The
Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Pag
Copyright, 1113, by tfe Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved
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Mi
vs.
Has Mrs. Astor No. 1
Returned to America
to File Her
Claim on
Social
Leader skip
as the ""Real
Widow" of
Col. Astor
Or Just
to Keep
.Vincent
VfL if
I.
I
1
'V. JK., i
ft I'm- fi
"FuKionable society imagines Mr. John Jacob Astor No. 1 standing at
the beginning of two widely different roads. Has she chosen the
,one that leads to social supremacy and will enable her to extinguish
' all the social claims of Mrs. Astor No. 2? Or has she chosen the one
that leads to a happy home for her son Vincent?",
from Some 111-Advised Marriage?
Mn. 1 Orme Wilson, Youngest
: Sister .; of the Late Colonel
John Jacob Astor Who
Never Recognized His Sec
ond Wife Mrs. Madeleine
Force Astor.
i HE return to New York of
Mrs. Astor as the late
Colonel John Jacob Aster's
first wife desires to be called and
her active preparations for the com
ing social season have added com
plications to an already extremely
complicated social situation- Mrs.
Aster's determination to take part
again in American fashionable ac
tivity was quite unexpected. . After
lier divorce she went to England to
llvs She said that nothing could
ever Induce her to return to this
country tp stay. She bought a house
is London and spent a fortune on
Its decorations and furnishings. It
was to be her permanent home and
'there she would bring up her only
daughter, Muriel, as the typical
English girl is brought up.
Is Mrs. Astor's return prompted
because of mother love or ambition,
asks fashionable society. Is it a
fact that, always deeply resentful
of Colonel Astor's marriage to Mad
eleine Force, she considers herself
the only real Astor widow and has
made hp her mind to act accord
ingly' forcing all her world so to
accept her? Or does she feel it her
duty to direct personally her son
Vincent's love cruises to some per
fectly satisfactory matrimonial ha
ven, add so avert any mesalliance
which would make even more com
plex the Astor family relations?
. And in the former event what will
be the social standing of young
Mrs.1 Astor No. 2, who was Made
leine Foree, and who, since the
tragedy that made her a widow, has
1 .become a mother?
; As all the world knows, Colonel
: Astor married Madeleine Force, went
to Europe on a postponed wedding
trip and was drowned on the Ti
' tanic. From the day of the mar
; riage a great part of New York and
tNewport society has ignored the
new Mrs. Astor. She is to-day
hardly more than a very rich young
woman, living in the magnificent
"mansion on Fifth avenue built by
the late Mrs. William Astor and
her son for their Joint use. This
will be her home until she marries
again. Not even her tragic widow
hood won her the friendship of society-
She is as much apart from
the fashionable world as though she
had not married one of its most im
portant' men. She lives alone in
her superb home, unsought by so-clety-vand
not seeking it.
There Is no doubt that the most
Important factor in the affair is the
returned exile herself. -Her attitude
will settle a part of the Vexed prob
lem. If she succeeds in breaking off
all communication between Vincent
Astor and his stepmother there is
no manner of doubt that society will
continue its present policy! neglect-
' ing the young widow.
Many of Mrs. Astor's' friends say
that this is her sole reason for re
turning to New York. One promi
nent matron says that Mrs. Astor
does not intend to let the young
widow and her family carry things '
with a high hand; that Vincent is
not to be allowed to be on friendly
- terms with the new connections
brought into the famiTy by his
father's second marriage, that he is
to be a stranger to his baby step
brother. "This," said the matron, "is Ava's
sole reason for coming back, and a
very good reason, too," she, finished.
But an equally important matron
says that mother love is the reason
for the return.
"Ava," says this matron, "is devoted
to Vincent, and when he appealed to
her to come and assume charge of
his home she gave tip ber most cher
ished plans. It is mother love that
brings her back. Why, Ava might
marry into the English nobility.- She
is on the most friendly terms with
the 'Court Circle,' even QueenMary
has singled her out for attention,
and no American has a more valu
able position in London. But for
Vincent's sake she gives all this up.
