The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-09
The ASTOR MILLIONS.
Humble Origin and Rapid Growth
Through -Four Generations.

erty-As New York Grew SO Did the
Estate, and Real Values Kept Pace
With the Increase in Population.
From the Chicago Times.
New York, Nov. 3.-The faculty Of
money getting is given to many Aneri-
cans and as a nation they afford many
examples Of dashing, brilliant, hustling
men Of business. But if the credit side Of
the ledger downtown shows large profits,
the files Of bills from uptown show enor-
nous expenses. The wife and the daugh-
ter and the sons each and all pull at the
purse strings, and money that should go
into investments. that should be sailed
away, is spent in the pleasures and fash
ions of the day, which return, instead of
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 that of the original John
Jacob Aston until the latter part of his life,
when his shrewd investment 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 epheme-
/ raj 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 with him in his German peasant
blood, combined with the close, eager thrift
which made a life prisoner of every penny
captured and only gave a ticket-ofleave
to go out and work for its captor under
the strictest Surveillance.
Everyone knows in a more or less frag-
mentary way the story of John Jacob
Astor's life The son of a butcher in a
! little German village, and not very good
butcher either, he went first to England
| and engaged in a piano business in con-
| nection 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 flute, but then the laws
were very lax in those days.
Arrived here, his acquisitive genius
soon told him that there was far more
money in peltrles than in psalteries. The
noble red man would willingly part with
| furs of great value for a jug of fire water
| of no value al all, and the difference in
these values laid the foundation of the As
tor fortune. Frau Astor, too, was a nit
! ting helpmate for the pushing young
German, and soon, by -lose attention and
that Unborn gift that women have, be-
came a skilled judge of this merchandise,
and with her 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 husband
in his trading tours. The shrewd and
] aud frrrr,
ing dimes into dollars on every tran
| saction, found themselves soon almost in
command of the fur business. Mr.. AS
tors agents in the wild west, and be-
yond in the northwest, were everywhere,
trading powder, shot beads trinkets and
cheap and SNOWY goods, which are dear
to the savage heart, for raw turs. The
TRANSPORTATION Of these led to the estab-
| lishment of chains of trading posts, and
| the small beginning took on the dignity
of a grand and successful business enter
| prise.
| 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,
| it is not likely that he lost anything,
although his golden dream did not prove
true.
In all his business transactions Mr.. As
! IOf was exceedingly GlUoS anu CAdIttAle5
and even in later life, when he had be-
come by far the richest man in America,
he parted with money with extreme reluc-
lance. The habit of penuriousness had
become so ingraned that it could not be
shaken off. He never returned in any pub
lic-spirited way dollar of his money tc
the country which had furnished 1t. NJ
nerous anecdotes have been told of him in
this respect, which, if not true, are al
least characteristics Upon one occasion
a subscription list for some public oil
charitable object was sent to him with q
note from the sender, who from his per
sonal and business relations felt at liberty
to ask his aid toward a worthy object
The reply came in a. letter speaking in the
| highest terms of the sender and cor
/ daily indorsing the project, etc, and Their
went on to say: "Sympathizing warmly
in your undertaking, 1 beg to subscribe
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 Tor {
similar purpose he declined, and when the
applicant called his attention to the fac
that his son, William B., had put his
name down for 500, he replied; "My
son William has a very rich father-an ad
vantage I never possessed
| Mr. Aston had a horror of the sea- HI
| never returned to Europe but once, anC
| that late in life. 1t was told OF MN ina
on his return in one of the primitive
Atlantic liners of the day a great storm
came up just as they left the English
coast. A fearful panic seized the old man
and he offered the captain Sl000,0O0 If h
would put about and set him ashore.
only those who know what $1,000 0O
meant to him can appreciate the extern
of his fright.
John Jacob Che always pronounced Il
Yawcob) Aston married Sarah Todd, ant
had two sons the elder a lifelong invalid
and William Backhaus Aston, who careful
Nv and prudently conserved the vast for
tune left to him, and allowed the values OIL
New York real estate to double and quad
rupIe under him, paying taxes, although
very careful in looking after the assess
ments. marking up the rents as quickly al
values would warrant; reinvestins thu
vast surplus income in unimproyed lots
plots. and whole farms In the line Of tn
citv's growth northward. These farm
are rapidly becoming what the real-estat
J men call "gilt-edged," but still the process
{ goes on, and men hold up their hands II
oa,,irotiou of the Aston shrewdness with