The chronicle=news., 1913-08-20
|JOnn JAc0e AS1oR,
FOURTH, YEAR 0lD

cumsances and uurtured like m In
fant prince OF royal blood. John ia
cob Astor ". posthumous son OF the
late Colonel John Jacob Astor, one
Of the aotAbie victims of the Titan
ic disaster. reached the first mile
stone Of bis young life. the first an
niversary OF his birth. on August ~.
1919. Although only Just Q twelve
moath Of age the millionaire baby or
baby millionaire has already m In
isressinE In face = sensational his
tory.
Circumstances Of the moat unusual
character surrounded the coming In
To tho world Of this child which. not
~ithstandtnx Its tcnde youth 10 the
owner OF . fortune OF three million
dollars To b~ held Ia trux, for him
until he becomes Of age. His father
was Colonel John Jacob As,or, one
OF the wealthtest men 10 this coun.
try. WHO left . fortune ssaimatsd n
nearly one hundred millions, when
he met = brave mans death on the
iii.fatrd Titanic. Colonel Astor. son
Of william Axtor and cousin OF Will
liam Waldorf Astor. was marri III
twice. In 1891 he married Ava I.o-
vile willing. by whom he was di.
vorced In 1909. In tho fall Of 1911
II was rumored that Colonel John
Jacob Astor WAS paying marked at
tsntson to Madeline. tho beautiful
daughter OF Mr.. and Mrs. William
u. Force. OF Brookiyn. y. Y. The
rumor was soon confirmed. when
Colouel Astor obtained . marriage
license on scptembers. 1911. At an
early hour Of the morning and quick
~ drove to Newport. X. l.. where the
marriage ceremony was performed Al
"Bsechwood." Colonel Astor's mag.
nificcnt summer residence In that
sashionabic resort. Owing to III.
fact that the divorce decree forbade
Colonel Astor to remarry Ia the sta:c
OF Now York and the strong public
sentiment aroused by the announce
msnt Of his engagement to Misa
Force. Colonel Astor experienced cot
siderable difficulty In obtaining the
services Of . minister to perform the
ceremony. Eventually he succeeded
however. and the nuptial knot was
tied by the Rev. DR.. Joseph Lambert
. coaGresationai minister Of Provi-
dence. r. !.
Immediately after the ceremony
Coloael Assor aud bis young bride
sailed for Europe and made an ex-
tended wedding trip through the
continent and to EGypt. They re-
turned TO England in the early part
Of the spring Of 1911: and arranged
ta return to the United States on the
White Star liner Titantic which star.
ted from Liverpool on It's maiden trip
to New York. April 10.
The wreck Of the Titantic on its
first transatlantic voyage forms one
Of tho most stirring and sensational
chapters In the history OF the trans
Atlantic navigation. Four days out
from Liverpool. after an eventful
Journey. the Titantic crossed the
path OF the ice-berEs drifting south
and east OF Newfoundland banks and
on Sunday. April ~. at about half
past ten in the evening. In calm and
clear weather the gigantic steamship
ran. as Ia believed. against the sub
merged part of a large ice-burg. sink
ing four hours later. about 1900
persons on boadd.
Immediately after the collision the
boats were lowered and the women
and childen placed into them, al
though II was not believed at first
that tho ship would sink. To pre-
vent over-crowding OF the lifeboats
only enough men were permitted in
them to row and steer them. and be
1t said to the credit Of the men on
that ill-fated liner, only q few crav-
ems were among them who. frishten-
ed ont Of their wits DtlRhed them