Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-11-08
THE AST0R ESTATE.
rs FOUNDERS ANTICIPATION o.
THE GROWTH OF NEW YORK.

The GhOWlH vt NV SNnN'
The Policy Inaugurated BY John Jacee
Aston Closely Pursued By his Descend
ants The Responsibility Of Immense
wealth-The Aston House.
Although The founder Of the family, John
Jacob Aston, son Of q Bsdsnese peasant,
laid, as is well known, the basis Of his great
wealth by the fur trade, the bulk OF it came
from realty, which he began buying early in
the century, and continued to buy until his
death, q period Of nearly City years BE an
ticipated. in q measure, the remarkable
growth Of New York-he would be amazed,
no doubt, II he could learn its present popu-
lation-and had, it is said, unerring judy
ueut as to commercial transactions. The
city advanced so fast that the lots he &C
CURED often increesed fifty fold, sometimes
q hundred fold In value.
The policy be originated has been closely
pursued by his descendants, who are con-
slant buyers-they very seldom sell-of i'm
proved city property at the lowest rates.
and under the most favorable conditions.
Their manager, shrewd, careful, thoroughly
trained, is always on the watch for good IN
vestments, and never misses chance. They
are eternally adding to their possessions;
they have thousands Of neutrality-suspicious.
Offices, stores, warehouses-and may in time
hold title to the bulk Of the town. No one
outside Of the immediate family, and but
very few in it, have any idea how this abb
sorbing process goes on, month after month.
year after year, generation after generation
The Astors keep their affairs as secret
possible; they are reticent-men, women and
children-as rock on that subject, though
only their head and their manager have any
definite information. They know that they
are superlatively rich; that every day, every
hour, every minute augmants their riches;
and with this they are satisfied.
What Is the estate WORTH Who knows9
It is doubtful if any one can ten; but, as the
mass Of it is in houses and lots, an estimate
might be made that could not be made were
it in securities, liable to ceaseless variation
in the market John Jacob Aston counted
up two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
in 1S0O-he had then been in the Republic
seventeen years, and was 44-and at his
death, in 1S4S, his wealth was believed to
reach twenty million dollars. In forty EIGHT
years it had increased eighty-told Forty
years have passed since then, and millions of
surplus revenue have been annually rein
vested in real estate, and real estate advances
here with astonishing rapidity.
AN AWFUL RESPONSIBILITY.
We all know how great fortunes increase,
like big balls Of snow, at every turn. 1t
would seem as If the Aston estate must by
this time amount to $500 coz, 900. But, making
all allowances and deductions, $300, 000, 900 is
rational estimate, and am confident it will
reach that. What astupendous sum for one
family, Of which there is always head, a
director, controller! What gigantic power
it bsstows; what an awful responsibility it
involvesl What hospitals, libraries, colleges,
art galleries it might establish here without
serious dirninution; and New York lacks
these more than any great capital does! John
Jacob Astor gave s400, 900 to found tbe Astor
library, and his sons and grandsons probably
think themselves absolved, therefore, from
further hberality of the kind. Because one
is worth a few hundreds of millions, is that
any reason why one should devote o million
or two to the public good Of the city where
they have all been madel
The first John Jacob Aston felt the deepest
interest in the building Of the Aston house.
more than half a century old, and watched
its progress day after day until its compile
ton This may account in part for the so
lidity of the structure, which is hardly sur
passed by any building in New York. He
was determined that whatever was done for
him should be done thoroughly, and was SO
vigorously economical that he often, it is
said, picked up nails that the carpenters had
dropped, and demonstrated with the me
chanics when they showed the least tendency
to waste of time or material. He was very
anxious to perpetuate the family name-an
anxiety that has been shared, in a monetary
way. by his descendants-and he enjeined
therefore upon his heirs that the Aston house
should always be used as hotel The
Western Union company wanted to buy it
before putting up their building at the corner
Of Dey street, but the Aston estate declined
to sell for that reason. though offered good
round price.-Paul R. Cleveland in The Cos
mopolitan