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VOLUME I.
| JOHN G. WENDELL Owns 8
8 More ot Broadway than 8
8 Any Other Man and Will 8
| Not Sell an Inch of It 8
| He Once Refused $500,000 |
g for a Fifth Avenue Lot Be- 8
g cause His Dog Needed It 8
8 for a Place to Exercise. 8
NEW YORK.—John Wendell 18
the name he signs tn the old
time signature New York real
estate men have come to know
well. He owns as much If not
more of the land on which New
York Is built than any other man in
the world.
He is, perhaps, the most pictures
que character in all of this cosmopol
itan city of unusual people.
Little he Is and old and a bachelor.
“The Russell Sage of Broadway,”
seme call him; to others he is the
"Rockefeler of Real Estate;" and once
more, “The Sentimental Millionaire.”
Sometimes, too, he has been called
“The Hermit of Fifth Avenue.”
John G. Wendell is probably the
only man alive today who can consci
entiously lay claim to the title “The
Man Who Has Enough Money.”
A younger man with a limited
amount of money wanted to rent one
of the old man’s stores on Broadway
in which to begin a modest business.
He went personally to the owner about
the rental. Wendell stated his price.
“But don’t you think, Mr. Wendell,”
demurred the young man, “that that
is pretty stiff rent? I’m only starting
in business and I don’t want to use
the biggest part of my capital for
rent.”
Practical In His Business.
“Young man," was the answer,
“you’re right It is high rent —too
high for you to pay. But 4 can’t come
down. My rents are not high, as rents
go on Broadway, but such as they are
I cannot change them. The price has
been fixed —it's sentiment of mine not
to change them.”
“Then I suppose I'll have to pay It,"
sighed the prospective tenant.
Wendell went on as If without inter
ruption.
“It’s my price, but 1 can't rent to
you. I couldn’t have it on my consci
ence that a young man starting busi
ness was ruining himself to pay me
rent. Hunt another store where the
rent is right, is my advice. I reckon
that little store of mine can stay with
out a tenant for a time yet.”
Nor would the offer of a full year's
rent tn advance move him.
John G. Wendell had proven again
that he did not care tor money, but
that he did care for the sentiment
with which be has surrounded his
property—that that which is, is, that
which has been cannot be changed.
Again a young man coveted a cer
tain store and went to Wendell with a
proposition to rent
“But I have a tenant on that prop
erty,” objected the old man.
“I know,” was the reply. “But I
understand his lease is about up. I'll
give you double the rent he is paying
you."
The Sentimental Millionaire paid a
visit to his tenant. “Your time's al
most up," he began. "Satisfied T"
The tenant declared he was.
“All right," said Wendell
NUMBER 8.
The other man called again next
day.
Could Not Have the Store.
"I have a tenant,” he was informed.
“You can’t have the store.”
. “But”—
“I don't want your money,” broke
in the owner. “What do I care for a
few more dollars! My tenant’s satis
fied—boa- I. Good day.”
He was getting his 1 per cent, above
taxes, which real estate men say John
G. Wendell gathers as profit, and he
didn’t want jny more.
He never does. He only wants to
fight to keep his land, and to add more
to it when be can, instead of piling
up dollars in the bank representing
land he once owned —good, tangible
land.
The story of John G. Wendell be
gins many years ago —two hundred,
to be exact —though he himself is a
mere youth of seventy-three.
Then, when New York was young,
there "were two pioneers who were
stanch friends and business allies.
“We'll buy land," they agreed with
one another, “and some day we'll have
the two biggest estates in the world.”
They both had firm faith in the future
of New York.
One of those men was John Jacob
Astor (the original), the other was
the grandfather of the present John
G. Wendell.
“We Sell No Property.”
The slogan of his family has come
to be, “We sell no property,” and a
big oilcloth sign in his old-fashioned
office —that office’s chief decoration —
so informs the public..
Almost might another name be add
ed to Mr. Wendell’s colection. With
out much stretch of the imagination,
he might be called “The Man Who
Really Ov'ns Broadway,” for he, with
maiden sisters, Rebecca, Mary and
Georgianna, own more of that bright
particular throughfare than any other
one man, woman, estate or corpora
tion. Their property is scattered in
many places along Broadway from
far down town to above Fiftieth street
Which sounds like theaters and ho
tels and white lights and red —
But you're wrong.
He owns much of Broadway, does
"The Russell Sage of Broadway,” but
not a single bright light. That is one
of his “policies.”
“Call it sentiment, if you like,” —
perhaps it is sentiment in away to
keep the little buildings that came to
me as they were when they came—but
there is more to my owning no the
aters and such than that. There are
both moral and legal reasons. In the
first place. I will not be morally re
sponsible for the machinations of the
Evil One. I have plenty to do without
being responsible for immortal souls.
