The San Francisco call., 1904-09-11
life Of the Misunderstood Millionaire in Lon
don One Of Many Woes and
Disappointments.
Expatrated American Will Never Become a
British Lord if Queen Alexandra
Can Help 1t.

LONDON, Sept. 1o.-Some OF the
widest nonsense on record has been
written about the transplanted branch
OF the Astor family since the announce
ment OF Miss Pauline's engagement to
Captain Spender Clay. Most Of it has
been III natured and some Of it has
been nbelous and all Of It has been
contrary TO William Waldorf Astor's
conviction that it is a kind Of infringe
nent Of copyright TO so much as men
ton his name in the newspapers ex-
cept In brief and formal fashion.
Probably there isn't a man in Eng
land to-day who is so much misunder-
stood, who gets so little credit for his
good qualities and so much discredit
for peculiarities that apparently arise
from stiffness and irritability, rather
than from any real '-cussedness." Since
the engagement of his daughter has
been announced, he has been pictured
generally as in a state Of wild rage at
the thought that after all his efforts
he has not succeeded in marrying her
into the peerage. Unfortunately there
is nothing except Imagination to sup
port the story. Miss Astor chose to
fall in love with a solid, substantial
and eminently suitable man Of "a, who
seems TO be Of rather better quality
than most Of the available unmarried
peers or heirs to Dc erages, and 1 under
stand that she very promptly received
her fathers heartiest blessing.
1t is hard to part with so devoted
daughter" said Mr.. Astor TO a friend
who congrs tulated him on the engage
ment of Pauline. Since her mothers
death she has been the comfort of my
life and naturally one Of my chief stu
dies" Those who know the attachment
thar exists between father and daugh-
Ter. and who know the true facts con-
cerning the failure of the young Duke
II RcxbUrghc TO become the husband
Of Pauline AstOr express small patience
with the stories Of paternal dissatisfac-
tion with the present arrangement.
DESERTTON OF NATIVE LAND.
His desertion Of his native land has
been given as the reason Of the unpop-
ularity Of William Waldorf Astor, but
that had far less to do with it than
other qualities which make this queer
specimen Of millionaire uncommonly
interesting. An Englishman who
knows Mr. Astor intimately and sees
him almost daily said recently that
nothing so upset this ex-American as
chance observation in his newspaper,
the Pail Mall Gazette. or in the Pail
Mall Magazine that seemed to reflect
on the United States. 1T may surprise
YOU 10 know" he went on to say, that
Mr. Astor seems TO be genuinely de-
voted to the United States. He told
me once that the only reason for his
leaving II, aside from certain family
matters. was his indignation at the
way two or three yellow journals in
New York and A few Of the other cities
had written about him and his fam
lily"
You can get some idea Of the severe
rnethodical formality which character
ICES Mr.. Astor by a visit 10 his really
beautiful estate office on the Thames
Frnbankment next 10 the Temple. Out
side il looks as If It might be a deli
cately designed library that has been
stationed in London for a time TO be-
come sufficiently aged and sooty In ap-
pearance before taking its proper place
among similar choice old buildings in,
say Oxford.
MARVELLOUS ANGLES.
Inside all the walls are richly paneled
with polished oak, the hardwood floors
glisten like those Of a ballroom. the
single oaken bench for waiting visitors
is as stiff and uninviting as a marble
seat IN a mausoleum. There are no
curves snywhere-only right angles.
Behind a long, glistening counter. top
ped by e wondrous iron grill, are two
clerks, who also appear 70 have been
carved out OF oak, and who sit stiffiy
AT marvelously neat oaken desks bear
ing huge volumes. There is such an op-
pressive air OF right-sngled accuracy,
exacutude, precision and strict silent
formality about the place that ii would
be impossible 10 imagine such a thing
&C blot OF an erasure, or a misspelled
word in all those great books wherein
the Astor wealth is recorded down to
the minutest item. One fancies that
even the ciphers which lend their
countenance to the highest figures of
the Astor millions are written in those
ledgers IN the form OF squares rather
Than as ovsls
Beyond q polished vestibule, severely
adorned. is another room, likewise
oaken, and severely plain, where sits
the Astor solicitor-an exact man, sur
rounded by neat documents, recording
with phenomenal exactness every
transaction in which the Astor estate
has been involved. II you should in
advertently pay TO the Astor estate a
penny more than the precise sum you
owed, the perturbation OF the Astor
solicitor would be as great as II you
paid a penny-or a thousand dollars
less than you owed. In the room be-
yond Mr. Astor's Offices, and on the
floor above, Is severely beautiful hall,
where Mr.. Astor occasionally gives cor
rect banquets.
DISLIKES DISORDER.
And there you have william waldorf