Evening star., 1939-11-26
Landlord Vincent Ast0r
Has Spent Millions to Keep Tenants Happy
By John Lear,
Associate Writer

NEW YORK, N. Y.-Vincent Astor,
"the landlords landlord" shuts out the
world from to 7:l5 o'clock five nights
week to commune in seclusion with
the blackface comedians, Amos n
Andy"
He lunches his long, round d-shouldered
frame in front of the radio, sips Scotch
and soda from glass at his elbow, pats
the upturned belly of his dachshund
Robin and laughs aloud at the trials and
tribulations of the founders of "The
Fresh Air Taxicab Co."
Any one who tries to reach him dur
ing those is minutes fails. He is either
"out," 'in conference" "out of town."
busy or delayed at the Office" from
the time the broadcast starts until it
ends.
The incident is characteristic of the
man. When Astor works, he works hard.
When he plays, he likes amusement on
a grand scale. So 1t is fitting that per-
sonal affairs, business deals, social re-
sponsibilities all must wait for this quar-
ter hour of laughter.
Has Railroads for Toys.
Amos m Andy" is by far Astor's
cheapest diversion. He plays prepos-
ferrous and expensive practical jokes
which sometimes go on for years. He
has miniature railroad, big enough to
carry score of grownups, as a play
thing on his country place at Rheinbeck,
along the Hudson. and another at his
estate in Bermuda. He parks his mil
lion-dollar yacht in the river and sleeps
on it to get away from the telephone.
Depending on the point of view, these
extravaganzas are looked upon by con-
temporaries as vestiges of adolescence
as evidences of an inherited fair for
showmanship, or merely as sumptuous
hobbies Of man rich enough to afford
them However they are viewed. they
are minor part in the story of the
real Vincent Astor, head of the Amer
lean branch" of the Astor family.
Astor was christened william Vim
cent" He dropped the william" years
ago Friends and associates now call
him "V. A."
Although he came into this world with
one of the biggest American fortunes in
his lap and with a heritage of great
social prestige and comparatively little
community beneflcence, Astor always has
tried to be liberal In thought. His efforts
to carry the thought into action were so
exploited and misrepresented when he
was young that today, at 48, he is sick
and tired" Of any and all references to
his good deeds" He refuses to admit
any philanthropies, insists he does ap-
| parently generous things only because
they are good business" and makes no
effort to correct widespread misconcep-
ton that his experience with the New
Deal has disillusioned him of progressive
political beliefs and broken his long
standing friendship with President
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Hard Shell Is Pretense.
He is great deal like boy wearing a
falseface. He deliberately tries to create
the impression, among people he meets,
that he doesn't know much about any
thing and doesn't do much that is
worthwhile.
Actually, he is an extremely shrewd
businessman. His judgments on broad
matters of policy have been right so
often, even when they looked to be
wrong, that his subordinates have an
almost superstitious belief in his opinions.
He pretends to be hard-shelled mil
lionaire. But his friends accuse him of
being "a sucker for any one who wears a
dirty shirt or has callouses on his hands. I"
The rich clique of men who own the
little group of hotels where social blue
bloods stay In New York raised holy Ned
when Astor signed contract between
his st. Regis Hotel employees and an
American Federation of Labor union.
ALI of them had refused to acknowledge
union up to that time. They pulled
their hair, beat their chests and called
Astor traitor to his class. One of them
even described him as dirty so-and-so
to his face.
Heaven only knows what they would
have done had they known the details of
Astors behavior before he signed. For
ne had called in the union leaders, asked
them what they wanted and agreed to
each request as it arose.
Gave "Check-off" to Union.
Entirely satisfied and immensely
pleased, the unionists were walking out
the door when Astor stopped them.
"You forgot something" he said
Don't you want the check-off too?"
The check-on is an arrangement un-
der which employers deduct union dues
OF their employees from the employees pay
checks and turn the money over directly
to the union. 1t is the last thing any
union expects an employer to agree to,
and it is rarely granted without fight
After assuring themselves that Astor
wasn't joking, the union leaders walked
out into Fifth Avenue in daze.
You cannot get these details from
Astor. If he talks about the incident at
ALL he dismisses it in few words as
though it were b very common occur
renee.
Astor's interest in news dates back to
October, 1888. when, impressed by the
economic philosophy Of Raymond Moley
President Roosevelt's chief brain
truster," he set Moley up as editor Of a
journal Of opinion called Today.
Today did not i've long because Ii
\ |