Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1892-02-16
Anour rnE AsroRs.
The Butcher rreth.rs the Head OF che
Fanseus Family.


Fanaas Family.
i Let me step back hundred years snd
/ tell you about these Astors l may tell
I you some things you did not know.
When john Jacob Astor worked his way
/ down the Rhine to the sea aud shipped
TO England away from his slothful. lazy,
/ innkesping father, he stopped in London
/ and went 10 work for his brother, a sue
\ cessful manufactures of flutes and pi-
amos, and, unless / am very much mis-
taken, Junior partner in what is still tho
/ greatest piano making house in England
I though there are no Astors in it now.
\ John jacob was on his way to America,
and only went TO England to stop awhile
+ to learn English feat which he had
4 not accomplished when he died
4 When he reached New York city. not
4 very long after the Gloss Of the revolu-
tionary war, he had heard about the fur
business and had determined to embark
+ in IL. IL does not matter whether he
! peddlad little before that any more than
q matters whether Jay Gould sold rat
traps before he became railroad operator
/ In time John Jacob apprenticed himself
! TO a fur dealer and learned all the tricks
1 and secrets OF tho business But in the
meantime he had come to this city for
he same reason he had gone to London
+ -he had brother here. This brother
was Henry Astor, and in those days no.
/ body questioned which would be the
/ more successful of the two, for Henry
was mighty and a cunning man in
business
He was a butcher ia the Bowery. and
lived above his store there. He had mar
ried chubby, rosy German woman, of
whom he used to boast: "She was der
pootiest gal by der Bowery"
Z Now, the Bowery was no ordinary
/ street, and Henry was no ordinary
/ butcher. The Bowery was the southern
termination of the old Boston post road,
and down il came the bulk of the prod
uce of the countryside which was eaten
in and shipped from New York. Among
other things all the cattle came into town
I on that read on the hoof to be sold 10
the butchers. Henry knew that, and SO
did all the butchers, but Henry put his
knowledge to practical use. He drove
out Of town twice week on market
I days and met the cattle on the road up
the country. There he bought the best
4 of all the steers and cornered the mar
+ ket. 1t was he who thereafter set the
prices and sold to the other butchers.
His young brother, John Jacob, was
( just as instinct with the speculative
spirit, but he had no money TO buy with.
and so he used TO borrow of Henry.
Henry did not like that. He distrusted
his brothers shrewdness or else ha was
close with his money. At any rate he
loaned il TO John Jacob unwillingly, and
finally he met request for a loan with a
bluff No. He said he would not be
bothered any more, but this is what he
would do. He would give John Jacob
the sum Of $500 outright as a gift il John
Jacob would sign paper promising never
TO ask for the loan of another penny
from that date forever. John Jacob
jumped at the offer. He took the $500,
and perhaps that had more to do with
the foundation of the great Astor fortune
.han any ether sum he got in all his life
have heard that there are some Astors
7 descendant from Henry living up the
Hudson River, and that the great aud
rich Astors have nothing 10 do with
them do not know whether that is
truc or whether there are such Astors,
hut if it is true it is all right, for Henry
unquestionably parted with the rest of
,he family deliberately and in cold blood
when he paid that sum OF money to John
Jacob so as not to be bothered by his
] I'll
John Jacob Astor prospered amazingly.
He made millions when it was some
thing that nobody else unconnected with
royalty appeared able to do, except
.hs Rothschilds in Europe. With those
millionsemade by putting the entire con-
:inent under tax for its furs, he estab-
Iished not only landed estate, but
family with a principle. with fixed pur-
pose. He was OF incalculabls service
in the development Of New York, be
cause he went to districts the city had
aot reached and built dwellings for
persons Of moderate means. He built
hem very well. to last as long as possi-
Ole, and he rented them for a fair re-
| turn, thus establishing a moderate sys-
tenn of rentals with all the landlords of
the city.
In another generation an unfortunate
/ split occurred, and the estate and the
family have since then gone forward in
two parts, much the larger part going
to the descendants Of the elder son,
and the smaller part to the de-
scendants OF second son. William Wal.
dorf Astor now represents the bulk of
the estate, and the little baby, John Jacob,
is heir to the smaller part. But the old
principle and purpose still live in all the
Astors. They still build and extend the
city; they still ask only fair rentals;
they still refrain from gambling, and
among the mercenary hands which seizs
our breadstuffs, our coal, our of, and our
meats in order 10 raise the prices Of cur
necessities no Astors' palms are included.
This is why we like the Astors. Julian
Ralph. in Providence Journal.
You can't tell anything about a man
1 by his tombstone. Siftings