The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-10-27
MEN OF MODEL HABITS.
Abstemious Lives of Nine Leading MIL
lionaires of America.

hiIltTlcd dIc D1tH vi hdUlbS
to which is due, in the case of the self
made men, the accumulation of their
great fortunes True, they have all
magnificent homes, but personally they
are abstemious. The least pretentious
residence is that of William Waldorf
Astor. 1t is four-story brick house in
Thirty-third street, between Fifth and
Madison avenues. Soon, however, Mr..
Aston is to build new house in Fifth
avenue, near Central Park Not one of
the nine men uses tobacco, and only
two or three touch ardent spirits at all.
Mr.. Astor uses wine very sparingly
at his table, but never elsewhere. He
has abandoned pol itical aspirations, and
is rarely seen at public gatherings now
adays. He is a regular attendant at
church.
Mr.. Gould has always been man of
regular habits. lie has his hours for
going to bed and getting up. and he
never varies them. He Is as plain in
his eating as farmer. Mr.. Gould has
been an exceedingly hard worker 1t
is said that the ambition of his life has
been to be the richest man in the world,
but there is no likelihood of its realiza-
ton. Mr.. Astor, Mr.. Rockefeller and
the Vanderbilts will far outstrip him.
His impaired health has compelled him
to relinq dish his business cares to a
considerable degree, and 1t is not prob
able that he will embark in any other
great undertaking on account of the
fear of breaking down. His fortune is
now principally in the Western Union
Telegraph Company, the Manhattan
elevated railway and the Missouri Pa
cific railway system.
Mr.. Roclsefelle" is deacon in the
church He passes the contribution
plate in the Fifth Avenue Baptist
church, to which he belongs. He is
large contributor to church and educa-
tional work. He takes no part in poll
tics and leads very secluded life. 1t
is next to impossible to gain access to
him at his office in the magnificent
Standard Oil building, on Bowling
Green, at the foot of Broadway. His
fortune has been overestimated on ac-
count of its rapid growth.
Cornelius Vanderbilt is deeply inter-
ested in church work. The support of
the railroad branch of the Young Mems
Christian Association comes mainly
from him. He directs the affairs of the
Vanderbilt system of railroads. Will
liam X Vanderbilt lives in the finest
style of any of the millionaires. He
has a house in New York, another at
Islip, L. l., and a third at Newport, be-
sides which he rents a mansion in Lon
don. He has a steam yacht that is as
big as many of the steamships in the
Atlantic carrying trade, and is literally
a floating palace
Mr.. Flagler is a man of exceedingly
agreeable personal manners. He is a
contributor to educational work. He
owns the great Ponce de Leon hotel at
| st. Augustine, Fla, and spends his
| winters there.
OF John |. Blair loss is heard or
| known than of any of the very rich
| men. He is a very old man and lives at
| Blairstown, N. j., which was named in
his honor, and where he established
seminary. His money was made build
| ing railroads in the west. He sold what
were known as the "Blair roads" to the
Vanderbilts, and they now form part of
the Chicago 4 Northwestern railroad
| system. His fortune is admirably in
| vested.
Russell Sage's fortune is the result Of
hard work, not physical exertion, but
unremittiug application. He began as
| grocer in Troy n. Y. Next he was
| interested in bank, then he took a
hand in railroad enterprise in the
northern part of New York, and then
he came TO New York. He is the
heaviest lender of money in New York,
and probably, as an individual, in the
world There is not time when he
could not respond to call for $40, 000,-
900 in cash. He keeps his money in
several banks and trust companies,
where he can obtain it promptly. He
keeps it in many places, so that a sud-
den demand for large amount would
not, by embarrassing an institution,
| precipitate trouble in the financial COM
munity Mr.. Sage lives in an old-fash-
toned, but very comfortable, house in
Fifth avenue, just above Forty-second
street He is member of the church
which Mr.. Gould attends, but of which
Mr.. Gould is not an actual member.
Mr. Sage is fond of driving, and has in
his stables some of the finest roadsters
in New York.
Mr.. Huntington is man of powerful
physique. He is very abstemious lie
never drinks anything stronger than
tea. lie was brought up on a farm in
Connecticut, and began in life selling
Yankee clocks. He went to the Pacific
coast when the gold fever broke out and
started trading posts. Then he went
into the hardware business, which in
time supplied everything from ten
penny nail to locomotive. Mr. Hum
tington, the late Mark Hopkins ito
whose fortune Edward f. Seares sue
ceeded by marrying his widow, Leland
Stamford and the late Charles Croker
built the Central Pacific railroad, and
later the southern Pacific. The reason
Mr. Huntington's fortune does not yield
over per cent. is that it is very largely
in stocks of railroads, upon which no
dividends at all are paid. OF the ulti-
mate value of these roads there is no
doubt, so that Mr.. Huntington's for
tune is likely to be greatly augmented