Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-08-10
YOUNG JACK ASTOR.
A PEN PICTURE OF THE RICHEST MAN
IN THE WORLD.
Man Detest Him. But Women Like Him
AQueer Outht-No Taint OF Anglo
mania-A Joker.
Correspondence Of tho Richmond Dispasch-l
a


singularly enough escaped much observa-
ton. for the war of the Astors. like the
wars of tho Roses, has ragged so fercely
that IL has been difficult for New
Workers TO concentrate their minds upon
anv other feature Of the family. ex-
cant which of the ladies' shall have
the privilege OF calling herself Mrs.
Astor. And yet young John jacob. AS
tor. or, as he is known IN all OF the clubs
and drawing-rooms OF New. YORK. Jack
Aston. il a man worth knowing. Men do
not like him. women do. whether II Is
because he will some day be worth cou-
ple of hundred millions, or whether ii Is
SOLELY on his own account l know not.
But he is always welcome in any corner OF
the room where pretty girls con
precate. and he laughs and jokes
with them as cheerfully as an appren-
tice of for a holiday. In personal
appearances he is tall, being nearly
SIX feet in height and very slim. he
has decided stoop in his shoulders, a bad
complexion. and fshy eyes, but he pos
sesses above all things the good sense that
characterizes the entire Aston family. and
no has done nothing 30 far to cause any
uneasiness. His face is not strong one.
There IL no character in IL. His mouth u
weak and his eyes seem TO lack ability TO
concentrate themselves for moment on
anything.
PINE But UNPRETENTIoUs.
He would attract no attention in a
crowd: not even for his dress. His
clothing is made up in the latest fashion.
but he is not loud in any sense. To be
sure he wears the finest Cf clothes, his
patent-leather boots are tho best in the
market, his silk hosiery Is the richest
that money can buy. his trousers are
creased To a nicely, his white vests and
shirts are spotless. his iewelry is of the rich
est and finest. and TO his credit let 1t be said
that he does not wear too much. lie has
profusion of rich neckwear and an assort-
ment of canes and hats that fairly rival tho
collection of Bob Garrett, but OF all this 1t
is no ones business. He looks like gen.
tleman and acts like one. Everything
about him points to great wealth. HIS
horses and carriages of all descriptions are
the finest that money can obtain. Ills
bachelor entertainments are on princely
scale. He knows how to live well, and
how to gather Jolly party about him. OF
course expense il Of no moment 10 him.
He must be worth anywhere now from
10000 900 TO 100000 and Is the heir to
the bulk OF the entire property. lie VIII
some day be the richest man IN the world.
1t is not at all likely that he will ever ind
the wolf at his door, no matter how much
money he may squander.
by THE SKIN OF HIS TEETH.
He inherts many traits of the Aston
family. except that he has not yet mastered
the cold, Indifferent, stony stare that has
been q marked Characteristic of all the
male members of the family from the be-
ginning. He is not student or lover of
pictures like his father and cousins. but on
the contrary prefers outdoor amusements,
dancing, and social gayeties. He is
a graduate of Harvard, and came
through that great institution Of
learning like hundreds of other men.
by the skin of his teeth. His enc
mics soy that it was his name and
not his brains that got him through. AT
any rate he got through all right, and 1t
may be because he is able to cut such o
wide swath in social affairs that the other
young men about town do not like him.
Like all the j,inesse doree he is member of
half dozen clubs, but he is not club
man in any sense, sensibly preferring his
own luxuriant home. He has not many
friends among men, and has never been
heard of in bar-room brawl. This IL
one of the things in his favor. He Is
a shining light in society and is always
sure TO be invited to every affair that IS
going on. He spends q good portion of his
summer at Newport and goes to Europe
three or four times year. These European
trips have not made him any the less
American. No one ever accused him OF
anglomania. and his great wealth and
position does not seem TO have turned his
head. There is one feature of his lite that
should not be overlooked; he is practl-
cal joker.
CRUELTY IN his FUN.
Many stories are told about his FRANKS
and the inability of his father and mother
10 step him. Ono of his favorlte amuse-
ments used TO be to keep every sailor and
officer on board his fathers magnificent
steam yacht in state of mind bordering
on frenzy. He did it by little prankish
tricks, which might be called practical jokes
by all except the ones who had the pranks
played on them. Once when he and his
father were in the yacht of Newport one
of the sailors went forward Just as the tide
was about to turn and leaned over the bow
in order to ascertain whether in swinging
about the bow would get a scraping from
the cable. Young Aston crept stealthily
forward and suddenly pushed the sailor,
who fell overheard. He was q good swim
mer, and was hauled out safely. Jack
Aston thought it was great Joke.
One day the cook in the yacht went TO
sleep on the forward deck and the young
man conceived plan of waking him sud-
denly in a novel and dangerous way. He
put a rope around the fellows neck. ran
the other end through pulley-block in
the rigging, and began TO haul away.
When the cook awoke. as he did irnInedi-
ately, he found himself being strangled.
1t was To much for the captain TO bear and
he appealed to Mr.. Aston to put stop to
such cruel pranks.
NOTHING To HIS CREDIT.
But those were in the days when he was
Young and reckless. He has grown to be a
man. but the fun of the boy often leaks out
at periodic intervals. Another escapade
related of HIM will have to be taken with
a grain of allowance. 1t is said that ne went
to Florida once, steamed up river, and
rented a big house. lie invited large
number of negroes in the neighborhood to
the house and gave them as much cham
payne as they could drink. He just
wanted to see what effect champagne
would have on negro. 1t had very
hilarious effect and was one of the grandest
orgies ever witnessed. But the particulars
of that champagne spree bad best not be
described. His friends declare that he has
toned down considerably of late and is not
much like the reckless boy of years ago.
Anyway he has great deal OF tun and
tries to extract as much out Of life as pos
sible. He can't take his millions with him.
THE GREATEST CATCH"
II has been reported over and over again
that young Astor was to be married. lie
has been engaged according to the news
papers" TO at least score of bellies. and
vet he remains single. How il is that he
has escaped Cupid's darts is mystery even
to mis- most intimate friends. fer he is par
ticularly fond of the society of women
and women in turn seem to find him an
agreeable fellow. OF course he is the
greatest catch in this country to-day. His
wife will some day be the undisputed
leader of New York society, and with the
enormous fortune that he will have at his
command she can cut swath trihe
wider than any other woman in this
country. Besides. she will become the pos
SCISSOR of the Aston plate. iewelry, laces,
books, furniture, pictures, de-, and if she
be in good health the world viii look very
bright to her.
PERHAPS MISS WILLING Is SENSIBLE.
II is known that young Astor's mother
is very much opposed to his marrying.
Why this is so no one seems to know.
The newspapers have persistenrly said
that he was to marry the beautiful Miss
WILLING of philadeinhia She Ia of snIen