his son, sent him to the university of his native town, Heidelberg. There the young student made excellent use of his opportunities, learning fast, and obtaining numerous honors in the college. He became a thorough German linguist, a branch of knowledge which subsequently was of inestimable service to him. He was also an accomplished musician, and, like all German students of that day, and indeed, of our time, he became a skillful swordsman. He remained in Germany several years, and returned to America only when his father felt his presence indispensable to the management of his business, now swollen to colossal proportions.

William B. Astor had not lost his taste for business, and after traveling entirely over Europe which at that time was by no means the simple journey of to-day, he returned to New York, and once more entered the fur store. His uncle, Henry Astor,

in whom was the same aptitude in amassing money that seems to have characterized every member of the family, had accumulated a vast fortune. He was greatly attached to his nephew, and on his death he bequeathed to him $500,000. This legacy did not tempt William B. Astor to forsake his father's business. He invested the money, and carried on the fur trade with greater energy than ever. His father's increasing age and infirmities rendered his attention to the business uncertain, and finally almost the entire management fell upon the son. Out of the profits of his trade John Jacob Astor had purchased the site upon which his dwelling in Broadway was built, and in 1835 he built the Astor House on it, and transferred the whole property to his son. Soon afterward he gave him the residence in Lafayette place adjoining the Astor Library.

In 1848 John Jacob Astor died, at the age of eighty-three or eighty-four years, leaving an estate valued at upward of $20,000

000.

The institution with which William B. Astor's name is popularly identified is the Astor Library. The original fund for founding it was $400,000, of which $100,000 was for the site, building, and purchase of books, and $180,000 was to be used from time to time to increase the library. The remainder was to constitute a reserve fund. Since the institution was founded upward of $900,000

has been expended on it, and William B. Astor, out of his private funds gave Mr. Cogswell, former librarian, an annuity of $5,000. The first gift was made in 1859, when the first building was furnished. Afterward Mr. Astor gave the trustees a site of 150 feet deep by eighty feet wide, upon which a second and better building was erected. In 1866 he gave the library $50,000, of which $20,000 was invested in books. Among the original trustees of the library were William B. Astor, Washington Irving, Joseph C. Cogswell, and Fitz Greene Porter.

Mr. Astor was a much more liberal man than was generally supposed, but he gave unostentatiously, and many of the charities benefited by his benefactions never knew the giver of the most liberal gifts. On one subscription list, in possession of Mr. Isaac H. Brown, appears the entry $250 from "the son of a Mason;" the giver was Mr. Astor, who was not a Mason himself, though his father had been an active member of the order.

William B. Astor's eldest brother was a person of eccentricities, and could not be trusted alone. His tutor was appointed his guardian at a handsome salary and attended him wherever he went. He was often very violent in his dealings with those with whom he came in contact, and his quarrels with his guardian were frequent. He was secluded from society as far as possible, and was for a long time confined in his house at Fourteenth street and Ninth avenue, and there died a few years ago.

William B. Astor lived, for a long time, in Lafayette place, in a mansion adjoining the Astor Library. He owned 2,500 houses and building lots in the city, and his total wealth was recently estimated at $150,000,000.

Mr. Astor had more improved real estate than any four men in New York, excluding William Rhinelender, the Goelets, A. T. Stewart, and the Beekmans. Most of the large tenement houses around Tompkins square and along First avenue and Avenues A and B belong to the Astor estate, as also do whole blocks in Sixth avenue, from Sixteenth street to Fortieth street. The old Bowery Theatre and the old Park Theatre were on his land. He was always ready to buy real estate where he could get it cheap. It was his rule never to sell any of his houses or lots. He leased the most

of his lots for twenty-one years, with the stipulation that the lessee should build on them. On the expiration of the leases the buildings reverted to him with the lots.

