Kansas City daily journal., 1896-12-27

~ about the swamps
~ trying to bring down
n = y the festive snipe with
<ZSD his gun or whether
he has been rolling in
the lap of luxury
p C. CARPENTER. with the nabobs Of
the United States.
The Isle of AIillionaires!
Have YOU ever heard of Il? It is lone
retreat for the Robinson Crusoes Of wall
street and Fifth avenue. A fairyland be-
longing to a club whose members have men
fridays by the dozen ana Who live in pal
aces rather than huts l visited 1t during
my recent trip to the South. 1t lies just
about eight miles from Brunswick, Ga-'
surrounded by the warm salt waters OF
the Southern Atlantic. It belongs in COM
mon to about five score miilionaires. 1t Is
estimated that the aggregate fortunes OF
its owners foot up several times one hun
dred million dollars, and it is said that
every man who loafs within its club house
spends his tens of thousands of dollars a
wear. II is known az Jekyl island, and 1t
was bought as a millionaires resort.
The membership fee at the start was $500,
hut l am told that admission to the club
is now worth thousands. The island cost
fbe club SI25.OO0 when ii was only a stretch
of sand, marsh and forests. Since then
hundreds of thousands of dollars have been
expended upon it, and when visited 1t
found an army of workmen putting up new
buildings, transplanting palm trees and
making other expensive Improvements fol
the winter season.
How the AIiIIfonaires Guard Their
Privacy.
No one can land on Jekyl island unless
he has an invitation. Steamboats, cannot
stop there, and the millionaires are as safe
from intrusion as they are behind their
English buffers in their homes in the great
cities. The privacy of the rich surrounds
them and the golden key of blue blood
allied to wealth is required before mem-
bership to the club can be obtained. So
far little has been said about the club in
the newspapers. Some of its members,
venture look down on newspaper men, and
one especially, who belongs to the Wander
bilt family and who usually sails down
here from New York in his yacht during
the winter, always has a private secretary
with him to keep off the press. Still, there
are newspaper men among the members,
and a notable figure is the Hon. Joseph
Pulitzer, who comes here after New Year
for his winter rest. He has for the past
two seasons rented a cottage at Jekyl, pay
ing am told, $500 for six weeks rent, an
average of $3.50 q week to merely have
roof over his head. Think of paying mere
than $50 a day for the privilege of living
in a two-story house. Add to this perhaps
S75 additional, and you have about the daily
expenses of one man at Jekyl. He brings
his horses with him. He has six. which
come in their special car some weeks in
advance in order that they may be ac-
clirnated before his arrival. He has his
private secretary, and his own servants,
and his family chef keeps his table sup
piled TO such an extent that he hardly
knows the difference between this desert
island and his own house at home. Though
,-Nn
IS not shut off from him. There is tele-
phone and telegraph line running from
Jelxyl to the mainland, and he is in as close
communication almost with his office in
New York as though he were in the ed
itorial room at the top of the great build
ing on City Hall square. J. Pierpont Nor
gan gets away from his business cares by
coming to JelSyl. Guarded by the sea, he
rides and drives about the island. and with
the Aladdin's lamp of his fortune clothes
his solitude with luxurious ease.
Where the MiIIionnires Come From.
Before take you with me on visit to
the island. let me say a little more about
the members of the club. A list of them
lies before me. and see that they come
from all parts of the Union. There is
Marshall Field, the big merchant prince of
Chicago. who began life as farmers boy
hut who now does a business of something
like SIS. 100000 a year. He has made for
tuune i'm dry goods, real estate and mines,
and his income is enormous. He travels TO
Brunswick in special car. and crosses in
the club launch to the island. Then there
IS James Hill. of st. Paul. who back In the
COS was clerk, and who now has more
railroads than any other man in the coun-
try. He owns the Great Northern, has a
large share of the Northern Pacific, and
such other property, that his pile is meas
ured by the tens Of millions. 1 am told
that he GngKvs n "a nTt haz Of
of the 10000 men in his employ, and that
his brain never stops working from one
years end TO the other. He comes to Jellyl
to try to get rest, and shoots and hunts i'm
this warm climate when the thermometer
Is at zero in his Minnesota home. Another
railroad millionaire who has a membership
in the club is George Gould, and a third
man whose special car carries him here is
Calvin S. Brice. the capitalist and United
States senator. Pierre Lorilard. the rich
tobacconist, spends some time at Jekyl
and Cornelius ". Bliss who is now spoken
OF as a possible secretary of the treasury
in McKinley's cabinet is another rich
member
Nanderbilt's Sweetheart and Her
$1,000 Dog.
A large number of the members are rich
by Inheritance. Some are polite loafers
who do little more than try to kill time
and a chapter might be written on the rich
women who come to Jekyl to while away
the weary hours. The younger girls come
10 fiirt and get husbands, for the matches
made here are sure 10 be good. from a
financial standpoint at least. They bring
their poodles with them, and I was shown
here Il photograph Of the $1,000 dog which
was owned by the girl whom Frederick
Vanderbilt courted at Jeilyl and came so
near marrying. The dog sits on a plush
cushion. and 1 am told it wore n gold col
lar Its pudgy little nose was kissed again
and again by this beautiful heiress and I
venture that Young Vanderbilt has MANY
times wished himself in its place. Then
there are the Goelets, the Rocketellers. the
Cuttings and score OF other well known
names which are almost regularly regis
tered on the JeSyl Island Club book. There
are miilionaires from Cincinnati and other
great cities, and, in fact. a representative
Of most Of the great fortunes of the United
States may be found in the club.
Where Wesley Made Love.
President Cleveland would be delighted
by visit TO JeykL. It is a fairy island.
where 1t is almost always summer Heated
as 1t is by the amorous kisses of the vo-
luptuous Gulf stream. the air is always
halnsy, and the trees are always green. II
IS. you know, just opposite Brunswick
Ga. which is one of the great turpcntine
and resin markets OF the country. and the
sweet smell Of the long leaved pines is
mixed with that of the tropical plants OF