Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1895-01-02
GIFTS WORTH MILLIONS.
Strange Presents Which Rich Peo-
pie Have Found in Their
Stockings.


wanted, the piece of silver missing from
his wife's collection or the pretty book
! or picture she would most Ike to have.
But in the household of the rich, where
| everything useful and ornamental is in
creasing in superabundance, to find some
f! thing for which q person will be really
glad from the heart to get is not by any
means an easy matter. Many loving
thoughts are given to these gifts and rich
| people have to start their Christmas plan
ming long before the Thanksgiving turkey
is eaten. Usually the gift is for the jew
| ell caSket, a faultlesS stone or some odd
or beautiful conceit in hair jewel and pin,
but everything under the sun is drawn
| upon. Here are some of the gifts-odd,
| beautiful or what not. every one is costly.
A Yacht for Christmas.
| Christmas of 1891 George Gould awol1e
| up to find himself sole owner of the Alta
| lanta. This magnificent yacht cost his
| father, Jay Gould, more than 100000,
| but he handed over the deed of gift to
| his favOrite son with as little concern as
| though the amount involved had been
| thousands instead of hundreds of thou
sands of dollars. There have been faster
boats and boats better adapted for racing
built, but there are few ocean palaces in
| the world more luxurious in every detail
| or which cost more than the Atalanta.
| She was carried to England last summer
| and used as a house boat during the
races between the Vigilant and the Prince
| of Wales yacht, the Britannia. Mrs.
Gould entertained right royalty on the
Atalanta, but she is still loyal and loves
| best the Hildegarde, the old boat on which
| she and Mr.. Gould spent their honeymoon
| nearly ten years ago.
George Gould has been generous in his
turn and has shown his fondness for MAX
ing Christmas presents costing great big
| fortunes His family had outgrOwn the
small but beautiful home just back of
Jay Gould's house on Fifth avenue, and
| Mrs Gould wanted to be close to Central
Park on account of the four babies.
| Christmas morning of 1893 she found in
/ her stocking the deed to a million dollar
| brownstone palace on Fifth avenue and
! Sixty-third street, facing the park and in
the center of the new millionaire neigh
| borhood.
Mr.. Astor's 81, 900, 900 Gift.
John Jacob Astor did a very graceful
thing last Christmas and no doubt the
| Christmas dinner eaten by himself, his
pretty wife and his little 3-year-old tasted
all the better for it. Under her fathers
| will Mrs J. Coleman Drayton had been
! disinherited, her forfeited estate going to
her children. Mr.. Astor gave to this, his
favorite sister, $1,000,000 absolutely on
| last Christmas morning.
| &lOO.OUO TOT Il
A very welcome gift which came to
| Rev. Dr. Macarthur, pastor of the Fifty
seventh street Baptist church, several
! Christmases ago was a check for $780,
| 600 from John D. Rockefeller to lift the
| church's Indebtedness and enable them
! to begin the new year free from debt.
Mayor Grants Famous Check.
| It is not often that we hear of such
| generous godfather, and it is well every
| now and then to make q note of it. The
| handsome bachelor eX-mayor of New
York, Hugh J. Grant, opened his heart
one Christmas not so long ago, and cast
| about in his mind what he should give his
! godchild, Flossie Croker, daughter of
| Richard Croker. She was too young for
diamonds, and she had of other rings all
that any little chubby maiden could de-
sire, so he gave her check, and that
| check called for $4,000. A great many
godfathers scattered over the land will
| find a valuable suggestion in this when
they are worrying themselves to skin and
| bone in order to find something appro-
| pirate for the dear little ones.
Gorgeous Jewels.
| Mrs. William Douglas Sloane, who
was a Vanderbilt, and rich in her own
| right before she married her handsome
millionaire husband, found on her dress
ing table last Christmas large case of
| pale blue velvet. In it was a complete
| set of Jewels, no stone being used except
turquoise set round with tiny diamonds.
| There were six pieces-a tiara, neck
| lace. broad band called a riviere, mean
| ing that it can be used for different pur-
| poses, as a girdle, from shoulder diagOn-
| ally across the gown to the waist,or any
way fancy suggests. A pin, ring and
| a bracelet completed this exquisite
set. Mrs. Sloane has golden hair and she
| especially affects light blue, SO that the
$1,000 Mr.. Sloane put into her Christ
mas gift last year has brought her a cor
responding amount of pleasure.
Santa Claus Brought Ball Room.
Mrs Henry Clews is very fond of en-
| tertaining in her beautiful house on West
| Thirty-fOurth street, and when her love-
| " daughter, Miss Elsie, finished school
and was ready to enter society, she
groaned in spirit because she had no ball
room in her splendid establishment Mr.
/ Clews sent her to Europe, and upon her
! return with her daughter, she found that
! her Christmas gift was a magnificent
ballroom, large enough for a cotillon of
| 200 couples. He found room for his
costly addition by using up all Of the
! back yard, but what need have New
! Workers for a back yard, anyway? The
room is all ivory white and gold, with a
! balcony for musicians The piano is
| ivory white and gold with tiny painted
panels, and the cotillon chairs are in
| the same dainty cOlOrs. The room was
! finished in time for Christmas dance,
and was the most unique Christmas pres
/ ent ever given in New York. The cost
was about $4,000, not nearly the cost of
! the pearl and diamond necklace which
| Mr.. Clews gave her on one Christmas
morning, and the room has afforded her
ten times the pleasure that any amount
| OF jewels could.
Precious Stones in This Stocking.
More years ago than she would care to
! tell. Mrs hIcks-Lord found in her stock
! ing one snowy Christmas day a chain of
alternate pearls and diamonds long enough
to hang from her belt and hold a fan al
most priceless. The mother of pearl sticks
are inlaid with gold and the monogram
flashes out from solidly incrusted dia-
monds What it cost she does not know,
but it is the most beautiful and costly fan
in New York, and not a matrOn or society
belle in the length and breadth of the
land can boast of fan approaching it in
any way.
A Necklace of Pearls.
Mrs. Adolph Ladenburg, for a long time
tbo aCt nODnlar me in NaVu