None of William B. Astor's property was insured. He believed like Mr. Stewart that the cost of insurance would be greater than his losses. The terms of his father's will prohibited the building of brown-stone houses, as they were too extravagant. He strictly abided by this rule, aud the brown-stone houses that he owned he bought from others, as they reverted to him on the expiration of leases. The most of the residences that he built on Madison and Fifth avenues and Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets in recent years were of Nova Scotia free stone or brick with stone trimmings. Mr. Astor attended personally to the rental of his real estate, and was assisted by his sons and agents, Mr. Hallock and Mr. Bruce. His office was at 85 Prince street, and he went to the office every day up to 4 days before his death. He retired Mr. Bruce on a pension. In 1870 Mr. Astor paid two million dollars taxes on his houses and lots.

Wm. B. Astor married Margret, daughter of Gen. Armstrong who filled many positions of honor, among those of Minister to France and Secretary of War. By her he had three sons, John Jacob, William and Henry, and two daughters, Mrs. Carey and Mrs. Delano. All these survived him.

Mr. Astor never held a public office. His whole life was spent in the management of his fortune.

Henry, the youngest son, inherited the estate of his uncle, John Jacob, six years ago. He married the daughter of a poor farmer in Barrytown, Duchess county, against the wishes of his relatives. Since his marriage he retired to a place near Hudson, and he rarely goes to the city, although the most of his property is there.

It has been the custom of the Astor family for three generations to deposit one hundred thousand dollars in bank at the birth of a son or daughter, the money and the interest to be given to the child when he or she became of age.

The world has heard little of Mr. Astor; he never mingled in politics nor connected himself with the public questions of the day. For a space of about thirteen years prior to 1873 he was engaged in extensive building operations, until at the expiration of that time nearly all of the property which had been purchased by him in an improved condition was built upon. His rent rolls were enormous. He became the great landlord of the great city, and was said eight years ago to own 720 houses. As a landlord he gained the reputation of a prompt, obliging business-like man, and his affairs were conducted in a little dingy office in Prince street, without either display or confusion He was faithful to his clerks as they were to him, and there were some who had spent long lives in the service of father and son. Mr. Astor also invested largely in the stock of several railroads, as the Harlem, New York Central, Pennsylvania, Delaware & Lackawanna and others, in various coal companies and in several insurance companies. The good fortune which has seemed to attend the accumulation of this great property, besides the peculiar business tact, was seen in his withdrawal from several insurance companies shortly before the Chicago fire, thereby saving himself from considerable loss. But a short time before that fire he began to dispose of that kind of stock, and in one instance, at least, sold his stock in a fire insurance company only one week before the great fire, thus escaping serious loss.

Mr. Astor's business habits were fixed and regular. Every working day that he was in the city he called at his office in Prince street, and received the reports of his subordinates, and examined papers which required his signature. He was plain in his attire averse to show of all kinds, and of a retiring disposition. If a subscription paper was brought to him, he would request that other signatures be procured, and then bring it back to him to sign. He was careful not to give offence by speaking roughly to those with whom he was brought in contact. He was genial to those with whom he was intimate, but he did not encourage advances from others. For many years past he has contributed to various charitable institutions in a quiet way, giving from $1,000 to $5,000 each, but not desiring that the fact should be made

public. The most noteworthy of his gifts was that of $50,000, made to aid St. Luke's Hospital, several years ago. He was a regular attendant of Grace Church.

Considering his advanced years, Mr. Astor was a man of great physical vigor, his mind clear, and his faculties unimpaired. He was the sole survivor of the children of John Jacob Astor.

Main Span, 1057 feet.

Length of Bridge, 2252 feet.

Height from Low Water, 100 feet.

Height of Towers, 230 feet.
Towers, at base, 86 by 52.

In the two cables are 10,360 wires.

DIMENSIONS:

Diameter of the Cables, 12 inches, weigh

ing one million pounds.

Amount of Lumber, 500,000 feet.

Strength of Bridge, 16,300 tons.

Width of Bridge in the clear, 36 feet.

Total cost, $1,750,000.