The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-12-02
RICH SONS AT YALE
Simple Life on Incomes Which
Seldom Reach $4,000 a Year.
Young Cornelius Vanderbilt Lives in a
Three-Dollar Room and Young Whit
ney Says Money Is Not Wasted.
New York Herald.

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man seems to have been completely over
come by his proximity to so much great
ness, but he manages TO give some idea
of this group which, In the near future.
will own no small fraction of the country's
wealth.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, jr., he writes, is a
tall. slender youth whom you might pass
a dozen times a day in Yale, or out OF 1t,
for that matter and never know by any
outward token that he is the son Of the
great house of Vanderbilt. In manners he
is kindly. considerate and gentlemanly; in
bearing he is digniied, erect and straight
forward; IN disposition he is shy, nervous
and patient; in dress he is modest and un-
assuming. Although you see the boy this
morning face to face. the chances are that
when he is gone you cannot tell what
he wore. The student moves among his
friends with a quick, swinging step; now
and then some one bows TO him or stops
to ask about Rotations. The young man
pauses for a moment near the street and
looks at the workmen engaged in building
the memorial to his deceased brother,
young William II. Vanderbilt, recently a
Yale man. whose untimely death led Cor
nelius Vanderbilt to cause TO be erected at
Yale a magnificent dormitory. The struct-
ure is a grayish cut stone; already it has
been pushed up three or four stories.
"Oh. Neely!'
Vanderbilt turned and recognized a
friend. Nicely is the nickname bestowed
on young Cornelius Vanderbilt, jr, Yale,
1895.
The richest college student in Yale. or In
the world for that matter, lives quite sim
ply. If possible his hallway. just three
steps one way and two the other, is even
more bare than those Of his fellows; at
any rate, II is more encountered with waste
papers and the refuse from the rooms, for
the negro who sweeps out is later than
usual. Mr.. Vanderbilt speaks to the
Sweep" as the porters are called by the
students. and the colored man smiles
broadly and says "Howdee' in the most
commonplace way. which shows more of
the democratic spirit of Yale. Nor is the
sweep" Mr.. Vanderbilt's private man
servant. That dusky worker probably has
ten other rooms to look after; at any rate,
he has this whole floor. He pays no more
attention to the Vanderbilt quarters than
he does to the study of the chaps imme-
diately overhead.
For his college rooms young Vanderbilt
does not pay more than So a week, and even
this burden is divided by Mr.. Harrison, his
each boy. The rooms are like Mr.. Wander
bits clotheS-that Is, you might visit them
a ass dizen VIM blmes sbe anu con 1ea annS 6 SoHlG no. say say
simple articles of furniture, such as a table,
two student lamps OF the most ordinary
pattern, and a rocking-charir, adorned with
a parti-colored silken scarf. Perhaps the
most pretentious is the large window seat,
covered with a dark shade OF corduroy, and
made inviting with a couple of silk pill
lows. but even this WAS not provided by
MIR. Vanderbilt, being a fixture in the study,
common to all Yale sleeping halls. Indeed,
l saw a number of window seats at Yale
in poorer students quarters which were
much more handsome, though no more
serviceable, than the one in the Wander
blit rooms. Then there are the shelves on
dna lett hand wall, as you enter, In No. z.
mantel drapery; the characteristic being
the tassels. some six inches long, one
against the other in a fringe-like fashion.
On these shelves there was a picture Of n
yacht, some photographs, a fan, a small
h the SapIe "Y" a a few eiIGs' o a mag eea and
on the top shelf, something that looked
suspiciously like a German beer mug.
On the door, in characters a foot long. in
white, against a black background, was the
number of Mr.. yaarderbilts class, ,"95.'
ing a small table, at which Mr.. Vanderbilt
usually works, is a large couch, upholstered
in a dull shade of red, that sort of prickly
stuff which, If you sit long, gradually
makes itself very disagreeably felt. To the
rear, through a narrow door, are the two
sleeping apartments, side by side, some
what longer than they are wide, but at
best not noticeably large or commodious.
In fact, when Mir. Vanderbilt, as he fire.
Quently does, sits down to look over a
book beside his bed, the space is so con-
tracted between the wall and the bed that
AC has, II . Oihg hdldIdl " Hll, W I'LL
back in his chair and put his feet on the
white spread.
Mr.. Vanderbilt takes his meals in an
eating club'-that Is, a jolly association
of young fellows who dine at some private
residence. 1t is doubtful If the cost of the
entertainment given by these twelve gen.
tlemen averages more than Sc or s. each for
twenty-one meals.
Harry p. Whitney. the son of n possible
years stay at Yale has made a brilliant
record, socially and politically. eats at a
pended from a shield, pendant from a very
ornamental piece of iron work beside a no
and other good fellows eat with this crowd.
The name of the place changes with the
NAME nn of the l .ardn a,t This E,G year it is plain
| saw a man going about wearing on his
watch chain a tiny gold badge He was one
News, a paper circulated i'm the interest of
students, and one SO highly appreciated by
the boys that recently the faculty had to
interfere with the distribution thereof to the
extent of not allowing il in the class rooms.
To be an editor of the News is a position
gained by competitions; The man who sends
in the most acceptable items in q year is
appointed on the board. The sanctum Of
the News, is a snug place, Astounding in
papers, ink Spatters and all the traditional
earmarks of journalism. Young Whitney
is one of the board, as are likewise a number
of other capable men. Every Sunday night
Whitney is on duty. Then he kindles the
brass lamp in the little office, looks over the
news of the college day, and uses his blue
pencil as ne sees III.
Young Mr.. Whitney, who rooms with Mr..
Mcmillan, the son of United States Senator
Mcmillan, is studying for the law, and has
selected a course that naturally leads up to
it. The room these boys have Is very COM
Portable. and that Is all. A log is burning
on the hearth as / enter. Whitney is alb
sent. but Mcmillan, who is the president Of
the Yale navy, is talking with a gentleman
about money matters, to the effect that a
mortgage on the field must be raised. or
at least some of the interest paid. This
young man handles upwards of S10.000 an
nually in the interest of Yale athletics. His
friends call him Pub" He keeps no four
finland, lives quietly and treats every man
as his equal. He gave much light on the
question of college allowances.
NO" he says, there are no ten-thou-
sand-a-year men in Yale. no matter what
you may have read. What is a high allow
ance? Well, 5000 is considered exceptional.
Do | know many Yale men who spend that
much in college? No. / do not. once in "A
while a man comes here who thinks 10 cut
a swell. but his efforts are discouraged. You
see, we all want to be alike"
One other notable young man is Alonzo
Potter, tall, somewhat ford, but with a
splendid cast Of countenance and a high,
commanding brow. He is the son Of Bishop
Potter, ana as such, as we'll as for his own
merits is one of the marked mon Of Yala