Show 0 by L L STEVENSON it so bolong long ago that benjamin winter rather short and pudel pudgy and wearing wrinkled clothes clot lies and scuffed shoes was worth 27 his real estate firm had holdings with an estimated value of four hundred million dollars had passed through his hands known as the man who transformed fifth avenue he paid W K vanderbilt for his graystone chateau vincent astor for the famous astor mansion at sixty fifth street arthur curtiss james for an apartment house at fifth avenue when winter bought the wreckers came mansions on which millions had been expended were razed ruthlessly and new structures took their places it has been said of winter that he knows fifth avenue as a man knows his back bach yard or a guide knows the trails of the woods to deal in millions was not at all difficult for him he merely forgot the ciphers winter reached the peak of his fortune a little more than a quarter of a century after he had come to this country as an immigrant boy from poland with a cash capital of two worn 1 bills in the old country his family had had money and he had attended art school when relatives asked his occupation he replied painter so he was promptly apprenticed to a house painter having learned that trade he became a contractor and from contractor graduated into the real estate business at first his operations were modest he bought and sold uptown and gradually worked into the west side then came fifth avenue by that time he had established his credit he need capital merely credit and mortgages in addition he had to know where to sell at a profit thus the millions 0 how the former immigrant boy acquired the astor mansion is an illustration of winter shrewdness the property was not for sale astor need the money that discourage winter he put up the 1 argument that mansions belonged to the gay that difficulties in obtaining and maintaining a staff of servants were increasing constantly st that parties were no longer held in homes but in hotels astor paid no attention then winter showed him that as he occupied the mansion only about 30 days a year it cost him a night to sleep there astor sold benjamin winter fifty six years old his hair thinning his shoes and suits more shabby than 10 years ago now lives in a rented riverside drive apartment his daughter a hunter college student works in a department store saturdays to earn 2 a week recently winter went into bankruptcy court his debts were his assets those ciphers he had disregarded in the past freed from the insistence of creditors he believes he can come back more millions he holds are to be made in the further development of the mid town section of new york illions speaking of millions there were those three youths who tried to gain admission to the paramount theater without paying the price they climbed a lamppost got onto the marquee and opened a window one crawled through and presumably saw the show the second one upset and broke a vase the noise brought ushers on the run he escaped by taking an 18 foot leap to the street the third member of the trio was caught on the marquee and went to jail then there were the backers of the mercury theater and a wooden platform to put on julius caesar they needed that platform the owner wanted cash for it the actors offered him a quarter interest in the show he laughed so they went elsewhere and got a platform julius caesar turned out to be a hit and a quarter interest would have meant thousands instead of to the platform owner |