The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-09-18
TWO EXPATRIATES WHO
LATELY SET FOOT In AMERIC
William Waldorf Astor, MuIti.MiIionaire, and
Henry James Novelist


this big town have been passing a good
many remarks on the two expatriates
who have lately been a-visiting here
William Waldorf Astor and Henry
James-the multi-millionaire real estate
owner and the novelist.
Some of the up-to-date papers, which
are occasionally termed yellow" have
given considerable space to them, but
most of the papers have let them both
off with small attention.
Both multi-millonaire and author are
interesting men to most readers. Prob
ably the man of wealth leads in in
terest with the majority. AS between
MIR. Astor and Mr.. James, the former
is undoubtedly of greater interest, for
he is both author and millionaire. Mr..
James has earned a good deal of mon
ey with his pen and is now in very
good circumstances, but he is by no
means millionaire.
Both Mr.. AStor and Mr.. James had
been long time away from this coun-
try when they landed here a few DAYS
age, and both expressed the same sort
of surprise over the modern New York
that Europeans always show when they
first see the town. Both have been
much criticised for making the old
world their home, Mr.. Astor the more
severely by far. Probably this has
been because of the contrast between
the accepted reasons for the two mems
eXpatriation.
Mr.. Astor's reasons are believed to
be his own dislike for his native land
| engendered by the popular curiosity
concerning him which has always been
shown by his countrymen, dislike
which was greatly increased by the
comments freely passed from time to
time upon his conduct. and which was
brought to a climax by certain tax as
| sessments upon his real estate.
Now and then mild protests from
some Of his acquaintance find a left
handed way into print, but neither Mr..
Astor himself nor any of his intimate
| friends have ever taken the trouble
to deny the truth of the popular i'm
! preston.
Mr.. James lives in England, not be
cause he hates America, but because
he likes England. He is by no means
! alone among literary people in finding
| the old world more congenial than the
new, and he has been a good deal
more successful than Mr.. Aston has
in winning an entree to such English
circles as he wishes to mingle with.
| Mr.. James DIS the head-center of
whatever literary or artistic group he
may chance to be with anywhere or
| at any time His personal friends,
moreover, include all sorts Of English
and French big wigs. On the other
| hand Mr.. Astor's relations with the
nobility, whom he tried so hard for a
| long time to captivate, have been of
such nature as to cause many para
graphs indicating strained relations
to creep into print.
His troubles with the Duke of West
minister. from whom he acquired Gil
Veden, his country seat, over various
| details of the transfer, indeed, were
the subject of much excited press Cos
sip ten or a dozen years ago on both
sides of the water. There are those
| among the knowing ones who say that
these very troubles with His Grace
of Westminster were at the bottom
of most of Mr.. Astor's alleged difficult
| ties in making his social way among
| the ariStocracY.
These say that if it he true that one
of Mr.. Astor's reasons for becoming
a British citizen was to win high So
cial recognition for himself and his
daughter, he should have taken the
Dukes many eccentricities into con-
sideration and been careful not to run
counter to them. These folk, of course,
do not understand the Astor nature.
They do not realize that William
Waldorf has eccentricitles of his own,
and that he believes he has as good Il
right to exhibit and live up to them as
any duke alive, and that on the whole
he is proud of them.
According to these folk, Mr. Astor
won the ill-will of the common people
who dwell in the vicinity of Cliveden