The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-06-25
THE Aston sRorheRs.


Eve Mllllonairss who Conilno Their Einan-
cial Operatives 70 Real EAtats.
Looking out of my window last even.
ing 1 saw the Aston brothers passing
down Twenty-sixth street. They were
coming from their business Office, Just
below Broadway ON the street they were
traversing. Here they have quite q
pretentious brick building. which looks
like . clearinghouse. 1t il fitted up
like one. On tho inside it has all the
paraphernalia of screens, desks, big
books and clerks, which are SO common
| in financial establishments. On the
outside of the door there are two brass
signs, one bearing the name of John j.
Aston, the other William w. Astor. On
the inside each of the brothers has q
private Office and plenty of clerks to do
the work, This place is singular little
institution. It wears an air of repose
entirely foreign to . business establish
ment yet within its walls there are
more transactions of Importance yearly
than in many pretentiOus financial i'm
stitution. The score or more of clerks
with their big books are kept busy look
ing after the real estate which belongs
to the Astors. 1t is said that this estab-
lishment collects in rentals more than a
million of dollars year. 1t takes as
much time and attention to keep track
of the property belonging to this noted
family as it would to conduct an extern
sive banking house.
The Astors are not spectators. They
do not 60 upon the street for business
or invest money in ordinary business
affairs. They confine their operations
to real estate. 1t was the foundation of
their great fortune which was left to
them by the shrewd and miserly old
parent who made it. John Jacob As
tor, the elder, was a singular old per-
son. He labored and saved; all the
money he accumulated went into land
and its belongings. The most glowing
business venture could not coax money
out of his pocket. He believed in land
and invested his fortune in it. His life
was any thing but a happy one, and his
family don't seem to have improved
much upon it. They live in good shape,
that is about all. They cut no figure in
the general life of the metropolis ex-
cept as large property owners and pur.
chasers. The two AstOrs are old men.
William w. is tall, robust citizen, near
sixty, should think. He has q round.
full face, a little inclined to be red, and
a sandy complexion. His brother is
fully as tall, but not as stout, nor as
cheerful-looking. Both of them pass
along the street without attracting any
attention or scarcely passing notice.
In dollars and cents l suppose they
are by far the largest real estate own
ers in the United States. They are add
ing to their possessions every day. Their
present ventures. believe. are in the di.
rectiOn of the new property about Har-
lem, that is just now attracting SO much
attention. Next to the Vanderbilts,
this is the richest family in Amer
lea. How many millions they have no
one seems to know. yet in 1869 it was
heralded over the United States that
John Jacob Astor was the richest man
in the country. He had million of dol
lars then. just think of the great for
tunes that have accumulated since. The
Vanderbilt estate has been built up
since those days, while Astor's estate,
then valued at a million, has increased
to more than hundred millions. The
fortune he left to his family is one of
the very few in New York that has been
kept intact and built upon by the slow
increase in the value of houses and land.
N. Y. Cor. Philadelphia Times.