The Titanic Plan Read Online Free PDF Page B

sage I believed you were.”
    Astor kept trying to pull his hand away. “Yes. Thank you, King. Forgive me for having to leave. I’ll take a look at your book this evening. Good afternoon.”
    He finally wrenched his hand from Gillette and scampered out of the room.
     
    Astor did crack the book open that evening. He found it obtuse, grandiose, preposterous, and silly. And it fascinated him to no end. For all its outlandish plans and proposals, Astor saw the spark of a brilliant idea. Not in Gillette’s naïve scheme for a grand utopia, but in the way he laid out the details of a new type of centralized real estate development. John Astor saw what the entire Astor family had a talent for seeing: money.
    The next morning Astor mailed the book to George Vanderbilt at his estate in North Carolina. The note accompanying it simply read: “What do you think?” Vanderbilt read Gillette’s book immediately. He wrote back: “Absolutely batty.” Astor replied: “I believe something is there.” Vanderbilt wrote back: “Of course something is there. It’s called socialism.” Astor answered him: “No, George. It’s called the future.”
     
    * * *
     
    On October 27, 1908 Mrs. Caroline Astor suffered a major heart attack. She had four previous “heart episodes” that month. Her physician, Dr. Austin Flint, remained at her side for three days, as did her diligent son John and his wife Ava. The Mrs. Astor died early on the night of October 30. The next morning’s headline in The New York Times plainly announced: “MRS. ASTOR DIES AT HER CITY HOME.”
    Her funeral took place on November 1 at Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. It was a simple ceremony. Beside her coffin was a wreath of lilies, provided by her son John, a six-foot long cross made up of 10,000 violets, and her favorite carved chair in which she always sat when receiving guests. 1,500 people attended. John Astor wept throughout the entire service.
    Her death and the opening of probate records provided a glimpse into the world in which Mrs. Astor inhabited. Apparently, as her health declined, so did her riches. Newspapers ran breathless stories about her diminished fortune – less than two million dollars – and the disheveled state of her mansion, which she never left after the traumatic New Year’s Eve Ball of 1908.
     
    * * *
     
    There was another funeral just a day before the Astor service. It was smaller, attended by a handful of people in a small churchyard in Augusta, Georgia. Another faithful son had lost his beloved mother, who died suddenly on October 29, 1908. Captain Archibald Butt was heartbroken by his loss. On a cool, misty autumn morning, Archie stood beside the simple pine casket that held his mother. “Today four children are tragically orphaned,” Archie began, his voice unsteady with grief. “It doesn’t matter that they are well into adulthood, because losing the most precious thing in one’s life is a tragedy at any age. Our priceless jewel, our guiding light, our mother, Pamela Roberson Butt, has been taken from us. She has gone home to the Lord she put so much faith in. Heaven’s gain leaves us with heavy hearts and a very sorrowful burden to bear.” Archie stopped, choking back tears. “She was everything to me.”
    That evening Archie traveled back to Washington by train. Ever the faithful soldier, he went to work the next morning. Roosevelt told him to take the day off, suggesting he take a Potomac cruise on the presidential yacht with Mrs. Roosevelt. Archie replied that it would be best to resign his post, as “I should not intrude my grief into the White House.” The President would not hear of such a thing.
    The next day, November 3, 1908, William Howard Taft was elected President, carrying 30 of the 48 states and defeating William Jennings Bryan by over 1.2 million votes. Roosevelt was initially “radiant over Taft’s victory.” He felt it validated his policies and presidency. A burden seemed to have lifted from