The sun., 1919-10-20

Major Waldorf Astor.
question was who was 1.-The leader of
society?" The postmaster Of Newport
was instructed by Mrs. William Waldorf
Aston to deliver all mail addressed to
Mrs. Astor' to herself. The elder Mrs.
Aston, hearing Of this. went to the post
master and gave similar instructions.
She held that the contention of the
younger woman that she should be
known as Mrs. Aston by right of primo
geniture was un-American Newspapers
and society journals took sides, the ma
jority of them championing the cause OF
Mrs William Aston. This comedy,
which the participants took very Sc
riously, became of national Importance.
Mrs William Waldorf Aston was dis
tressed by the publicity and her husband
irritated beyond words, Eventually Mrs.
William Aston won the contest by rea-
son of priority in the field.
"A little later a burglar. MORALLY
wounded while trying to rob house
In Bay Ridge. said he was one of the
gang that kidnapped Charley Ross in
1874 and that Ross was dead. Certain
sensational newspapers were led by this
as TO how much money would be de-
manded from the william Waldorf
Astors II their son Waldorf were kid
mapped and how much they would be
willing to pay. The symposium lasted
for weeks, caused cranks to write let
tiers to the Astors and even led to an
attempted abduction of the boy
In Fear of Chlldren's Safety.
Mrs. Aston. who had been 4 girl of
II when Charley Ross was stolen in her
native city, Philadelphia, was so terror
lied by the fear of losing her own chill
aren that she broke down nervously
and physically. +. Cunliff-Ow wrote
in Sunday edition OF THE SUN in
1914:
at was because she believed that
there was no safety for her children
IN America and because her husband
was warned by her physicians that
complete change of scene and surround
ihgs was necessary for her recovery that,
he transferred his home from the United
States to England. Mrs. Astor never
entirely recovered. She deyel-
oped a melanchola which was infinitely
pathetic, especially to those who were
aware of its origin. and to which she
succumbed before many years had
passed. 1t was the spectacle
Of his wife's sufferings and the sense Of
the cruel loss which he had sustained
through her death, which he attributed
TO what he denounced as newspaper per-
secution and invasion OF the privacy of
his home, that embittered William Wal
dorf Astor, who was passionately de-
voted to her, SO strongly against the
land of his birth that he abiured his
American allegiance and secured ma
! turalization as an Englishman."
The hegira took place in 1890 Its an
nounced purpose was the education of
the Aston children. Nj. Astor was re-
puted to have said upon departing that
the United States, was mo country for
u gentleman to live in" This remark
never was authenticated. but the public,
knowing the state of his feelings, was
quite ready to swallow IL. and from
that moment William Waldorf Aston q
unpopularity in America dated.
At first the family lived in London
in Carlton House Terrace. Later Mr.
Astor from the Marquis Of
Lansdowne the latter's large residence,
Lansdowne, in Berkeley Square In
1898 he bought Cliveden from the Duke
of Westminster for s1.250.000. Cliveden
was then famous for its beauty. and Mr.
Aston improved 1t. 1t is IN Buckingham
shire, on the upper Thames, in a region
famous for pastoral loveliness, and Is
not far from Windsor and its castle
Unpopular With the English.
From the outset Astor did not get
along any too well with the English
people. For one thing. they accused
him OF fencing of Cliveden so that the
public could not have access TO parts
OF the grounds and river to which the
NIB I, oi
he had a memorable quarrel with the
Duke OF Westminster himself Mr..
Aston paid for the house on the under
standing that the price included all it's
contents The Duke tried to remove
certain things which he said had been
left by mistake.
Mr.. Astor surrendered some of them,
including art treasures, but refused to
give up the visitors book. in which
sovereigns and other visitors had writ
ten their names for two or three hun
drec years. After long and angry cor
respondence and threats of lawsuits
Mr.. Astor held on to the book. He
thereby incurred the lasting enmity of
Englands richest Duke and of almost
the whole Gosvenor family. one OF the
most powerful in England.
Later Mr., Aston bought Hever castle.
rear Sevenoaks. rated as one OF the
best exomples of a medieval dwelling
II England. 1t was the birthplace OF
Anne Boleyn, second wife of King
Henry VIII,
In 1894 Mrs. Asfor died at Cliveden.
leaving four children-Waldorf, Pauline,
John Jacob and Gwendoline Astor. She
was buried in Trinity churchyard, New
York. and her husbands visit to this
country on that occasion was one of
the few that he made after removing
&c England
Mr.. Aston was bent on making him
self both a public and social figure in
British life One OF the first things
he did was to buy the Pail Mall Gazette
and the Budget, the weekly edition OF
that newspaper. and to establish the
Pau Mall Md1Gsine. He set out to
revolutionize London journalism, and
succeeded fairly well. He made the
Liberal Pan Mall Gazette extremely
Conservative politically. He made an
Earps son editor. but controlled 1t him
self.
His was the first newspaper to an
nounce the retirement OF Mr. Gladstone,
thereby stirring up a wrathful demon
stration among the Englishmen, who
could not believe It He bought stories
ny Rudyard Kipling and others at the
highest market price. sharing the ex-
pense with American publishers. He
also contributed to the maya zine fiction
Of It's own, called "The Romance OF
Cllveden" written in quaint old Eng
ilsh and purporting to be restored from
fragments OF a manuscript OF the year
1893.
| Breaking the Social Ice.
The FIRST great triumph of his social
career In England was scored when he