Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-06-25

Oul-lOl lhN uiOol PAL L. bhAN HNe19 " ~
The totals arrived at by the Herald,
based on all obtainable facts and re-
vised by experts whose position is pc |
culiarly favorable to accurate know
ledge, are probably the most accurate |
ever published. Admittedly, however,
they are low The possessions of the
two branches of the family are so vast
that it would be impossible to chronicle |
them in a newspaper story. Mention of
a few, however, will show the excellent /
ground there is for believing that their
value greatly exceeds SlS0,00O,OOO.
The Waldrof, the Astoria, the Neither
land and the Astor House are among
the hotels, while there are at least half
dozen big office buildings in the finan-
cial district on their books. There is
not a block in Broadway, between
Chambers and Fourteenth streets, on
which they do not own at least one
building, and upper Broadway, as far
as Forty-second street, where they own
three of the four corners, is dotted with
the name.
OTHER PROPERTY OF TIE AsTORS.
The west side of Long Acre square and
blocks Of private houses in the rear are
theirs, and uptown row upon row of
dwellings and square after square of
vacant land is held by one or the other
Astcr. Beyond the Harlem, following
the family policy of northward extern
sion, they have bought great tracts
within the city limits which future gen
erations of Astors must develop as the
present heads of the family have de-
veloped land purchased by the founder
And each year, as the mammoth in
come rolls in, new purchases are made,
simply to keep the money employed.
Its recipients cannot spend it. If CEN
tury has built up real estate owner
ship so great that its extent cannot be
accurately told, even in round numbers,
who is to say what the total will be
when another hundred years has rolled
away?
Dominated practically by the same
policy, the Goelet and Gerry real estate
possessions have risen to combined
total value of 100000. The founder
of the fortune, Peter Goelet, who died
! in 1877, bought improved leasehOld
properties and vacant land in growing
sections of the city. For the develop
ment of the latter he advanced money
to builders, many of whom were unable
to carry their enterprises through. The
properties thereupon reverted to the
Goelet estate.
Gradually the holdings became very
numerous, and, as the city grew. very
valuable. Then was instituted a system
of extension and ownership similar to
that of the Astors. The estate sold no
properties it bought many. Under the
direction of Messrs. Robert and Ogden
Geolet the value of their holdings has
increased greatly and the Gerry manage
ment has been hardly less successful.
The Goelet estate has been more pro-
gressive in its improvements than the
Astor, and their real estate is therefore
in better income-producing shape. With
IN few years they have erected such
buildings as the Knckerbocker and
Murray Hill theaters and the Imperial
Hotel, not to mention their smaller I'M
dertakings.
Their properties lie IN most of the de-
sirable sections of the city, but chiefly
they are along Broadway and Fifth
avenue. in the downtown mercantile
district and IN the neighborhood of The
Windsor Hotel, which they own, and
which stands on land that was original
ly part of the Goelet farm.
SOME MINOR PROPERTY HOLDERS.
Broadway and Fifth avenue real es-
tate has chiefly attracted Amos Il. Emo,
one of the men to whose shrewdness
only, and not to that of his ancestors. is
due the magnitude of his fortune. In
the sos he bought the property west of
Broadway and Fifth avenue, Twenty
third and Twenty-fourth streets, then
occupied by the hippodrome, which was
considered far uptown. subsequently
he erected the Fifth Avenue Hotel,
+ which he still owns, and the opening of
which greatly stimulated the district in
+ which it Is located.
Mr. Emo since that time has bought
heavily along Fifty avenue and Broad
, way, and he has shown an especial Xix
ing for odd but valuable parcels, like the
triangle at the junction of Broadway
/ Fifth avenue, and Twenty-third street
: Madison Square south. He has figured
q in the market as seller only on rare
occasions, but on most of his property
, he has never put price. 1t is not fol-
sale. Though advanced in years anC
not now active, he is considered one Of
the best Judges of values in New York.
OF such estates as the Arnold & Con