The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-09-23
THE ASTOR MILLIONS
HUMBLE ORIGIN AND RAPID IN
CREASE ~ FOUR GENERATIONS.
Built Up by saving NfcIxIes, Trading
Win Indians. Charging Big Rents
and Never Giving Any Away.
New York Recorder

we" York Recorder.
The faculty OF money getting is given to
many Americans. and as a Nation they
AFFORD many examples of dashing, brilliant,
nustling men of business. But if the credit
SIDE or the ledger down town shows large
profits. the files of bills from up town show
enormous expenses. The wife, and the
daughters, and the sons each and all pull
at the purse strings. and money that
should go into investments, that should be
saited away, is spent in the pleasures and
fashions Of the day. which return, instead
or interest. too often, only heartaches, and
headaches. and disappointments, so that
when the financial typhoon strikes. the ship
Is wrecked for want of ballast. To-day,
even in these dull times. there are scores
of men whose business income is far larger
than was that of the original John Jacob
Astor until the latter part of his life. when
his shrewd investments in New York realty
began to turn in their enormous revenues.
Yet it would be taking no great risk to say
that OF these scores Of ephemeral rich men
not one will found a fortune like his.
The opportunities for investment are as
good as ever. What Is needed is the bull
dog tenacity of purpose which Astor
brought Will him in his German peasant
oAOo0s OOAlDAlcQ VII the CiOScs caSCl III
which made a life prisoner of every penny
captured. and only gave a ticket of leave
TO go put and work for it's captor under
the ~strictest surveillance.
Every one knows in a more or less frag-
mentary way the story ot John Jacob As
tors life. The son Of a butcher in a little
German village. and not a very good butch
er, either, he went first to England and en-
gagged in a piano business in connection
with his brother. His original trip to this
country was to introduce his wares. and
It is believed he even brought with him a
German fute-but then the laws were very
Arrived here. his acquisitive genius soon
told him that there was far more money In
peltries than in psaiteries. The noble red
man would willingly part with furs OF great
value for a jug of rewate of no value at
all. and the difference in these values laid
the foundation of the Aston fortune: Frau
Astor. too. was a fitting helpmate for the
pushing young German, and soon, by close
attention and that Unborn gift that women
chSandise' aed with her own own expert hands
picked over and assorted the skins as they
came into the little shop. working as hard
in her indoor department as did her nus
band in his trading tours. The shrewd and
thrifty pair. saving every cent and turning
dimes into dollars on every transaction;
Of the fur business. Mr.. Astor's agents In
The wild West and beyond in the Northwest
we're everywhere, trading powder, snot'
beads. trinkets and cheap and snowy goods.
which are dear to the savage heart, for raw
furs- The transportation OF these led TO the
establishment of chains of trading posts,
and the small beginning took on the dig
nifty of a grand and successful business en-
terprise.
Perhaps the only great venture which Mr..
Astor ever undertook which did not turn
out a complete success was the founding
and establishing Of the colony of Astoria In
Oregon. Even in this, however, tx is not
likely that he lost ANYTHING. although MS
golden dreams did not prove true.
ASTOR'S PENURIOUS HABITS.
In all his business transactions Mr.. Astor
was exceedingly close and exacting. and
even in later life, when he had become by
far the richest man in America, he parted
with money with extreme reluctance. The
habit of penuriousness had become so in
grained that 1t could not be shaken off. He
never returned in any public-spirited way
a dollar of his money to the country which
had furnished it. Numerous anecdotes have
been told of him in this respect, which. IT
not true. are at least Characteristic Upon
one occasion a subscription list for some
public or charitable object was sent 10 him,
with q note from the sender, VINO, from
his personal and business relations. felt at
liberty to ask his aid toward a worthy. ODD
ject. The reply came in a letter speaking
in the highest terms Of the sender and cor
daily indorsing the project, ETC., ana then
went on 70 say: "Sympathizing warmly in
your undertaking, L beg TO SuDScrlDe =
here the page had to be turned and hopes
beat high-"myself your obedient servant.
John Jacob Aston" :,
Upon another occasion, being approached
verbally for a generous subscription for a
similar purpose, he declined. and when the
applicant called his attention to the fact
that his son, William b., had put his name
down for 800, he replied: my son William
has a very rich father-an advantage L
never possessed"
Mr.. As.or had a horror of the sea. He
never returned TO Europe but once, and
that late in life. 1t was told of him that on
his return in one of the primitive Atlantic
liners {" the day a great storm came up
Just as they left the English coast. A fear
full panic seized the old man, and he offered
the captain $1,000, 900 IL he would put about
and set him ashore.
Only those who know what 100000
meant to him can appreciate the extent OF
his fright.
John Jacob Che always pronounced it
Yawcob) Astor married Sarah Todd, and
had two sons. the elder a lifelong invalid,
and William Backhaus Aston, who care
fully and prudently conserved the vast
fortune left to him. and allowed the values
of New York real estate to double and
quadrupie under him, paying taxes, al
though very careful In looking after the
/. assessments, marking up the rents as quick
fly as values would warrant; reinvesting the
vast surplus income in unimproved lots,
-. - x-b1lo forpac In tho lina of the