The New International Encyclopædia/Astor, John Jacob (capitalist)

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For works with similar titles, see Astor, John Jacob.
734315The New International Encyclopædia — Astor, John Jacob (capitalist)

ASTOR, John Jacob (1864—). An American capitalist, inventor, and soldier; the fourth of the name. He was born at Rhinebeck-on-Hudson, N. Y., graduated in 1888 at Harvard, traveled extensively, and has since been occupied chiefly with the management of the Astor estates. In 1894-96 he was on the staff of Gov. L. P. Morton, and in 1898 was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of United States Volunteers. During the Spanish-American War he served as a staff officer in the Santiago campaign, and presented to the Government a fully equipped mountain battery, which was named for him, and which did effective work in the campaign before Manila. He is known as an inventor of several useful devices, such as a bicycle-brake and a pneumatic road improver, and has published A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future (1894).