, 1889-05-24
IRIS GREEN'S GIRLH0OD.
TIE MlSERLY OLD LADY ONCE A
NEW YORK SOCIETY BELLE.
She Had Lovers by the seore-she Was
Beautiful, an Heiress to $40, 900, o and
Attended Balls and PartIes-Marriage on
Business Principles.

as was tho case n Few years ago. She keeps
her bonds and other securities, which are said
to amount now to about 100000, In the
vaults OF the Chemical bank, and whatever
business sho does down in Wall street she does
through the Wall street brokers Of that In
stitution. OF course this manner OF getting
ut the market is rather slow and tedious som
pared to the direct fashion to which Mrs.
Green was addicted in years gone by, when
her associations In Wall street were with
John j. Cisco 81 Co., and would Indicate hat
Mrs Green is not getting into the market
and out Us rapidly Us she used to do for short
turns, or, In other words, that she is not spec
ulating, but that when she deals In stocks and
bonds they are secured rather as investments
than for any other purpose And this Is
pretty near the truth
WHEN HETTY WAS A BELLE.
But was this miserly old lady never youngi
There must hive been a time, surely. when
these two eyes of hers that now CLEAN with
shrewdnessa and suspicion looked frankly out
on tho world; when this tall, 1.-the form was
clothed in girlish and graceful garments, and
when these crooked and clutching fingers
were straight and fair and pink and might
have invited the clasp of friendship or even
tho lovers ardent kiss. OF course there is no
necessity for saying that Mrs. Green was
young once, but it Is rather interesting to
note that she also filled out many of the out
lines of this gracious picture with which W.
are wont to associate tho idea of girlhood.
Sh WINS not only young. She WAS fair and,
n matter Of thirty or thirty-five years ago.
WINS n belle In New York society, ardently
sought by numerous lovers, not only for her
wealth but also for her beauty. And the
transformation from this attractive young
creature, glowing with health md personal
loveliness, to the unlovely and grabbed old
lady, which the Wall street reporters find TO
DO Il fertile occasion for numerous and humor-
Gus paragraphs, has been effected tight here
In the city beneath the nose and eyes of men
and women who knew her as a girl but now
only hear of her rs an old woman.
A number of people with whom the writer
is acquainted, and who are veterans In New
York society and authority so far as its his
tory is concerned, remember her perfectly as
the very attractive young girl here described.
Sho was n tall and rather striking blonde,
notable for animal spirits and her exceptional
skill and brightness as n conversationalist. She
used to como down here from New Bedford,
where her father resided, and spend the win
tcrs in town. She attended nearly all the
balls, parties, concerts and other entertain
monts In which society was Interested, and
was eagerly sought and wooed by numerous
lovers. Freddie Gebhard's uncle is stated to
hnvo been one of them, and member of the
AAAFA NAAbN 'AS aAN NV" fNh~A aAA1Y ( tAiNt
on tho list. Naturally her personal attrac-
lions lost nothing because of the fact that sho
WINS IN heircss to 100000 100. She was her
fathers only child, and her father was Ed
wnrd Mott Robinson, who had laid the founda-
ton of his fortune in tho whaling business.
At that timo whales were much more plenti-
full than they are now, and us petroleum WINS
unknown the oil was very valuable and an
important article of commerce.. At the timo
fh,N II,ENvr DAIf,.n, lraA 1890 - NJ, VII
and entered society here her father had re-
tired from the whaling business, and in part
snership with Coleman, tho once Pacific coast
millionaire, who failed n short time ogo, en-
tered business in New York. There is some
difference of opinion oven among those who
have known Mrs. Green, or known of her
since this girlhood time, exactly how old sho
i9, but whether sho was lS or 20 in 1886 the
fact remains TINT she ignored all tho senti-
mental advances made to her, and did not
marry until a year or so after her fathers
death, which occurred just before tho close
of tho war.
WALL sTREET N
1t Is impossible at this distance of time to
trace tho way in which tho fair young girl
gradually dropped out of society, became de-
voted to business, and finally developed into
the Hetty Green whom Wall street knows
today. The girls family connections were
exceedingly good, particularly on her
mothers side, and when she came hero first
she was chaperoned by tho family of Moses
Il, Grinnell, who was n millionaire, to whom,
through her mother, she was related. At
that time she lived in q boarding house on
Twenty-second street, near Fifth avenue, and
occupied a modest hall room for which she
paid the sum of 80 weekly. These modest ac-
commodations for a Now York society favor
lite werc provided by her father, who was
quite rs porsimonious In his day as his famous
daughter is in ours. However, she dressed
well, and people who simply met her in par
lors and bathrooms did not, of course, stop to
inquire rs to tho fashion In which she lived.
Her appearance in Now York society as a
young girl seem TO nave extended over four
years or up TO the beginning of the war, and
her gradual retirement Is variously explained.
One story Is to the effect that she began to
display the parsimonious characteristics that
distinguished her father, and this led to tho
wearing of such shabby costumes and the
taking on of so many unattructive habits of
lifo that the Grinnell family were finally
compelled to withdraw their chnperonage
and support. However this may be, 1t is
known that during the few years which pro-
coded Mr.. Robinson's death the daughter boz
gan faithfully to take on the color of her
fathers character, and when she finally did
marry married on purely q business basis
The marriage into which Hetty Robinson
finally entered was made, as stated, wholly
on q business basis. Tn man selected finally
was e. H Green, who had made a fortune in
the China trade. He was reputed to be worth
at the time of his marriage somewhere in tho
neighborhood of s75O,O0O. The arrangements
for the marriage wero concluded before Mr..
Robinson's death, but the marriage did not
occur until a year or moro after 1t. 1t Is
said that there was a very explicit mite
nuptial agreement entered into between tho
young woman, now nearly 80 years of age,
whose misery characteristics were unfortun-
ately developing very rapidly, whereby Mr..
Green agreed that his wifes fortune should
not be liable for any of his debts or oblga-
lions or for any of their joint expenses. That
is TO say, he agreed that he would support
her precisely as though she were without for
tune and provide for the education and main
tennnco of whatever children might result
from the marriage. This agreement has. been
rigidly enforced by Mrs Green from first to
last The husband lost al his fortune In the
crash of 1884, and since then he has received
no assistance from his vito to rehabflitate
himself. lie is still six feet and six inches In
height, but his financial figure has dwindled
almost to nothing. He comes down on the