ich
it had been acquired, it is evident that they are a peril to society in
general no less than a pest to particular classes."

XXII. WILLIAM B. ASTOR.

MR. WILLIAM B. ASTOR would be unknown to fame were it not for two things.
First, he is "the son of his father," the famous John Jacob Astor.
Second, he is the richest citizen of the United States. In other
respects, he is a plain, unpretending man, who attends closely to his own
business, and cares nothing for notoriety.

Mr. Astor is the second son of John Jacob Astor, and is about
seventy-three years old. He was born in New York, in an old-fashioned
brick house which stood on the southern corner of Broadway and Vesey
street, a site at present covered by the Astor House. He received a
careful education, and upon leaving college was sent by his father to
travel through Europe. Upon his return he went into business with his
father, and it is said was even more thrifty and energetic in the
management of their affairs than the old gentleman himself. The severe
affliction of his elder brother made him the principal heir of his
father's vast estate, but he lost no opportunity of bettering his own
condition, and at the death of the elder Astor, he was worth about
$6,000,000 of his own. About $500,000 of this he had inherited from his
uncle Henry Astor, a wealthy butcher of New York. His father left him
the bulk of his fortune, which made him the richest man in America, and
since then he has devoted himself with great success to increasing the
amount of his possessions. His wealth is variously estimated at from
$60,000,000, to $100,000,000. No one but the fortunate possessor can
tell the exact amount. The greater part of this is invested in real
estate, much of which is very profitable. A large part, however, is
unimproved, and brings in no immediate return. Mr. Astor, however, can
afford to wait, and as there is no better judge of the prospective value
of real estate in New York, he rarely makes a mistake in his purchases.
He invests cautiously, allows others to improve the neighborhoods in
which his property lies, and reaps the benefit of their labors.

In person Mr. Astor is tall and heavily built, with a decided German
look, a dull, unintellectual face, and a cold, reserved manner. He is
unlike his father in many of his personal traits. He lives very simply.
His residence is a plain, but substantial-looking brick mansion in
Lafayette Place, adjo