Evening star., 1896-12-26

of sand, marsh and forests. Since then
hundreds of thousands of dollars have been
expended upon it, and when 1 visited 1t 1
found an army Of worimen putting up new
buildings transplanting palm trees and
making other expensive improvements for
{ the winter season
How the Millionaires 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 ard the golden key of blue blood
allied to wealth is required before men,
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 private secretary
with him to keep off the press. Still, there
are newspaper men among the men,
bers and notable figure IS 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, $1,000 for six weeks rent, an
average of $3.50 a week to merely have
roof over his head. Think of paying more
in a rwo-story house. Add to this per-
haps So 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 acclimated before his arrival. He has
his private secretary, and his own serv-
ants, and his family chef keeps his table
supplied TO such an extent that he hardly
knows the difference between this desert
island and his own house at home. Though
shut off from the world, however, the
world is not shut off from him. There is
telephone and q telegraph line running
from Jekyl to the mainland, and he Is
in close communication almost with his
Office in New York as though he were in
the editorial room at the top Of the great
building on City Hall Square. ]. Pier
pont Nc rgan gets away from his business
cares by coming to Jekyl. Guarded by
the sea ne rides and drives about the
island and with the Aladdin's lamp of his
fortune clothes his solitude with luxurious
ease.
Where the MilliOnaires Come From.
Before take you with me on a visit to
the island, let me say 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,
but who now does business of something
like $25, 100000 year. He has made a for
tune In dry goods, real estate and mines,
and his income is elermous. He travels to
Brunswick in a special car, and crosses IN
the club launch to the island. Then there
is James Hill of St. Paul. who back in the
sixties was a clerk, and who now has more
railroads than any other man in the coun-
try. He owns the Great NORTHERN, has
large share of the Northern Pacific, and
such other property that his pile is meas
| ured by the tens of millions. l am told
that he knows to cent the wages of each
of the 10000 men in his employ, and that
his brain never stops working from one
years end to the other. He comes to Jakyl
to try to get rest, and shoots and hunts In
this warm climate when the thermometer
is at zero in his Minnesota home. Another
railroad millionaire who has membership
| in the club is George Gould, and third
man whose special car carries him here Is
Calvin S. Brice, theScapitalist and United
| States Senator. s-iPierre Lorillard, the rich
| tobacocnist, spends some time at Jekyl,
| and Cornelius N. Bliss, who is now spoken
| OF as possible Secretary of the Treasury
| in McKinley's cabinet is another rich men,
| Der.
vanderbilts Sweetheart and Her
81 900 Dog.
large number of the members are rich
| by Inheritance. Some are polite loafers,
who do little more than try to kill time.
and chapter might be written on the
rich We men who come to Jekyl to while
away the weary hours The younger girls
come to fiirt and get husbands. for the
| matches made here are sure to be good
| from financial standpoint at least. They
bring their poodles with them. ana was
| shown here q photograph of the thousand
| dollar dog which was owned by the girl
whom Frederick Vanderbilt courted at
Jekyi and came so near marrying. The
dog sits on plush cushion, and am told
&