MEN OF AFFAIRS IN NEW YORK
 

JOHN JACOB ASTOR

Colonel in the Spanish-American War and Capitalist

Was born at the family estate of Ferncliff, Rhine-
beck, N. Y., on July 13, 1864. He is the son of
William Astor, grandson of William B. Astor, and
great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, the founder of
the Astor family in America, and is the inheritor of
his father's great estate. He received his education
at St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., and at Harvard
University. He subsec[uently followed the example
of his father in making an extended European tour,
and on his return to the United States, traveled ex¬
tensively in Cuba and Mexico and made several ex¬
peditions to the Rocky Mountain region, following
the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. On his
return to New York he became concerned in the
management of the extensive Astor estate, which
includes a vast and highly valuable amount of real
estate in New York Cit}^, the Astors being the lead¬
ing property holders in the American metropolis.
Colonel Astor's inherited share in this estate is a
very large one, and his time, when not engaged in
other duties, is fully occupied in the care of it. He
is also a director in many banks and trust companies,
 

his duties in connection with which absorb much of
his time.

The military career of Colonel Astor began in
1895, when he was appointed, with the rank of
colonel, on the staff of Governor Morton. On the
outbreak of the war with Spain, he manifested his
patriotic spirit by presenting a complete and fully
equipped and manned battery of artillery to the
national government. Shortly after the beginning
of the war, on May 9, 1898, he was commissioned
Inspector-General, with the rank of Lieutenant-
Colonel U. S. A., and with orders to report to Major-
General J. C. Breckinridge and to accompany him on
an inspection of the camps of Chickamauga Park,
Huntsville, Tampa, Key West, and other localities.
Subsequently he was detached and ordered to report
to Major-General W^ R. Shafter, at Tampa, Fla., for
duty on his staff and to accompany the army of in¬
vasion in Cuba. After the landing of the army in
Cuba, he took part in the operations of the Fifth
Army Corps, being actively engaged with it in the
stirring events of the battle, siege and surrender of
Santiago de Cuba. After the surrender of the Span¬
ish forces, he was chosen by Major-General Shafter,
commanding the Army of Invasion, to deliver the
official terms of capitulation to the Secretary of War,
and proceeded to Washington in the performance of
this duty. He received his discharge from the army
in September, 1898, and was recommended by Gen¬
eral Shafter, in his report to the Secretary of War,
to be brevetted Colonel for ''faithful and meritorious
services."

Since the close of the war Colonel Astor has re¬
sided in New York, engaged in the business duties
above mentioned, among which should be included
the erection in 1897 of the Astoria Hotel. This
splendid structure immediately adjoins the large
Waldorf Hotel, previously built by his cousin, Wil¬
liam Waldorf Astor, the two hotels having since been
under one management and constituting the Wal¬
dorf-Astoria, one of the largest and costliest hotels in
the world, and in great measure the centre of hotel
life in New York. More recently Colonel Astor has
built, at great cost, another fine hotel, the St. Regis,
opened to the public in 1904.

Colonel Astor's time is by no means all taken up
by business and social duties. His mind turns
strongly to invention, and his ability in this direction
is testified to by a number of useful devices upon
which patents have been issued to him; one of these
a pneumatic machine to remove worn-out material
from roads before new stone is laid down, was exhib-