The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-05-10

represented for the sake OF creating
newspaper sseusation." I could
not believe that the man VINO had
held the office of president OF the
United States, and who was still before
the country as one Of it's most conspicu-
Gus citizens, would tell a dehoerate lie
tor the sake of sheltering hlnself from
the consequences of 9 momensary out
burst of passion. My function. seemed
to be somewhat judicial. had but two
witnesses and one of them had already
dlscredited himself by his refusal to
stand by his acts in manly, courageous
way. While every instinct OF Journal
ism was arrayed on the side OF my news
paper and the reporter, had no al
tentative but to accept Mr.. Cieveland's
unequivocal denial This / did next
day, and in the afternoon l received
from Mr.. Cleveland a brief note ex-
pressing his satisfaction with what had
been said in his behalf, and saying that
so far as he was concerned the matter
should rest there.
have been subjected to some criti-
cisms in connection with this affair, but
am pleased to say that every particle
OF it is based upon partisanism. Peo-
pie who dislike Mr.. Cleveland are fond
of saying that he is a liar-the Sun is
particularly given to this view of the
case-whereas the friends of Mr.. Cleve-
land refuse, under any circumstances,
to believe that he has been else than
truthful. AS for myself, I simply say
that l did l,,%1 ,a I Y7ndarrfrsr,d ~
The journalistic creed which indorse
calls only for the right at all times.
have never knowingly printed false
piece Of news or refused to do justice to
anybody whom I have unintentionally
wronged. With the same facts and con-
ditions before me, certainly would do
again precisely what did in this case.
have seen no reason for changing my
views
In justice to the proprietor of the
World, Mr.. Pulitzer, it should probably
be said that he did not indorse my &C
ton. Whether he believed Mr.. Cleve-
land or not, he would have maintained
an attitude of defense and would have
stood by the reporter. This he after
ward confirmed by taking into his en-
ploy again the reporter who had been
repudiated and who had resigned from
the Worlds service. This, I presume,
was done for the purpose of conveying
to the public the idea that he regarded
Mr.. Cleveland as liar and the reporter
as worthy of vindication.
THE DEATH OF AN AsroR.
The death Of two Astors in two years
s~4I a =, ~
ords with reference to this distinguished
family. The late William Astor, the
last Of the family to die, was man
who lived very much within himself,
and his death creates but a passing re-
mark from the great public. He was a
man well endowed by nature, and with
name and fortune to achieve for him
self might have accomplished both.
With nothing to do but spend what he
could of vast fortune he had not i'm
pressed himself upon affairs. He was
eminently respectable, went to church
with commendable regularity, read
good books, enjoyed himself by travel,
and SO rounded out a quiet, common
place career. Mr.. Aston took but
languid interest in business, less
In art or literature and none what
ever in politics. One. would have
supposed that man of his
means might have had himself elected
to the legislature, but this suggestion
apparently never occurred to him. With
the blood Of his respected grandfather
in his veins it is somewhat surprising
that he took so little interest In bust
ness matters. He would hardly walk
across the street to buy cheap proper
ty, whereas his ancestors would go q
long way to pick up good bargain,
particularly in real estate. Mr.. Astor
is said to have spent $2o, ZOO, 900 in his
time and never missed 1t. Few
men could do that. The most am
bilious of all the Astors is William
Waldorf. He has been minister to Italy,
has written books, taken a shy at poll
tics and really made an effort to be dis
money. But when an Astor undertakes
to be bigger than his fortune he has q
tremendous job ahead Of him Per
haps, in view of this, the late Mr..
Astor was wise in allowing his
money to distinguish him instead of
taking the trouble to distinguish him
self. The only Aston who ever made
noisein the world was the original and re-
spected John Jacob, grandfather of the
late William, who came to this country in
1888 with fiddle strings to sell, and sold
them. It was interesting, but not al
together pleasant, to note the comments
about town when the news was received
of William Astor's death. There was
nothing In the expression of regret to
indicate any deep-seated grief. The
feeling seemed to be that q very rich
man had gone and maybe She communi-
ty would be better off for it. This
seemed to be the first suggestion that
occurred to the mind, but the sober Sec
ond thought did not justify it. The
bulk of the Astor estate about $50, 000,-
600 of twill go to his son, the younger
John Jacob Astor, in whom the get
ting. and keeping instincts of his great
grandfather, whose name be bears, have
been intensified. As the first John
Jacob guarded his fiddle strings against
wet weather, SO will the present John
Jacob guard the mary millions, the out
growth of this same stock of catgut,