Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1890-07-25
ROUND ABOUT GOTHAM
ANNIVERSARIES .aa fh@ Dssiy saa .asBshiy
Frss.-A Faaa~rblIs saay bseS-as "a
Ealtar sea. 81 - Least
k.ssD4psr FrsPrisssE-

k1HspAPeF FAePrtss~Ss
froPvsa6ET $50 81 sAcazLLEs col
Ths millionaire in1asncs IA ns~s-
g4nsrdom 10 beesming noEs pronounced
ever ysar Ia Gotham II ls whispered
taas tLsr4 I'll sooa &c new and nest
distiaxul4h sd 4eesssioH-nothinz lsss
than = anGsF5iit. aAd II Dane Ramor
Is 60 1s srsditsd, Do - 20 De the Princi-
pa hacker aad D. nc means an inactive
figure Ia Ehs e0aduet II ksPublieAn
daily Of sItFsaely conservative tea
denotes. Il 10 nsarly decade since
tie 4iIliaasirs eisnsUt began 70 make
itself felt IN tAs Metropolitan Prsss,
and It's -xPsFisaee nAs not always been
. happy enc. Gould, Huntington and
FIsld have cash had their hands in. up
% the elbows. and have paid roundly
Tor tAs privilege Of disseminating
- ldsa opiHions through the medium
Of Pr .nters lax. shepard and Mills,
60, have felt the sane fascinating
spell. although, up - the present time
none have welded the quill TO the
sEtsnt that the doughty COlonel-him-
self a related Vandsrbilt-does in hi.
evening paper. The millionaire presi-
dent Of very prominent Insurance.
company Is said 10 have been hgaring
a. didsrsnt tisnes on the coat Of a prac-
teal experiment in the same direction;
bat the indifferent fortunes Of his pre-
oeesssors have probably deferred him
thus far from making the venture,
although he nay 10 heard from any
day.
A Vanderbilt IN Park Row, however,
would % Veritabls sensation, and
when be comes DO will have rousing
welcome. tie Will DC the first OF his
tribe 20 embark on a sea that has more
shoals and quicksands surrounding il
even than Wall street. Sometime ago,
there was talk Of Vanderbilt IN con
uectien with pro iected weekly publ
cation Of character similar 10 tho
Epoch, In which 4 nrm of millionaire
bankers downtown are said TO De
interested, but nothing ever came of
IL. Later, still another scheme, having
In view the establishment of society
journal 20 conserve the interest OF
Murray Hill and Fifth avenue and tAe
elite OF some half dozen other cities,
was attributed 10 one of the younger
Vanderbilts, and this project. too, hung
fire, although 1t is said not to be
altogether abandoned even yet.
IL is pertinent question to ask
what these men Of millions want in
Journalism. Some enter the ranks
eonfessedly TO subssrvs business ends;
few have political views which they
consider Of sufficient Importance TO
pay we'll for their dissemination; the
majority, probably, do il because they
recognize IN the press a business and
political lever combined. Schemes in
Wall street, little and big jobs in
Congress and State Legislatures have
10 Do advocated and taken care of. and
the independence Of the daily press
makes this an impossibility, so the only
recourse Is TO control publication
themselves. This is growing danger,
but 10 Is one that carries with it it's
own remedy; for the moment u paper
becomes mere vehicle OF personal
opinion and an UEdisguised advocate of
personal interests, il ceases TO be
attractive 20 the public and its intiu-
eRee Ia gone. The best evidence of the
truth of this statement is TO be found
IN few New York newspapers whose
millionaire hackers have sunk fortunes
on them with rapidity that is simply
APPALLING.
There Is, however, a remnant of mil
lionairedom which Gnds its attraction
ia the love OF literature, pure ana sim
pie These men are not TO De found
connected with the daily press, but with
different class of publications, mainly
OF the magazine order When the late
Allen Thorndiks Rice took hold OF the
old fogy North American Review
and forced 10 10 the front among Amer.
lean monthlies. he demonstrated " nat s
literary millionaire could do. In the
same way. Mr. James Brisben Walker,
the wealthy owner and editor OF the
Cosmopolitan, by dropping the old
lines and branching oat in bold and at
tractivs Fields. has tucked success out
OF what was apparently an impOssi-
bility.
Easily the foremost among literary
miilionairss. &; not. indeed, the most
prominent hsure in American htera
ture day. in some respects, is vii
liam Waldorf Astor. the picturesque
author OF Valentine" He ia the sole
redssming figure in the plGtocrstic ar
rav th az can be said to be devoted 70
literary work without a thought OF
a,vthfnr Int tha ar " the writer and
the pleasure Afforded By is exercise.
Gr. Astor's two novels srs not the only
works his pen has finished by any
means, slthoagh they are the only ones
thus far given 20 the world He il SAID
80 have a number Of manuscripts NOR,
or less comPlets. and which will se'
the light bysnd-by. Like Sir Waltel
Scott, Ia has been furtivs student
snd composer. stealing many OF tbs
hours that wealthy young men ususily
devote 20 social relaxation, for TIA
purpose. II will be surprising il Mr
Astor does not mass more command
ing 6zure in the literature Of historic
fiction than his friends have drsamel
to- him.
That brilliant cosmolis@ Dspew. too
mauEurs his railroads and his Craasus
Ike surround iugs. occasionally 6nt'
time To- 10 more serious work than th'
making of after dinner speeches, a.
though in thes-. "a in everything else
be is unspproachabis. He u IA
deeper student than - gets credit Cor.
81 What ia still better. be prefers tc