Evening star., 1923-10-03
JUNK MAN HEADS
n. Y. TAX LIST
Pays on 49, 600, 900 Personal
! Property, Setting New
Record.
BY ROBERT T. SMALL.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, october 3.-He's not
in who's Who" but he Is the richest
man in New York in personal prop
erty. Probably he Is the richest man
in the world in this respect. In any
event, he Is worth three times as
much as John D. Rockefeller, the Van
Canderbilts. the Whitneys and the Nor
gans trail far behind him.
His name is Eli Joseph and he
appears today at the head of New
York's personal tax list with an
assessment on 100000 worth of
personal property. His nearest COM
petitor is Mary D. Biddle Of the
famous Biddle family of Phila.
delphia and New York. who is as
with s1,10OO,0Oo. Horace Havemeyer
of the sugar Havemeyers is fourth
with $1,0o0,O00, tied with Hortense
NJ. Hirsch at a similar figure.
Personal Tax Feature.
4 striking feature of the personal
tax assessments is the large number
of women appearing on 1t. They
persons taxed at 100000 and over.
showing either that 1t is the women
who are thriftiest or that most mar
ri,d couples have their personal
property in the wife's name.
But to return to Ell Joseph. He is
lnown to older New Workers as a
junk man. a dealer in secondhand
metals. In the telephone directory
his business is put down as iron and
Steel" and his offices now are In the
He has a home in the fashionable
part of Madison avenue. but lives
some of the time at the Hotel Plaza-
He has a yacht, string of fine motor
cars, and all the other fixings OF the
modern multi-millionaire.
Much of Joseph's large fortune was
amassed during the war The scrap
iron business at that time was at It's
peak and New York's most heaviiy-
taxed man rode on the crest of the
wave.
Metals In Vast Demand.
Metals of all kind were in vast de-
mand and Joseph had the metals to
meet the market. AS the money
rolled in he began to see the light OF
his lifes ambition before him. The
the junk pile, looking out over q
vista of rusted mounds and tangled
heaps of bent and twisted metals, the
most sordid of surroundings. had rail-
ed dull in Eli Joseph love OF the
Today he is the possessor Of a
marvellous collection of objects OF
art, paintings. pottery, sculptures
and all the rest. He has the collec.
ton insured for s3.oO0.o0o and the
personal tax appraisers considered
that a fair amount in fixing the
value for taxation.
The existence Of the Joseph col
lection was not generally known
until last August. when Mr.. Joseph
was sued for 100000 damages by
j. Puvis Carter, also collector, who
ny
Joseph and his employees. several OF
Mr.. Cartcr's paintings became blis-
tered and cracked last winter while
they We're housed with the Joseph
dence, at 257 Madison avenue.
Carter's Assessment.
Mr. Carter, who sued Joseph. is
assessed at 100000. and James
Speyer. tho banker, who has leased
his home to Joseph. is assessed at
100000.
New York does not know an awful
lot about it's heaviest personal tax
payer. 1t knows that during the
war he paused In his money making
70 accept appointment as special
deputy fire commissioner Of the city
fre-fighting corps of 1000 men to
help meet the drain on the fire de-
partment force through the workings
OF the draft or the voluntary enlist
will be worth it or not. Mr.. Joseph
arose this morning to find his name
on the lips OF nearly every one in
New York.
Many Surprises Disclosed.
The personal tax list provides many
surprises. ]. Pierpont Morgan, who
was taxed on $1,000,000 last year, is
not taxed at all The same Is true Of
Vincent Astor and August Belmont.
the latter having sworn off 100000
two years ago on the ground of non-
residence.
$4,000. Fannie Brice. the actress. and
wife of Nicky Arnstein, is down for
$4,000. while Miss Anne Morgan. the
philanthropist. only rates $4,000
$4,000 worth of personal property;
the widow of Enrico Caruso has
$4,000. Rodman Wanamaker. head Of
the Wanamaker stores since the death
of the founder, John Wanamaker. Is
rated at $4,000. while Simon and
$4,000 each. Otto Kahn is in the
s5o.oo0 class and so is William K.
Vanderbilt.
RockefeIler in sooo,oeo Glass.
John D. Rockefeller jr., is in the
100000 class, keeping step with Ed
win J. Berwind, the anthracite opera
tor and Cornelius Vanderbilt and
Gertrude Whitney and Payne Whit
ney.. Louise Carnegie Is rated at
5000. 900 and Harry Payne Whitney is
down at S250,Oo0.
Harry r. Sinclair. owner of the race
horse Zev which is to be selected to
race the English champion Papyrus.
is listed as the owner of only $4,000
worth of personal property.
Trusting clicks" FIeeced.
Every week or so II is reported to
the police that some "hick" from the
country has bought the Woolworth
building or the Singer building or
some of the other great structures
A6out New York for couple Of hun
'dred dollars-extorted by some city
slicker.
For the information Of the trust
ing "hicks" and the public in general
il can be stated that the most valu-
able building in New York Is tho
Equitable Life structure. 1t is rated
at 3O,000.o0O. The Woolworth Is
: worth only s11. 100000. The Singer is
! listed at SS,20O,O00. The second most
81, valuable building in the city belongs
!, TO the American Telephone and Tele-
! graph Company. II is worth more
than s17,Oo0,O00. The Stock Ex-
/ change, If 1t were for sale. could be
: bought in at around S13,000,0o0.
Copyright, 1921