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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1914)
The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page OtirUnp Millionairejr Apitter L atriotic exron tor in William - Waldorf ' Astor. WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR. owner of the biggest slice of New York real estate, has abandoned his long campaign to win a British title and become a social power in England. He. has decided - to Bell- his London Tory fce-wspapers, which he ran simply to Advance ha claims to a' title from the Tory party, and to wjthdraw from Eng lish public life and society. . He will spend the rest of his days at an ob scure place on the Continent. He will not go to America, for he became dis gusted with his native country before England rejected him. This Is the miserable end of the most costly attempt ever made by an Ameri can to win social honors and title in a foreign country. To gain these things William Waldorf Astor abandoned the country of his blrtb that gave him his Vast wealth, and neglected all the pa triotic and civic obligations which that wealth entailed. And now he finds that the foreign aristocrats whose boots he has licked and whose debts he has paid for twenty-five years have nothing but contempt and ridicule for him. Mr, Astor's experience should be a bitter lesson for the considerable num ber of American millionaires who are seeking a social career abroad and for others, who may be tempted toward a similar course.. Foreigners can have no real respect for a rich ' American who has abandoned his native country with out reason' or necessity, and no country will confer, honors worth having on such n man, ' -4' An amubiag and picturesque touch has been given to the collapse of Mr. Astor's English career by the lively tongue of his American daughter-in-law, Mrs. Waldorf Astor. She was Miss Nannie Langhorne, one of. the five noted Langhorne sisters of Virginia, the most famous group of beauties in society to-day. Young Mrs. Astor's American sense of humor was constantly stirred by the pathetic struggles of her father-in-law for a title, and she simply could not help making funny little remarks about It. These remarks irritated Mr. Astor very much, for he aimed to be an autocrat In his own family. According to the society gossip, somebody asked Mrs. Astor what office her father-in-law would take under the next Conservative government la England, and she replied: "He will be Lord High Opener of the Barrel." StMmore recently, it is said, another friend asked her what title Mr. .Astor would assume when he obtained his long coveted peerage, to which she answered: "I think he will be Earl of Tlghthurst." This is supposed to have been a deli cate reference to Mr. Astor's disinclina tion to refurnish Cliveden, the Astor pal ace on the Thames, at enormous expense. These more or less humorous remarks Why the Milky HAT Is known as the Milky Vay, the peculiar girdle of stars which completely encircles the heavens, has from time immemorial been so designated merely because of its re semblance to a'xnilky streak. The combined light of the myriads of tiny and distant stars which go to make up this cluster comes to us in so subdued a form that instead of shining brightly like that of other stars it sheds but a milky glow on the heavens, which is visible to the naked eye only on the clearee nights. U3 j 1 --i " . - vw ' - ,. J.. j Vsh -111 William Waldorf Astor, America's Most Notorious Expatriate, Ambitions Thwarted, Millions Wasted, Harassed by the Too Sharp Tongue of His Beautiful Daughter- - Lau), Drops Out to Wage Which He Gave Up His Own Country and her frequent references to . his "money bags" are 'said to have finally aggravated Mr. Astor beyond endurance and proved the final thrust. that decided him to withdraw from English social and public- life. He had 'already failed In every object on which he had set his heart and toinake(hIs daugbter-in-laWa Jesting remarks an excuse for getting out ' of a hopeless situation was not a sur prising action in a broken-spirited man. It is even suggested that Mr. Astor's pique against his daughter-in-law has led to serious estrangement from his son and the distressful word "disinheritance" has been mentioned, but upon this point there la no reliable information. On several occasions Mr. Astor's Amer lean dollars have placed him In a ridicu lous light In England, although he has spent them so freely there. During the last general election, for Instance, the