Only mother love could make such a
sacrifice."
On the contrary, several of the"
women who have known Mrs. Astor
for many years say that mother love
was never her strong point and that
it has nothing to do with ber re
turn. They call attention to the fact
that she gave Vincent to his father
at the time of the divorce and made
no effort to hold him.
"Ava," say these critics, "is not,,
guided by mother love, but by social
ambition. She has never given up
her right to use the name of Astor
and calls herself either 'Mrs. Astor
or 'Mrs. John Astor.' , She has abso-
lutely refused to add her maiden
name as so many prominent divorcees
Lave done. This shows clearly that
she realizes the social value of her
late husband's name and family and
does not mean to give this advan
tage to her successor. It is social
ambition, - pure and simple, that
made Ava come back."
r 'Who shall decide when society
disagrees? Whatever Mrs Astor
reasons, the tact is that she is here
and that sbe will be much in the
public eye all Winter. By virtue of
her beauty, her family and' ber
wealth, she will naturally assume
her old-time position in society. She
can no longer reign in the three-million-dollar
mansion fronting Cen
tral Park where her former tri
umphs occurred. But the women
who will flock to her in her new
home further down the avenue will
never call on the second Mrs. Astor.
In her Winter's campaign Mrs.
Astor will have the moral support
of her sister-in-law, Mrs. Orme Wil
son, who was Colonel Astor's young
est sister. Mrs. Wilson never ac
cepted the new wife. She has never
spoken to her. When the baby was
born Mrs. Wilson made no friendly
inquiries. She did not even send her
new nephew a pair of baby soxl
Society has watched Mrs. Wilson
closely, and undoubtedly has been
guided by her. Last Winter when
Colonel Astor appeared in his box at
the opera with his pretty bride, Mrs.
Wilson sat iu the next box nd did
not turn her face once toward her
brother or his wife. She openly cut
them before tie crowded onera
house. Not even her brother's
tragic death won a kind word from
her. She has not entered the great
mansion where her mother died
since Madeleine Force entered it as
a bride
Mrs. Astor will therefore have
Mrs. Wilson's help in keeping Vin
cent among his old friends and in
furthering her plans for marrying
the hundred-million-dollar heir to a
girl of family and high social stand
ing. There must be no mistake
made in Vincent's marriage. The
Astor line must be perpetuated, as
it has been in the past, by a care
fully arranged marriage.
Young Mr. Astor undoubtedly
needs a mother's care. He is one
of the richest young men in the
world and his path will be beset
with temptations. He is not par
ticularly capable of managing his
great estate and he is just at the
point where he might make a most
serious mlB-step. His mother, by
surrounding him with her friends
and by keeping him in the rut
carved by the Astor family, will be
of incalculable service to him. Of
course there will no entertaining
this winter, for in spite of her di
vorce Mrs. Astor is observing' a
period of mourning. She is refusing
all invitations to formal affairs and
Is wearing black. The very quiet
ness of their life makes it all the
more necessary to surround the
heir with family friends.
Was there ever a more peculiar
state of affairs? The divorced
wife, wearing mourniny, refusing all
social engagements, and insisting
on her right to be "Mrs. Astor."
The second wife, wearing deeper
mourning, living quietly and with
dignity in her husband's home,
caring for her baby, and evidently
content to be known as Mrs. Made
liene Force Astor! What will hap
pen when her period of mourning
is over? Will she then make an
effort, to conquer society for the
sake of ber small son? Or will she
marry one of the friends of her
early life, giving up the five million
dollar heritage and the great man
sion? There is a side to the problem
confronting society that is much
discussed behind closed doors. What
does the first Mrs. Astot mean to
imply by assuming all the rights of
head of the family? Does she
really believe that her divorce did
not alter her status as' the wife of
the late Colonel Astor? Does she
mean to imply that she is the real
wife, the real widow? Does she
mean to imply that Mrs. Madeleine
Force Astor is only an episode, that
she is only entitled to second place,
socially?
