The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-23
Miss Virginia Fair.

10Af LNCRbDAAOol.y
Society is vastly interested in the en-
gagement Of William K. Vanderbilt and
Miss Virginia Fair, the announcement
Of which m quick upon the heels of
that of Willie ks young cousin (heir
to the bulk of the Vanderbilt wealth.
to Miss Elsie French. William Kissam.
jr., is the son OF william Nissan, who
is the second son of the late William
H. Vanderbilt. Miss Fair, by this alli-
ance, will become the sister-in-law of
the Duchess Of Marlborough, and will
d her own independent fortune to
that Of her husband, who is the oldest
male descendant of William Nissan
Vanderbilt, and who will be the pos
ssssor of most of the millions of the
second branch OF the family.
Young Vanderbilt is not very good
looking, but he inilerits much of the
commercial genius n thrift of his
grandfather, Il of the old "commo-
dcre, who began the u%pbuilding of the
prodigfous material wealth his num-
erouS descendants now enjoy and con-
serve. Little Willie K. was carefully
reared. n his early education was
looked after by competent private tu-
tors. He is the first of the Vanderbilts
to attend Harvard. and it is said that
his progress in the special studies he is
pursuing in the scientific school of the
big university is rapid. He is especially
devoted to engineering, and evinces an
ambition to become proficient in geOl-
ogy. He is q years old, and will grad
uate in two years.
Miss Fair is one of the most winsome
Of the girls IN New York society. To
her personal charms is added the ulster
Of immense wealth in her own right.
n made her debut in New York So
cioty five years ago at the age Of IS.
She was introduced by her sister, Mrs.
Herman Oeirichs, at the OeIrichs cot
tage at Newport. At that time she at
tracted extraordinary attention. and
then began all sorts of speculation as
to the lucky man she would choose for
New York society Miss Fairs name was
coupled with that Prince Andre Pen
iatowski, but. of course. this was mere
rumor, with no foundation in truth
whatever.
The future Mrs William K. Wander
bilt has black eyes and hair, lively
complexion and a plump figure. Al
though she is under the medium height,
she weighs $50 pounds. Her GisDOsi-
ton is as sunny as the skies of her own
California. Miss Fair, by the way, has
cared to live in the golden eli
mate where her father made all his
money. On one occasion, having had TO
appear in a San Francisco court in the
Fair will case, she besought the judge
to hurry her examination in order not
to p%rotTact her stay in the windy and
fOggy town on the big bay.
Few Of the wealthy young women in
New York are simpler in their tastes
than the California heireSs. CT course.
she does net know how many are her
gowns or what they cost. but none of
theTn are made for pure display. Miss
Fair is n expert needleWOman. and
some of her fancy work shows positive
talent. Her efforts in this line are all
directed toward charity. She is both
sympathetic and generous, and a most
davOut Roman Catholic. In this re-
spect she has very good company when
in Newport, where ST. Mary'S little
church is filed on Sunday for 9 o'clock
mass with ultra fashionable people.
This mixed marriage viii make an
interesting problem to solve. The pro-
verbal opposition to the church to
marriages between its children and
Protestants will present an obstacle,
but not an insurmountabIe one. Dis
~pensaticns have been granted before,
and there is no obvious reason why a
d-ispens3tion should not be granted now.
The precise amount of Miss Fairs
fortune it is difficult to state. The
great Fair wealth can only be esti-
mated. but Virginia's share is said to
be in the neighborhood of So coo, 900.