Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-06-25
Total twenty holders. .....s352'

zoo,
matthew Willts............... WW'OVO
q. Willis james. o'Voo'ooo
Total twenty holders. .7352,ooo'ooo
MANY OWNERS FORCED TO SELL
Since the early part of 1893 there have
been many owners Of gilt edged realty
whose necessities forced them to sale,
but there has not been so much property
thrown on the market that the great
landed proprietors could not easily alb
sorb it all Their enormous incomes
have Afforded a sort of sinking fund for
the rescue of real estate in this city that
warrants the praise frequently bestowed
upon it-that it is Gas good as United
States government bonds
Notwithstanding this sustaining force,
however, there have been sacrifices from
purchasing prices during the hard times.
This, strange as it may seem, is iustiti-
cation of the landed interests They
have steadily refused to aid speculative
movements, and only holdings whose
value rested on sound foundation have
found purchasers among the great mill
lionaires.
As a result where overbuilding and
overspeculation have produced initiation
of prices there has been gradual shad
ing to normal figures. The great back
bone of New York Broadway-and
the streets and avenues crossing and
contiguous to it have held their own,
and even appreciated, despite failures,
falling prices, and checked enterprise.
Along this line flows the stream of
wealth and population, distributing it.
self on either side, and the wanderer too
TAR afield will surely reach the deserts
n which there are but few GASES.
FOLLOWED THE COURSE OF TRADE.
That is the story which the great es-
tates tell. They have been built up by
close observation of the arteries of the
city and they are great estates today
because their founders closely followed
the trend OF people and of money and
left as a legacy to their successors an
Injunction to 90 and do likewise.
Legally, properties cannot be entaied
in this country, but many of the largest
pOssessOrs of real estate in this city have
established system which practically
amounts to the same thing. Family
holdings have been tied up in trusts,
have been incumbered with prohibitions
not to sell during the life of the longest
living child of the longest living heir
and in other ways have been kept intact
that they might increase ten, "a hundred
fold.
In still other cases there has been a
family policy of Capitalization that al
most pales in steadfastness the policies
of the strongest governments. No pass.
ing sentiment has been allowed to in,
terfere with the determination to hold
to that in possession and to add to il
month by month, year by year, genera
ton by generation.
The most striking example of adher
ence to the doctrine which teaches thai
greatness is had through family, not
individual, possessions is the house OF
AstOr. More than a hundred years ago
in 1889, John Jacob Aston the frs
started the family on its way to t'
present position as the greatest landed
proprietor on two continents. liz
bought a lot in the Bowery, then known
as Bowery lane, near Elizabeth street
From time to time he added to his rea
estate holdings and twenty-one year
after his initial purchase he was thu
largest owner of real estate on Manhat
tan Island. No one has yet arisen t
take that proud place from the Astors
and the ambition, if any will cherish it
is almost hopeless. His descendants
William Waldorf and John Jacob Astor
together own 0 per cent of the $4,000,
100000 of real estate in this city, an,
each year the increment added is sufii
cient to provide many men with larg
fortunes.
AsTORs NEVER SELL REAL ESTATE.
The first John Jacob Astor establishe
the policy of the family. lie never sol
lot or building, and when he died h
left his real estate in bulk to his imme
date family. His sons and his grand
sons have practically followed his eS
ample. The few parcels they have di:
posed of were outlying and for the pun
poses of the development of the fami
possession unavailable. Astor real e;
tate is unpurchasable.
No statement of the exact possession
of the family has ever been made publ
and they have now become so great tina
it is doubtful if the managers themselve
could approach close to the exact fig