The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-06
reported to have said decisively. mi


reported to have said decisively "Mr,
Astor bores me-
There was no social objection to Mr..
Astor, and politically he did not threaten
any complications. It was not because
ne was or has been an American, be-
cause he is a man without any country
ana besides the Prince of Wales has toe
OFTEN shown his high consideration OF
Americans by marked attention to them.
THE TURN OF SOCIAL SUCCESS.
He was excluded, according to the Lon
don version of the affair, on the broad
general human principle that he was a
pore to the Prince of Wales. That was
all.
That represents the sum total of the So
clal achievements Mr.. Astor has won by
renouncing his country and his country
men by the purchase of princely Cliveden,
by millions OF money lavished in ostenta-
tious entertainments and by persistent
social campaigning backed by unlimited
money.
When the list, with the name Of Astor
erased by the royal hand, was returned
10 her there was nothing left for the I'M
fortunate Duchess of Buccleuch to do
save take upon" herself the disagreeable
TASK OF notifying Mr.. Aston OF the calam-
1ty Which had befallen and of recalling
her invitation. Personally she would be
delighted to welcome him, but the prince
did not feel equal to 1t and had specif1-
cally objected. That is the story as It is
now being told in London clubland.
There is no record Of Mr.. .Astor's ex-
pressions of opinion on the subject, and
1t is even doubtful II he gave vent to any
such expressions. The only thing known
about the effect Of the snub upon him Is
that Immediately after receiving it he sud-
denly departed from London in the midst
n hn III
gratuitous announcement with regard to
his own distribution of invitations to
entertainments at his various houses.
That the Prince Of Wales Is fond of
many of the Americans he has met is
well known. The reason he is fond of
them is because he has usually found
them SO bright, witty and sparkling, and
he appreciates these qualities. There is
no one fonder Of humor than the prince,
and with him, as with many others In
English society, dull American is an
anomaly. But Mr.. Astor is always seri-
Gus in his talk; sometimes even ponder
Gus. 1t is said also that he has lost
rather than gained favor in London by
his remuneration of his country.
There is in Great Britain now a genu-
inc and hearty admiration for America,
coupled with race pride which has
made in the minds Of many the achieve
ments of the great republic in a way the
achievements Of the English people. Just
at the time when this sentiment was
strongest in England Mr.. Aston published
over his own name a TRADE against his
country, and then scurried over to New
York to swear off the taxes on the prop
erty from which his princely revenue is
derived.
THE HOUSE OF ASTORGA.
There was one thing lacking to COM
plete this master stroke, and that was
to publish over his own name an account
Of his ancestral glories from the House
OF Astorga to the great man and good
American who traded for furs with the
American Indians, and thereby laid the
foundations of a great fortune.
English society only smiled at Mr..
Astor's rumored pretensions to the hand
of the Princess Victoria of Wales, but
the unwisdOm OF his Astorga ancestry
article put the climax to his perform
ances. After that it was admitted that
he was doubtful proposition, and the
recent snub which, so the story has it,
was given to him by the Prince of
Wales has only fixed an official seal
upon the general verdict. There is no
manner of doubt that society will take
its cue from the Prince Of Wales in the
case Of Mr.. Astor, as it does in prac-
tically all other matters of like nature
Is doomed to wane with startling rapid
ity.
There are many stories told of the
Prince Of Wales horror of a social bore,
and some of them are now being re-
vamped. The episode of BERTHE Milford
is frequently recalled. Milford was
slngularIy handsome man and a clever
one as well. He had been in the diplo-
matte service and was stationed In Japan
at moment when little was known
about that country and people, and when
all the quaintness and oddly of both
had it's charm of novelty for people in
England.
The prince was greatly interested in
Mitford's stories, and for a season the
handsome diplomat was his highnessess'
chief favorite and fourished accordingly
in London society. But suddenly the
prince became conscious of the fact that
Milford could for the time talk of Moth
ing but Japan, and both Milford and
Japan soon became a terror from which
| the prince would incontinently flee. At
| last his highness went the extreme
| length of denouncing Milford publicly as
| that dreadful bore" And that was the
! social end Of poor BERTHE for the time.
And there have been, too, other cpl
| sodes about persons at various houses
where the prince was a guest. Some
! times a host or hostess has declined to
| invite persons whose names were added
| to the list by the prince. The two most
notable incidents Of this kind were the
refusal of the Duchess of Portland to
invite Countess of Warwick to Welbeck
! for the Doncaster race week, and it was
| her failure to comply with the request
| of the heir apparent that led him to
| write to cancel his acceptance of the in
vitation to Weibeck Abbey and to go in
! stead to Tranby Croft.