Colonel Astor was forbidden to
marry again. His divorce was
granted in the State of New York
and there is but one reason for such
a divorce. In the decree he wis told
that he could not marry again in
this State. He married Madeleine
Force in Rhode Island neverthe
less Madeleine Force and Colonel Astor
were legally married. In his will,
Colonel Astor made such arrange
ments for bis bride as the Astor
men have always made for the
women they have married. Society,
headed by Mrs. Astor and Mrs. Wll-
Mrs. Madeleine Force Astoi
(Mrs. John Jacob Astor
No. 2) Who 1$ Not Recog
nized by the Majority of Fa
shionable Society as the
Leader of the Astor Family.
'. What Mrs. Astor Gave Up When Divorced AND NOW GETS BACK
1. Ferncliff, the magnificent 2,000 acre country estate on the banks of the Hudson. (But
, Mrs. Astor, a Vincent Astor's mother is now reigning over this great estate, just as though she
never had left ft.) i
. - 2. Beechwood, the handsome Newport estate on Bellevue avenue, where the late Mrs
; Astor entertained royalty. (Mrs. Astor, as Vincent's mother will reignthere next Summer, just as
; though she had never divorced his father.)
. 3. The town house on Fifth avenue that cost $3,000,000. (This belongs to the second Mrs.
- Astor until she marries, then it goes to Vincent In that event the first Mrs. Astor would again
f reign over it, just as though she had i;ver given it up.
. - 4. The superb steam yacht, Nourmahal, valued at half a million.
; - 5. The Astor Jewels valued at $5,000,000. (Mrs. Astor can now wear these wonderful
j gems, whenever Vincent wants her to.)
6. Her only son Vincent Astor, the richest man of his age in America. (Mrs. Astor now
; has him with her, just as though she had never given him up.)
. 7 A wife's share of a fortune of One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars.
The Newest Photograph of Mrs. John Jacob Astor No. 1, Showing the Weariness Which Has
Settled on Her Face Since Her Divorce from the Late Colonel Astor.
son, cannot affect the widow's legal
standing. It can and does make her
very unhappy, but that is society's
own prerogative. Mrs. ABtor dis
played Intense dislike to New York
after her divorce. Giving up her
social leadership here, she went
to London and there had many
social triumphs. She waB a guest
at many dinners where King
George and Queen Mary were guests
of honor, and she was courted by a
dozen men of title. She Bpent nearly
half a million dollars in establishing
her place in English society. She
transformed an originally plain
house into one of the handsomest
places in Mayfair. '
"England will be my future
home," she wrote her friends.
All this she has given up. Her
London house is for rent and to-day
she says, "I shall live in this coun
try until Vincent marries."
Deep in Mrs. Astor's heart, whis
pers the one friend who knows her
best, Is a great sadness. A sadness
caused by the marriage she con
tracted when a debutante. It has
been a silent sadness, but it shows
in her face and in the new photo
graph here shown the artist . has
caught it unawares.
A Few Things That Mrs. Astor Gives
Up in Order to Live in This Coun
try with Vincent Astor.
1. The London house that she spent
$300,000 to make one of the handsomest
"American" homes in Mayfair.
2. The friendship of Queen Mary.
.3. Royal dinner parties and balls.
4. One dozen perfectly good noble suit
ors, including Lord Curzon.
5. Her ambition to eventually succeed
Lady Paget as the leader of the American
set in London.'
6. A firmly established position in the
"Court Circle," where the most exclusive
members were her friends.
A Few Things That the Second Mrs.
Astor Has and Which She WILL
HAVE TO GIVE UP IF
SHE MARRIES AGAIN.
1. The $5,000,000 dollar house on Fifth
Avenue. This includes all its wonderful
furnishings.
2. $50,000 worth of motor cars and
other vehciles.
3. $5,000,000 left to her by her hus
band for the up-keep of the town house
and her own expenses. '
4. The steam yacht Noma, the vessel
that Colonel Astor bought to replace the
Nourmahal. - '
