St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-04-02
GOTHAM GOSSIP.
Old John Jacob Astor-Much Wine Drink
ing in Society.

Via jOhn Jacob AstOr-Much Wine Drink
ing in Society.
John Jacob Astor stood beside me as we
wrote messages in Broadway telegraph
office. My curiosity was not quite imperti-
nent enough to make me overlook his com
position and see what it was about, bu
naturally the manner if not the matter was
covertly watched. Although distanced by
newer milliOnaires, his half of the Astor es-
tate is worth fifty millions or more, and the
penalty of so much wealth is submission to
constant scrutiny. However, John Jacob
Astor is SO retired and quiet in his habits,
and so lacking in striking personality, that
he can walk the length of Broadway without
being recognized by other than acuuaint-
ances. The curious fact about the telegram
which he wrote was that he was as long at
the job as nearly illiterate person might
have been, and that he spoiled and destroyed
no less than three blanks before getting one
satisfactorily filled. ''Mr Astor wasn't both
cred as to what he wished to say in the mes
sage, for 1t was a trivial matters said the re-
ceiVer, after the rich man had departed, ''but
he was struggling to compress it within the
limit of ten words, so that it would go at the
single rate of Is cents-the price for city
dispatch of no more than that length"
''And is he so stingy as that?'' l exclaimed.
20, he isn't stingy at ALL" was the reply;
sit was the mere force of habit. The idea
that kilograms must be so concise and brief
as not to exceed the fifteen-cent limit is
common among the wealthy as we'll as the
necessarily economical. Some business men
use the wires freely, and you newspaper
men telegraph as copiously nowadays as
though your manuscript was going by mail
provided your employers will stand it; but
old-fashioned men, like Mr.. Astor will speud
time and brain tissue in the most excruciat-
ing efforts to confne their message to single
rate. In this instance he actually risked a
misunderstanding by the person who will re-
ceive the telegram, and labored assiduously
five minutes in order to eliminate four
words. If he had left them in they would
have cost an additional eight cents. Of
course, he never thought of the expense at
all, but was the victim of habit which you
can see illustrated ever hour of the day in a
telegraph office. There seems to be weird
fascination about it.''
49,
Never before in the history of New York
fashionable society has there been so much
wine drinking during the past season.
No form of evening entertain ment exists at
which champagne is not freely served. At
the german, the parties, the balls one and
all, at dinners and under every possible pre-
text wine is furnished, and all hands, includ-
ing the young women, drink freely and with
out becoming the subject of comment. In
deed, it is expected that they will partake,
and if their eyes sparkle the more and rosy
tint attaches to the complexion so much the
better and no harm done. The Astors and
the Vanderbilts would no more give a dinner
or ball without wine than they would ex-
clude flowers for adornment and china for
use. The same practice prevails daily at
half the dinner tables of the fashionable
folks Of town, whether there be guests or not.
The wine glass is as common AS the goblet
for water and is more frequently used. This
is condition of affairs that temperance peo-
pie are powerless to reform. The edict Of
fashions fancies are not easily frowned
down. Indeed it is something like twenty
years since New York City had anything akin
to a temperance revival, and there is to be
found among almost all sorts Of people de-
cided feeling against the agitation of abst-
hence principles. There are no temperance
lectures, no Temperance demonstrations and
precious few temperance sermons, except
from the Roman Catholic pulpits. The
Church of Rome breaches and teaches and
practices temperance as strongly as ever.
There have been told this winter scandalous
stories of drunkenness at the most fashion
able of the balls and parties, but there is a
general disposition to call it good fun. The
guests enjoy it and are pleased and the
hostess is pleased because the guests are
having Jolly time. 1t wasn't so twenty
FIVE years ago, and it isn't so now, to any
great extent, outside New York City's So
ciety circles.