English Tories made a great fuss about the American dollars they said were be ing sent over by Irish-Americans to win Home Rule for Ireland. At this election young Waldorf Astor was a Tory candi date for Parliament for the town of Plymouth. An English speaker gifted with traditional English slowness of com prehension, who went down to speak in support of Astor, laid great stress on the "dirty American dollars' cry. "Fellow countrymen, will you allow yourselves to be ruled by dirty American dollars sent over here to bribe our honest British electors into selling their coun- Another British Cartoon Making Fun of Astor's Ambition to Win a Peerage. try?" thundered the British orator. 'Then if you wish to avert that tragedy vote for my upright, patriotic friend, Mr. Waldorf Astor." Young Waldorf Astor, realising fully that he had nothing but "dirty American dollars," felt greatly embarrassed, but thought that he ought to back up his friend's remarks as strongly as possible. "I boll with indignation at the picture my noble friend has drawn of the base Way Is Really the It has now been suggested, however, that the Milky Way Is entitled to that designation for a much better reason than is afforded by its appearance. It is pointed out that, in all probability, the heavenly region occupied by the Milky Way la the birthplace of all stars, and that they remain there In their Infancy. When they are old enough and large enough to be weaned, so to speak, they leave the region of the Milky Way and become visible to us as Individual new stars. Just bow many millions of years it u-ay takt before the Immature worlds of the Fight for "7 X. ! USV'M 'hot i (.4Uf C4li.eS LOHtH. Pretty Mn. Waldorf Astor, Whose Nimble Tongue Has Made Her Father-in-Law Furious and Put the Finishing Touch on His Social Collapse in England. attempts to seduce our dear old country with for eign gold," cried Mr. Astor, when his turn to speak came. "We will Jolly well show, them that they can't buy up dear old England with their dirty American dollars." "I say. old top," called out a vulgar Briton in the audience, "won't yer please tell us wot you're a living orfT" Young Mrs. Astor related this amusing episode and many other details of the campaign in a very entertaining manner at London social gatherings. Everything she said added to the Irritability of the elder Astor, and helped on the final explosion. Nursing Place for Baby Stars composing the Mi'ky Way grow big enough to branch out for themselves is more or less problematical, but, of course, in considering the birth of new stars one must bear in mind that mill ions of years are usually required for such phenomena. It is believed that the younger stars have not yet had sufficient time, to stray far from the plane of the Milky Way. As they grow older, however, they in crease in velocity and soon they leave the Milky Way altogether and assume an individuality of their own. As they come within closer proximity to the earth, their presence sooner or later CopjrrUi-cmCJUth star Company, 3rt Britain. Rights Reserved' a Dukedom s 5 . 1 Y. Another reported remark of Mrs. Astor made fun of the Astor an cestry. The Duchess of Marlborough was explaining to some English people that the Vanderbllt family was not, as new as the English -think an American family must be. "But the Astors bad stopped skin ning skunks years before the Vander bilts stopped collecting tolls on their ferry," Interrupted Mrs. Waldorf Astor. This remark was quite annoying to o'd Mr. Ator, because he had with great trouble and expense published a genealogical report, showing that he was descended from an ancient Spanish noble family named Astorga. This was accom panied by copious illustrations and heral- becomes known to' our astroqomers. Not more than a dozen new stars have been identlQed by astronomers within the past three hundred years, but It is quite pTobable, of course, that many more have escaped observation. That the velocity of stars grows with their age Is explained by the fact that the mutual attraction which stars have for each otner grows, and this mutual attraction .accounts for the increased velocity. The theory is an Interesting one and has claimed the attention of a number of well known astronomers here an 4 abroad. hi iiIa a aV V, MTwUei itpi ni.Kt twi-f i ' 1 2j Curioiu Cartoon from the "Winning: : rL-- ; Donne in Shutting: the British Fublio Out of the Grounds of His Country Place, Clireden, and Showing-Young Mr. 