The herald., 1896-09-13
GOULD'S GOLD IS FADING
Are the CasteIlanes Going Too
Fast a Gait?
NO GREAT SOCIAL SUCCESS
The Exiravsgant Display of Wealth
Does Not Attract
On Her Marriage Day Anna Gould Had All of
Twelve r1iIiions-Five r1Hlions Al.
ready Dissipated
NO GREAT SOCIAL SUCCESS

NEW YORK, Sept. 11.-An astound-
ing piece of news has been brought here
by certain society folks who spent
portion of their European season in Par
is. 1t is nothing less that that the for
tune of Anna Gould, the countess de
Castellane, is rapidly on the wane, and
that il it continues D. fade away at the
present rate it will only be a question
of few years when it will amount to
little or nothing
When Anna Gould. on Monday, March
4. 1895, became the Countess of Castel-
lane in the Fifth avenue home of her
brother. George Gould, she had a fortune
of ST., 100000, yielding an income of $780,
600 year. 1t would seem that this sum
would be sufficient to nobly support any
young couple starting out on the voyage
Of married life, but, apparently, 1t was
not so in this case. Today the Countess
of Castellane has less than $7,000,000.
Part of this decrease Of $4,000, 900 Is di-
rectly due to natural causes, namely, the
depreciation in the value of the rail-
roads, bonds and stocks controlled by
the Gould family.
When Jay Gould died in November, of
'93, he left a fortune of $72, ,000 900. After
making special gifts of real estate to his
eldest son, George, and to his eldest
laughter, I1eleH, I0e Tel1dlnuPT,
amounting to about $67, 900 900, was di-
vided equally between the six children
George, Helen, Edwin, Anna, Howard
and Frank This gave trifle more that
$11,000,000 to each. In the year and a
half previous to her marriage Anna
Gould spent comparatively nothing of
her vast income and 1t became part of
the principal. In addition to this the
Gould stock appreciated slightly, CIV
n bo lot nf
her marriage $12,000,0O0
A FAT SETTLEMENT.
When the marriage agreement was
made with the young Count Jean de
Castellane, $2,000,00O Of Anna Gould's
fortune was settled upon him outright
At the time outsiders regarded this as
pretty steep price to pay for title in
country where titles had long since
passed out of date, but it seems that
great as the sum was it was only
portion of the cost.
When the Castellanes went abroad
shortly after the marriage it was gem
orally supposed that Anna Gould would
rule in the aristocratic circles of Paris.
There was no doubt as to the social
standing of the counts family and it
was logically argued that with immense
wealth at his command the young cou
pie would naturally become an imposing
factor in the best social element
If matters had gone along smooth
ly in this respect the dollars which Jay
Gould gave his happiness and life to pile
up would not be melting away like but
ter in the sun. But the aristocracy of
the F'aubourg st. Germaine, the makers
aid unmakers of Partisan society, de-
cided against the Castelanes, and that
decision has never been rescinded When
he left Paris to come to New York Cas-
tellane was good deal of social pet.
There was no door closed against him;
in fact, he was eagerly welcomed every
where. He is the kind of man who
makes himself pleasant to the men and
women whose lives are spent amid So
cial gayeties. He is graceful, amusing
and has a wonderful amount of ingenu-
ity of the kind which devises pretty cos
tunes, dainty dances and charming tab
ieaux. He was convenient man at all
times. Moreover, he was a fair catch.
He was not rich, but yet he had as much
as most of the young men of the old
French aristocracy.
Castellane's return to Paris was a
shock. His marriage had changed ey-
erything. Money makers and the chill
dren of money makers are not regarded
favorably by the aristocrats of the old
regime. They like money we'll enough,
and are willing to enjoy the pleasures
which money will give, but they draw
the line at social intimacy with those
in the despised class. 1t is a peculiar
condition Of social affairs which the av-
erage American can with difficulty I'M
derstand, but 1t exists, nevertheless, and
has existed for many generations.
THE FINANCIAL ENGINE.
Castellane could barely understand it,
although one of them. He saw his wife
snubbed in a polite way time after
time. The aristocrats looked down upon
her, and upon him, too, and this made
him desperate. Then he determined to
assume the aggressive, and bring them
to terms by forcing them to acknowl-
edge his wife as hostess unparalleled
in the present generation OF Paris. He
would use his wealth as an engine to
smash down all the barriers and leave
the road free and clear to the highest
social eminence. No field of endeavor
would be left untitled.
He began his crusade by establishing
one of the finest racing stables that
France has seen in long time. But his
horses We're unfortunate. He bet on
them heavily,and his ventures were con-
sistently unsuccessful He lost bigger
sums than the world will ever know Of
and his marriage settlement of 100000
was seriously impaired. To recoup he
tried speculation in the Bourse. He knew
nothing at all about the science of stocks,
and he made ducks and brakes of his
money, and more, too, in that field.
All this time he was, and for that mat
ter is carrying on the campaign in other
directions. His first move of great mag
nitude was the purchase of large piece
of property at the corner of the Avenue
du Bois de Boulogne and the Avenue
de Malakoff. This property is in the
| center of the most fashionable part Of
| Paris and cost prodigious sum.
When the purchase was made it leaked
out that it was the intention of Castel-
| lane to keep on purchasing property
along the Bois de Boulogne as far as
| st. Cloud, and even as far as Versailles,
| for the purpose of reproducing the
| grand Trianon and petit Trianon pal
| aces, with their surrounding gardens
and buildings, making the whole seem
| as the original did in the days of Nine.
de Pompadour, Of Marie Antoinette and
| of Napoleon.
| To carry out this plan would cost mil
! lions upon millions. Moreover it would
| take at least quarter of a century to
| complete the task. Whether Castellane
| was in earnest when he told of his inten-
| tions Is question. 1t was thought that
| perhaps he merely wished to open the
! eyes of his French friends; but, never
theless. it is known that he keeps on
buying property in the direction ORR
ginally mapped out. 1t is estimated that
| at least 1500, 900 of the Gould wealth
has already gone into this scheme.