The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-04-22

lano's suggestion Mr. Nissan was employed.
OF suiiaiss % on nY tisee Street jUst OF btosd
way. The building occupied ~ Rogers. Zee
: Co, which is the pLeperiy o. the Astors. nov
stands on the site. There, with OnlF an old
am b Gst H,H and Mr. nissan used TO work al
day every week day standing on opposite
Mr. Kistsm discovered that no record Of the
securities belonging to the estate had .ti ever
ldsstiiy them II they should be lost or stolen.
lie soon set thai matter right
real estate. The town was growing. New
houses bad e be construeted and cld house.
ne Psa sHst
ally superintendsd the work Of the builders
He found one house gong up with brown
support the masonry to lie laid above them.
and he made the builder change that lie
Ionhd sno.nes sonaeto6 enes[ u gong , Ea
brown-stone front doorsill had cracked in two
pieces in the centre. and he nade him change
although he hadinspected the buildings.
Mt. Nissan personally superintended the
ieenth' seyenteent6. SinetesntS' T6irty.third.
Thirty fourth. Thirty-ffth. Thirty sixth. Forty
third. Forty fourth. and Forthwith streets.
TO defeat the tricks OF dishonest builder. To
do so 1t would be necessary to he at the house
the As,or estate has ever followed OF paying :
fair rate to an honest man. He also cultivated
the friendship OF his tenants, and studied their
wants In putting up new buildings
The fret lawsuit which Mr.. Nissan had to
resist on behalf Of his employer was a suit by
s sn, %nOb hes q yonn 1aSGb hs.os Bs,ote
them By Mr.. Nissan, representing Mr.. Will am
y. Astor. but they would not listen to It The
amount as Mr.. Nissan had offered. but they
e esa o gone 70 An expense OF sometnlnf IKE
much 10. un hsr
In 1850 the city OF New Haven decided to
call In an issue OF seven per cent, bonds and
went with Mr. Astor to see the exchange
properly made In anticipation OF q disagree
What
was astounded at the demand.
very aiii:tsns S.:ls X. ssd e1!'00 VIII Fl
treat you no better than anybody else"
sad Mf & Rsss sne e
do it. II you have any money to give away.
give It TO poor man"
Mayor OF New Haven admittln that Mr.. kis-
sam was right and Offering to redeem the
bonds at the terms proposed by him.
menced. The original John Jacob Aston had
conducted prosperous trade with China.
He exchanged merchandise for skins on the
the skins to China. where they were exchanged
Tor carcoes Of tea. which were brought back to
orisnsi investmsnt one Of his enpeyees was
made a supercargo with n share in the profits,
but Mr.. Astor had no idea that that relation
mesa Years after the death Of the supercargo
his brother, who had been made his executor,
New YORK State. Claiming greater share OF
the profits than Mr.. Astor had given.
The office Of Chancellor was abolished in
Il then went before the supreme Court Mr..
Kissam devoted himself to that case. .Ho went
Astor from 1915 to 1873. and made himself
familiar with every detail OF the
business thEoughogt that time.
Daniel Lord and Mr. Southmayd. OF the firm
OF Eyarts. Southmayd& Choate. were counsel
for tho Aston estate The disting uish cd lawyer.
Bo'h SIDES presentea sseir eas enc Snd them Mr.
OConor wrote. letter to Mr.; Astor. exon
Grating him from any desire to defrsud the
com pensation to enable his client TO come out
Of the case whole. This was granted. Mr..
made It extremely unlikely that the plaintiff
would win. even on technicality His study
Of the history of the estate then made has been
Of value to him ever since.
The life OF the manager OF an estate has little
OF romance or OF change. For over forty-hvs
day. There is nothing about the Aston proper
ties that he does not know. except the value OF
.tsr ALL He Is maTfsd and has four OF d.uss
ters. He Is very fond Of the country. and has
: pleasant place In Arden. Orange county n. Y.
Impression on this point has got abroad. All
en- ployees in the offices OF the Astors are sal
tees Of Is III. Nissan are William CraiEs6ant
and George Lord Day.
II was about 1870 that Mr.. Kissam felt the
The rentals o: the Aston properties came In in
greater volume every year. What more nat
Abner Bartlett. who had also Graduated from
Grinnell Minturn X Co.'s. and was doing great
Abner Bartl cit is rs years old. He was born
n Plymouth. Mass and was the only one, of
nve brothers who lett home to seek his
Boston. where he got a position at a paItry
rate OF wages and began to educate himself
L was not long however. before he came to
New York, Tor he was here during the great
IRE OF 1850. He got position as clerk with
Minturn Co. and resided in house
,6ip ofices now is. IftsrWard he Went ' into
business to- himself In an office on Pine street.
he made money buying whaling vessels and
states Government during the war. Then be
became stock broker
Every Investment in real estate made BY the
n ade by his advice. When William b. Astor
lied in 1870 he recon- N ended 70 both his soAs.
William and John Jacob. that Mr.. Bartlett adj
istor when b. died in his house ON Fifth
Iept the promise and learned to value the
COUNSELLOR as much as their father had valued
The last great work that occupied Mr.. Bart
EFT was the construction OF the two new
hotels. the Waldorf at Thirty-third street and
he New Netherlsnd at Fifty ninth street on
builder. but Mr.. Bartlett attended to the
mallest details. even selecting the bolts and
ocks for the doors. At the dinner given in
ir. Bartlstt's honor by Mr. Boldt before he
'pened the Waldorf to the public, Charles A,
'eAbody. who 10 Mr. William Waldorf Astor's
PERSONAL representative. said that the two
otels would be a monument to Mr. BaItlett's
al ntul efforts as long as they stood
Mr, Bartlett will celebrate the tftisth ami
ersary Of his marriage next October. HIS
ride was Miss Mary Easton OF St Louis He
las four children. Mrs. s. s. Stryker. Mrs. j.
Vest Horner. Mrs. Jonas b. Nissan. and Abb
Ter Bartlett Jr.. who Is in the real estate busl-
less with Charles H. Read.
The third man to work for three generations
4 AstoTs is John DOwney the builder who is
ated in Brdistrests at over 81 OOOOOO He is
Iot so exclusively identified with the Astor
states as the others. lie works for all. Among
onspicuous buildings he has recently put up
Or people ether than the Astors are the Corn |
Bank building, the Home Life In
uIance building. building where the old |
mansion stood on TWenty-third |
treet for William q SeheTmerhorn, the Lam
ashirs Insurance COmpany's building, and
he London and lancashire building.
For William Waldorf AEtor he built the two |
sw hotels under Mr.. Bartletts direction and |
Or John Jacob Aston he built the downtown |
chsrmeThorn building opposite Trinity /
huTch. de is now building for John Jaeob 4