'Astor aa " ' One of the "Guards" Patrolling- the Battle Strewn Wall dlo devices, and made very little mention of the Oerrnan peasants from whom the Astors were undoubtedly descended. One of Mr. Astor's peculiarities since lie settled in .England has been to have everything about him very feudal, so that he might be properly qualified for a place In the House of Lords. He bought Hever Castle In Kent, one of the most perfect Tudor castles In England. It had be longed to Queen Anne Boleyn, to marry whom King Henry VIII. divorced Kath arine of Aragon. Within a few years, as every schoolboy knows, he beheaded poor Anne ltoloyn. After that the ghost of this beautiful, graceful, unhappy young queen used to haunt her ancient home. It was this reputation of possessing a first-class his toric ghost that Induced Mr. Astor to buy Hever Castle. But after he moved in the ghost absolutely refused to walk.- A sar castic Englishman remarked that a queen's ghost would naturally refuse to walk for an American parvenu. This remark, like so many others, annoyed Mr. Astor very much. Mr. Astor has spent his money freely buying Tory newspapers and contributing to Tory campaign funds in England, with the object of getting a dukedom. In the last two hundred years dukedoms have only been given to men already having a high rank in the peerage, and even that way only four have been created since Mr. Astor's Second Son, John Jacob, in His Uniform as an Officer of the King's :- m ri Vl I! ii . r jJl . ..................... -, ill i - i 4 V 1" r TP . m A nnnnFrFir-iPdjrM Post," London, Ridiculing Mr. Aatot'sf 1 1814. When the Tory party was last Jf)v power It is seid they offered Atora-' baronetcy, an honor gtven to various ' makers of pills and soap. He spurned It. It Is explained that Astoria so un popular that the Tory party did net have M y the audacity to give him. a peerage boi matter how large his contributions might - be. Since he left New York" In 1892 and settled in London, hie life hat consisted of making large expenditures to gain the-1 coveted title and getting into difficulties that made U Impossible to give It to him. , In 1900 occurred the memorable 8ir Beiv' keley Milne affair, which astounded Eng- llsh society as nothing before or since has done. This consisted In ordering- out of his house Captain Milne because that. gentleman, the' captain of the Queen's yacht, happened to be present as a caller ! without au invitation at a uuslcale. Astor 4 mi caused an insulting item about Milne to be printed in bis newspaper. King Ed- ' ward VII., then Prince of Wales, "was " ! greatly enraged by this brutal treatment of a friend of his. i Astor, by this act,- became the most " disliked man In English society, as he'" had become in America a year before " ! by renouncing' allegiance' to his-native' land. ; . . .. . Before he incurred royal displeasure1 by the Milne affair, he Invited the then 'l Phlnce of Wales to Cliveden.' Ignoring the" -court etiquette of asking the royal visit- 1 or what diversion would suit bis pleasure 1 ' Astor bluntly said they would take a ride '"' ' u th Iaunch. which '.vas exactly what 1 7 the Prince did not want to do. This ; era In Ail kl it . . . - ' , me name or Deing the worst authority on court etiquette In England. ' He made himself ridiculous by bringing a libel suit against a London newspaper Tor printing a story that he had made , a bet that he could seat twenty-seven persons around a table made from a seo,' lion of redwood tree brought from Cali fornia. He really had such a table, but the dinner. story was a. hoax, perhaps, designed to. poke fun at. Astor. . The court laughed at him and dismissed the case, after having more or less fun wltl the senseless litigant. - . , , ., After, buying CJIveden. from the Dukev of Westminster, the latter remembered u, IT' DOOK' or -autograph album. ' which he asked; Mr, Astor. tor kindly re- ' turn to, him on,.coqut,of. It family as' oclat ons. Mr. ,torf.ourUy refused to- u , 7-and b,,c,m a bitter enemy of he Duke of Westminster ever after even refusing, to print a notloe of the Dukes death in his newspaper, although he was one of the richest peers of Eng. land. . .. "frnm10 0f ,hU"1' OUt th POpl' ' hT..t 8 ;oun, ot Cliveden, whlca .. mentef.,neen -PUblle park., to. mented feeling against him. At every step of Mr. Astor's career, la fact, he seems to have done just the things to defeat his own ends and am. bltion. - j Hever Castle, Bought by Mr, -Astor Because Queen Anne Bolern Once Lived in It, and Her Ghost Is . Paid to Haunt It. i i . ' t -I