And theaters, saloons, moving pic
tures —bah! I won't say on> word
about them! They’re not worth it
But even if they were, I know the
law. Yes. I know the law backward.
I know the law that holds an owner
responsible for catastrophes, and I'm
not going to have any tall buildings
or moving pictures or such that breed
catastrophes on my land.”
Find “Nothing Doing."
So that is why the moving picture
men with their eyes on the block and
a half of Broadway, between Thirty
sixth and Thirty-eighth street, have,
one after another, come from John G.
Wendell's office bemoaning fate.
Wendell’s possessions include a plot
of ground surrounding two sides of
his home at Thirty-ninth street and
Fifth avenue, the old brown-stone
s* - f ■*
Ijiillctin
IRWINTON, WILKINSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1012.
MAN OF MILLIONS
SATISFIED WITH
HIS PRESENT
WEALTH
WILL HEVEfI SELL PKaREHEE
Principal Owner of Land on New
York’s Famous Broadway, His
Views Seem Peculiar to This
Generation — Has Wonderful
Record of Fair Dealing With
the Tenants of His Stores and
Houses.
house which has been a mystery to
so jpany. Thousands dally look at its
closed windows, Its general air of
desolation in the midst of the bustle
and life of Fifth avenue, and wonder.
It is where the Hermit of Fifth ave
nue lives —alone except for his dog.
The big vacant plot Is that dog’s
playground. He is John G. Wendell’s
dog, and he must have a place.
A real estate operator who coveted
the very desirable Fifth avenue plot
tells a story. He determined to get
the plot at any price. A date was set
for the final settlement of the matter,
but to his surprise the operator was
told that Mr. Wendell would not sell
even for the >500,000 offered. Pressed
for a reason, Mr, Wendell declared:
Dog’s Costly Exercise Ground.
’’Well, you see, I didn't want to sell
in the first place. My sister has a
small dog for a pet which she values
highly and she does not like to have
him run In the street. There is no
place for him to exercise but in that
yard. He runs up and down and en
joys it
“Under the circumstances 1 do not
think I can let the property go. I do
not need another half million or mil
lion even, and what would a million 1
don’t need be in comparison to the
dog’s pleasure? I have enough money."
For all his seventy-three years, the
millionaire bachelor has the vigor of
a youngster. He believes in the sim
ple life and has but one extravagance
—shoes. Os hese he has Innumerable
pairs—all made to order—common
sense, comfortable kinds of shoes with
wide toes, made of the softest kinds
of leathers. When he feels in a par
ticularly lively mood, which in other
men might result in a visit to the
white light district he abhors, Mr.
Wendell goes orft and orders—another
dozen pairs of shoes.—New York
World.
OLIVE A PRIZED POSSESSION
Besides Being Prolific Producer of
Fruit, Its Wood Is Valuable for
Furniture.
Most people know how good the
olive is, both in the fruit or as oil.
The olive in its wild state is a mere
thorny shrub, but under cultivation it
becomes a tree from 20 to 40 feet high.
The leaves are not unlike those of a
willow; of a dark green color on the
upper side and whitish gray under
neath. The flowers are small and
white, the fruit greenish, never larger
than a pigeon's egg, and generally of
an oval shape; this fruit being pro
duced In such profusion that an old
olive tree becomes a valuable posses
sion to its owner.
The oil obtained from the fruit Is
much used as an article of food in the
countries where It is grown, and to a
less extent In other countries to which
it Is exported.
Olives gathered before they are ripe
are pickled, and in this condition are
considered useful as a digestive. The
wood of the tree takes a beautiful
polish, and being finely grained and
marked is much used by cabinetmak
ers in the finer parts of their work.
The olive Is a native of the warmer
temperate countries of southern Eu
rope, parts of Asia and California. It
attains to a great age.
Names That Dickens Used.
Calling names has been rather a
dangerous game for authors of late.
The Dickens method has been called
up in remembrance—the suggestion of
the shop front—the quaint name that
could be summoned—turned upside
down and made into a new character.
Dickens called his names, and you
know them when you see or hear
them. He got them from the shop
fronts or anywhere, but the names.
. There are about a doxen and a
half names that Dickens called, and
are still recognised on sight The
names that mean something—Mark
Tapley. Sairey Gamp, Sam Weller.
MYRICK’S
Milledgeville, Ga. i
J
I
Our Buyer in New York s
Our Myrick is now in Now York ।
City. We have decided to buy the
best lines to be had. No old goods
will be shown in our stores. ।
We will have the newest things !
in wearables, and the low priced
cotton will be your opportunity to ।
get values that will surprise you.
We want you to see our new
I
Spring and
Summer Goods
The BIG STORE is the store of to- I
day, not yesterday, and we mean to
show you the best and latest at (
prices that will please. I
W.S. MYRICK I
& CO.
I
“Milledgeville’s Only Big Store” !
SI.OO A YEAR.