Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-08-17
AsToR BoREs ALBERT EDWARDS,
Prince of Wales Eliminates Him From
List of Guests at Garden Party.

Prince of Wales Eliminates Him From
List of Guests at Garden Party.
Not Mr.. Astor-he bores me-" So
said the Prince of Wales, drawing his
pencil through the name of William
Waldorf Astor on the list Of guests In
vited to meet him at a garden party
given by the Duchess of Buccleugh.
With that scratch, done in an instant,
ended the social career of the most
ambitious American millionaire that
ever sought recognition from English
society. AS the leader of society the
Prince of Wales is more despotic in
England than his nephew, the War
Lord, as the ruler of Germany. His
will is law. Whom he takes up is
Great Britain. Whom he turns down
is turned down not only by the no.
bility and gentry. but by the rich
tradesmen by whom Mr., Astor Is now
outclassed. 1t is hard fate, burt no
one will say that by his own course
William Waldorf Astor has not richly
deserved it.
BY his own acts and his words Of
depreciation of the country in which
he was born Mr. Astor made himself
an alien in his native land. BY the
fiat of the Prince of Wales he is worse
than an alien in England New York
hates him. There Is no place for him
in the -Four Hundred England with
draws the glad hand and turns away
from him with a sncer, He is a man
without country.
A few years ago no man in this
country had brighter prospect before
him than William Waldorf Aston. He
had political aspirations, and began a
career that was promising. He served
in the New York Assembly with credit
and was n republican candidate for
congress. His defeat sourcd him, and
he determined to tsrn hi. back upon
his native city and to expatriate him
self. He went TO England, resolved
to win a place there that was i'm
possible in his own land. His great
wealth, he believed, would open for
him the doors of the highest circles in
duke of Westminster one OF the state
Hest homes among the stately homes
of England. He was ready TO enter
tain and to be entertained 1t was his
ambition to be the equal in the social
scale Of the proudest name in the
peerage and he would have succeeded
in his aspirations II he had not lacked
one requisite--tact He sought to be
"chummy" with the prince OF Wales,
and persisted in his efforts to gain ac-
cess to the princes set without per-
ceiving that his advances were colby
received. He was persistent, and at
last his persistence ended In his down
fall.
II is not possible to believe that the
prince of Wales only objection to Nj
Aston Is that he Is bore II such was
the case the princes act was not only
cruel it was caddish The prince OF
Wales Is good natured, and would
probably have endured The millionaire
II there had not been a deeper reason
for ostracising this aspiring American
than mere dislike for prosaic pre-
sumption. The act was one OF too
great severity to be merely the re-
suit Of wh!m. His royal hIghness
knew that a scratch Of his pencil
would render England too hot for one
OF the richest men in the world. Mere
dulness will neither explain nor ex-
cuse a sentence the most severe that
cruelty could conceive or royalty in
fiict. The words attributed to the
prince OF Wales. fippant as they seem
possess an import that in an earlier
age would have been withheld from
any one not guilty Of lese majesty.
Even the block and the axe OF a past
age were merciful In comparison with
the decree Of displeasure conveyed BY
this act Of royalty in our age and the
gibe that accompanied it:-"Not Mr..
Astor-he bores me-" What then was