venera
BILE W. W. Corcoran. HIS great start as
a capitalist was made during the Mexican
| war, when he Bought government bonds
when they were below par and held them
! till they were redeemed at their face value.
Since. this unfortunate speculation he has
| spent his business life in banking and in
| the care of his property. which is report
cd to be worth 50. 10000 OF late years,
however, the active management of his
affairs has been in the hands of an agent,
himself an aged aud wealthy man, while
| Mr. Corcoran has indulged his taste for
art and fondness for public charities. 1t
would be difficult to find two men more
unlike in disposition and habits than Mr.
Corcoran and the man who supposed to be
his rival in wealth, Joseph A. Willard.
MIR. Willard alone knows how much he is
worth. The conjectures of we'll informed
citizens vary By millions. Some guess be
is not worth million; others believe he is
anywhere fro m five to ten millions. Joe"
| Willard is an odd character. He lives all
alone in a plain oldfashioned house on
14th street near F street, which is always
kept closed He has no friends and no
haunts, takes part in no public business
enterprises which involve social relations,
INDUCES in no sports or social engage
ments, never goes to church, has no fam
ily, except one son who lives away from
home; never speaks with his two brothers
Henry and Caleb, with whom he quarreled
long years ago, and, in short, meets the
world at as few points of contact as pos
sible. His sole aim apparently. is TO
accumulate money, and in this he has
been marvelousiy successful. He owns
onehalf of Wizards hotel and large
quantity of real estate in the district and
is the largest holder of government bonds
in Washington Few residents of Wash
ington have ever seen this odd millionaire
for one of his eccentrcities is to rarely
leave his house in the daytime. After
nightfall, however, it is his custom to sallv
forth and walk about town to inspect
his property, and Mrs. Grundy observes
that he always goes back into his house
by the basement door and then bolts
everything carefully up for the night. He
attends to his rents himself ana as fast as
) he collects his money goes to a bank OF
/ the Treasury and inys government bonds.
1t is noticeable what number OF con
9ressmen go to housekeeping of late years
instead of living in the hotels and board
, ing houses. Before the war there were
about twenty five senators and represent
atives, generally from the south, who hired
houses here and entertained Hospitality
during the session. Occasionally a wealthy
Bostonian or New Yorker would keep
house, but they generally resided with
their families at hotel Altogether there
were not fifty senators and representa-
tives accompanied by their wives and not
: over a dozen brought their daughters
, Now there is a different state of affairs.
OF the seventy six senators, twenty ono
are accompanied by their wives seventeen
have each wife and daughter, one has a
daughter and one a mother IN law. OF
the $50 representatives and delegates
ninety five are accompanied by their
wives, fifty three have each wife and
daughter, and nine have only their daugh-
tiers. in short, there. are 1913 agreeable
: ladies' in the congressional set, and after
congress reassemhles there will be at least
five and twenty more. A number of the
con ~.ss.-4~-- H. .ta;r own honses
: others hire elegant residences, paying
more than their salaries for the rent. The
presence of these ladies has an excellent
effect on the morals of congressman gen
orally, and it is notable fact that there
is not now an open gambling house in this
: city where there used to be so many.
y Dom PEDRO.