Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-23
NEW YORK

reputation for wealth
that they do not de-
serve. They make few thousands, set Up
a fine establishment and Immediately are
rated as worth from one hundred thousand
to quarter of a million dollars. In five
years they are reputed to be millionaires
and in five years more their wealth is esti-
mated from five to ten millions OF dollars.
1t is all humbug i tell you few of the rich
| men and women in New York are worth
half what they are reputed to be-
Such good authorities as Jay Gould and
J. D. and VIM. Rockefeller are on record as
saying that after men actually become mil
| lionaires they cannot tell the extent of
| their own fortunes.
Did Not Know His Wealth.
"It is my opinion that after a man has
accumulated s1,OOO,OOO he does not know his
| own wealth if he is engaged in any business
| in which there may be a shrinkage of
| values"
Thus spoke Jay Gould on one occasion
when a congressional investigating commit
| tee was trying to find out what his wealth
was and If his methods were fair.
John d. Rockefeller, who was a witness
before the same committee, said that he
did not know how wealthy he was.
Il have seen myself quoted in the news
papers," said the Standard Oil magnate
"as worth anywhere from $1OOOOOOO to
| $30.0OO,OOO. Now. what 1 own, 1 own, but
I can't begin to give any estimate above
$1o,OOO,O0O. although OF course that is not
| the extent Of my wealth"
| During the money panic Of a few months
ago the uncertainty Of the wealth Of our
| richest men was clearly proved. Those
rich men whose wealth lay il bonds and
stocks securities and speculative enterprises
generally found 1t to diminish at a wonder
| full rate, immeasurably faster than It had
| been accumulated. Bonds and stocks fell
In value SO rapidly that some very rich
men whose money was all invested in these
| Things found themselves poorer by millions
in few weeks So far as the face holdings
were concerned. Those who got frightened
| and unioaded their holdings found them
| selves poorer in fact as we'll as on paper
| Those who were willing and able to hold
| on found themselves at the end of the
panic In about the same position as they
| were before II began-most of them were
not either richer or poorer on paper.
The Astors' wealth is in a more solid
and satisfactory shape than is that of any
| other family in this country since IL con-
| stantly increases. The Vanderbilts follow
| the Astors. After these come the Rhine
| landers. also of New York; the Goelets,
Russell Sage. the Goulds, John w. Mackay,
and a score, perhaps more, all more or less
| wealthy.
But nearly all Of these men are consid-
| cred to be richer by many millions than
| they really are, while scores of modest
millionaires are overlooked entirely. A very
conservative calculator asserted in my
| nearing the other day that in New York
city alone there were more than 100 mill
ionaires as against 10000 street beggars
Wealth of Astors and VanderbiIts.
/ A careful estimate of the wealth of
the Astors puts it at s2OO.OOO,O0O. and
| this makes the family the richest in the
United States. What is more, the wealth
| of the Astors is in such shape that it can
| not but increase for the reason that it is
gilt-edged New York city real estate, some
| Of which has within the past ten years in
creased in value several hundred per cent
and is still appreciating. The policy of the
Astors has always been to buy real estate
on the lines along which New York city is
| now extending and hold it for a rise, rarely
selling, however, but building and renting
instead. the result is that the Astor prop
critics are in valuable lands. in brick. iron,
| stone and mortar instead of in fluctuating
| stocks and bonds the fixed value of which
Is always uncertain.
As family the vanderbilts stand next
to the Astors In the matter of wealth, and
their riches must be considered in the ag-
gregate and in common, since their indi-
vfdual fortunes are pooled, so to speak.
You will often see Cornelius Vanderbilt, the
present head of the house. quoted as being
worth s200,0o0,O0O. OF course he is not
/.
most of the Vanderbilt millions, but those
who know say that he is personally rot
worth above sS0.0oo.o0o. if as much.
1t must be remembered that the late Will
lam H. Vanderbilt had a large family to
divide his millions among and so the shares
| in the end were not SO large as some people
thought them. Besides there is disposition
on the part Of the calculators who love big
figures to give the Vanderbits credit for
owning outright their great railroad system
when. a matter of fact, thousands of
| stockholders share in the ownership.
The Rhinelander Money.
Another family that owns great wealth
is the Rhinelander family. whose early
members settled in New York more than a
century ago. The founder of this family
owned in his day q farm that ran along the
Hudson river in what is now the heart Of
New York. It extended from the Hudson to
near 5th avenue. and the ground on which
the original Rhinelanders formerly grew
turnips is now worth hundreds of dollars
square yard in certain localities. The Rhine
landers, like the Astors, have as a rule
sought to increase their landed property and
have sold inferior land in order to buy
better. In other words, as New York has
grown they have sold property downtown
in the great city where tenements are push
ing out the old residents and are buying in
new districts after the manner of the As
tors. There is no eXaggeration in saying
that the holdings of this family in New
The present Goelet family of New York
is another that holds the wealth in common
and, like the Rhnelanders, they owe it
to their hard-headed German ancestors
who invested their money in New York
real estate and left clauses in their wills
ordering that their landed possessions be
held intact as far as possible. The result
is that the Goelet farms in New York now
in the most desirable neighborhood of New
York, are rated to represent $75,O0O.OOO.
The Gould Estate.
The wealth Of the Gould family has al
ways been overestimated, just as the
wealth of Jay Gould himself was in his
day. This wealth is at times estimated at
as much as $500 OOOOOO and more Gould
was never worth anything like such a sum
nor is the combined wealth of the family
more than half that sum. Jay Gould's
wealth, while he was alive, was always
oyerestimated, he wished 1t to be for pur-
poses Of his own, at times. He was worth
much less than s1OO.OOO0OO when he died
some Judges say less than $72,OOO,OOO al
though it was in such shape that no one
could rightly tell just how much 1t aggre-
gated. It is doubtful If 1t has grown much
since Gould's death.
So much for the wealthy families
The wealthiest single individual in this
country is no doubt John d. Rockefeller,
the Standard Oil magnate, and strangely
enough his wealth is usually underesti-
mated. Very good judges who know Mr..
Rockefeller and his numerous enterprises
An,,& ~ e.