The morning call., 1890-11-05
FADS OF RICH MEN.
Curious Collections Made by Nor.
isini, Gould and Vanderbilt.
A Milwaukee Mans Mummies-A Sugar Trust
Baron and His Violins-Mrs. Hoyt's Fancy
for Corner Lo:s-Women's Fans.

riOus watches in one of the cases or cabinets
which fill several rooms in his superb house
at Riverdale on the Hudson. But this is
only part-and a very small part, too-of
the millionaire's wonderful collection of
jewery, pOrcelainS, bronzss, bric-a-bric and
curIos. The most notable feature Of his
possessions is the display of objects per-
tanning to military life. He has guns and
pistols illustrating every stage in the art
of war from the sixteenth century to
the present time. He has old swords
and daggers, spears, helmets, armors
and everything of ancient pattern together
with uniforms. military caps and hats, and
military boots belonging to a more recent
period. Mr.. Morisini received his early ed
ucation in a military college, and when he
began his career as a collector, his collec-
tions at first assumed very sOldierlv ap-
pearance. Alter time he began naturally
to branch out in other directions, and at the
present time his taste is as catholic and uni
versal as his Judgment is accurate and cor
rect. He leaves his Office every day about 2
o'clock, and between that time and and 5
O'Clock, when he takes a train at the Grand
Central Depot, lie visits one or two of the
number of stores devoted to the sale of the
curiOs, interesting and costly things in which
his heart delights and buys whatever COM
mends itself TO his fancy aud his best judg-'
ment The result is that he is in possession
now of perhaps the best general collection
in this country outside of the walls Of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. The dealers
declare that he is the most Skillful Judge OF
antiques in this country, and that the only
man who stands alongside of him is August
Belmont, so writes a contributor to the
Globe-DemOcrat OF st. Louis.
M0risini Is also very fond OF flowers, and
his garden Is perhaps one OF the most valu-
able along the shores of the Hudson. He
brings small bouquet down every morn
ing and places it on the desk in his office.
1t is interesting to note that he shares his
taste for floral rarites with /. Y. Powderly,
who spends nearly as much time In his gar
den as he does at his desk. When he is not
studying labor problems he is studying the
grow tn of flowers. The only question that
has equal interest to Powderly is the
question of food. He is exceedingly abste-
mious, and doubtless could give the fasting
men who are coming TO the front now a
number of valuable points. Powderly never
eats more than two light meals day, aud
thinks that he could do with less.
GoULD'S ORCHIDS.
When the ordinary man allows his taste
to tend in the floral direction he usually
ends up with the orchid craze. The num-
Der of men and women who entertain this
expensive mania is something remarkable.
AUlUDR tUtlll Is VI CUuISc Jay GUuIu, WIN
has spent it is said something like $3.50, 600
in orchids up 10 date, and stands ready to
spend as much more If he can get the speci-
mems he wants. Gould and his gardener are
always on the alert for rare plants, but as
other collectors are also watching for them
he does not acquire anything valuable with
out competition not only of money but of
energy. The dimensions of the orchid craze
on the part of Erastus Corning of Albany
has been pretty thoroughly advertised.
Among other welEknown collectors are
Frederick l.. AmeS of Boston, who has spent
about 500, 900 up to date, and w. S. Kim
ball of Rochester. whose plants are said to be
worth about S125,000. Mr.. Ames is said to
have paid $1,000 for single white flower
orchid, and the late Mr.. Osborne OF Mama
roneck paid similar sum for Wanda
Sandariana.
The craze for collecting sometimes takes
very curious forms. An old New York
merchant has fancy for collecting trusseS
of all kinds. Mary Irene Hoyt, the con-
testant in the Hoyt will case, has fondness
for corner lots. 1t has been her habit for
years to buy q corner lot IN any town that
she might visit, and here in New York she
has quite handsome collection. The late
George w. Kiefer collected skulls and NUM-
mics. 1t was while he was making collec-
ton of Peruvian antiquities that ne con-
tracted the disease which ended fatally.
His desire was to dispose of his entire col
lection to some leading Americon museum.
After his death it was purchased by DR.. G.
j. Fischer and Charles Steigenwait.
AN EXPERIENCE WITH MUMsIIEs.
Herman Frank. a Milwaukee millionaire,
who is an amateur Psychologist with a
pronounced fondness for mummies, recently
had very curious experience. An agent
of his purchased two nummieS for him in
Egypt and paid for them $500. -Four hun
dred dollars more was paid when they came
to the New York Custom-house. When the
package reached Milwaukee the millionaire
opened them in the presence of his friends,
but as soon as the Milwaukee air got at the
mummies they crumbled into half dozen
handfulS of dust, and even to a millionaire
$1,000 seemed to De pretty steep price for
so ordinary commodity. The millionaire
wants now to get back the 500 in duty from
the United States Government.
A number of wealthy women 10 New
York collect fans The late Mrs. John
Jacob Ast0r had very costly and interest
ing collection of these breezy articles. Mrs.
Levi P. Morton has also progressed salts
factorily i'll this direction. Besides getting
together fifty or sixty trunks of all sizes and
kinds of finish and decorations, Mrs. Schuy-
Ter Van Rensselaer, owns single fan which
is valued at $1,000. Among Mrs. Astor's
specimens were several of the work of Var
Wis Martin Mrs. Newbold Morris is an
other enthusiastic collector of fans, and
Mrs Frederick Vanderbilt and Mrs. Hicks
Lord are also able to make very gOodly dis
plays. Mrs. Whitney mas number OF very
valuable fans, but does not buy any with
any view of gathering them into collec-
ton. The particular hobby of her husband,
ex-Secretary Whitney, is for Turkish rugs.
His delight in unique specimens of the art
work of the far East of this kind is almost
unbounded. If he finally secures rare rug
with an unusually rich and satisfying COM
bination of color he will sit and look at it
for an hour at a time, noting the shadings
and getting the different effects by changing
his point OF view. The elder Rockefeller is
also very fond of these beautiful bits OF
Eastern carpet.
vANDEEBILT's FADs.
The particular fad of w. X. Vanderbilt is
the collecting of oak carvings, and he has
some very fine specimens for which he has
paid very large sums Of money. He is also
fond of growing rare fruits, and does great
deal OF it on his Long Island farm. This
also has called for what other people would
regard as very startling expenditures of
money, but the result is that in winter his
table is supplied after fashion that is not
equaled by anybody else III New York or
Newport
The girls around town still continue to
collect photographs, and particularly photo
graphs of actors. Their fayorite time for
visiting the photograph shops Is lmmedi-
ately after the matinees on Saturday, when
their enthusiasm for their favorite actor is
at white heat. One girl up town is said to
have the walls of her bedroom entirely COW
cred with photographs, SO much so that not
a square inch of the original wall can be
discovered. She has ninety-seven different
pictures of one leading actor. Other girls
collect pictures of actresses. MOdjeska,
Fanny Davenport and Rose Coghlan are all
favOrites of these young women, and they
are very liberal and constant customers for
their pictures. Anita Berwind and the
daughter of Harry Leach of Philadelphia,
whose house at Saratoga is one of the show
places there, are among the most industrious
of these photograph collectors. Peter Marie,
of the Union Club, and one OF the old bach
elors of New York society, collects photo
graphs after a much more costly fashion
than anybody else. After the photograph
comes into his possession he has it daintiiy
colored by an artist, and in some cases has
miniatures painted. Whenever he has
gathered together considerable supplement
10 his collection he dsposes it on the walls
of his drawng-room and invites the original
to a dinner aud places an original
poem by the side of each plate, reading the
collection of poems himself some time dur
ing the evening.