YOUNG ASTOR TELLS OF WEDDING PLANS
New York Times
Newspaper Group Is Informed That the Couple Will Return to Newport in August
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CHETWODE GIFTS SHOWN
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Famous Ring Given to Bride Will Be Reset for Her in a New Brooch
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Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
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NEWPORT, R. I., June 28---John Jacob Astor 3d told a group of newspaper men and women whom he had as visitors today that he did not plan to have an extended wedding trip. Mr. Astor, who is to marry Miss Ellen Tuck French on Saturday, said he and his bride expect to be back early in August to spend the rest of the Summer here.
Mr. Astor permitted his visitors to inspect the many wedding gifts at Chetwode, his new home. The gifts, pieces of silver, cut glass, linens and other articles, were displayed on long tables in the dining room.
Miss French was a guest at Chetwode at the time, showing a group of friends the gifts, but she was not present at the interview.
He has given a new automobile of expensive make and small pieces of jewelry to his fiancée as wedding gifts, Mr. Astor said.
The 32-carat Eugénie diamond about which Mr. Astor recently had a difference with the family of Miss Eileen S. S. Gillespie, his previous fiancée, will be reset in a brooch and will be kept among the family jewels, he said. It will not be reset in the original brooch. The diamond had been set in the engagement ring Miss Gillespie returned.
Mr. Astor granted the interview at a conference that he called at his home with the reporters who are here to cover the wedding. He stipulated that questions first be submitted and that unanswered questions were not to be repeated, saying at the outset:
"I desire to cooperate with the press in any and all matters of legitimate news value. I regret, as does Miss French, that stories have been issued without foundation in fact or reason.
"I will be glad to answer questions that I consider proper if they are submitted in writing at this time. Any questions not answered are not to be repeated.
"As to the plans for our wedding trip, we feel that long custom has decreed this not to be the subject of publicity as is the wedding itself."
Mr. Astor expressed the hope that his mother's condition would permit her to come to Newport to attend the wedding. This was in response to a question as to whether Enzo Fiermonte, his stepfather, and his mother would attend.
"I hope to learn some business and later establish a business of my own," he told an inquirer regarding his future plans. His health, he said, was "all right," and he looked it.
He also touched upon his relations with his half-brother, Vincent Astor.
"I have always been most friendly with him and still am," he declared.
Many questions were submitted by the correspondents, who were gathered about the dining-room table, and in due time they were answered. But when Mr. Astor was asked about the gifts that had been given him by his fiancée, he said that these would not be made known until the wedding day.
He invited the news gatherers to attend the wedding rehearsal, which will take place tomorrow afternoon at the church, and he concluded the conference by showing the visitors about the lower floor of his home.
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TO ATTEND ASTOR BRIDAL
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Trinity Parishioners in Newport Win Entry for Wedding
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NEWPORT, R. I., June 28 (AP)---Plans for exclusiveness for the Astor-French wedding, to take place here on Saturday, were today set aside at a special meeting of the vestry of famous old Trinity Episcopal Church. The church will be "open as usual" to the regular parishioners in addition to the invited wedding guests.
Word had gone out from Mrs. Livingston French, mother of Miss Ellen Tuck French, fiancée of John Jacob Astor 3d, that only persons with invitations would be admitted to the ceremony.
But from Trinity Church came this statement:
"If any of our parishioners want to attend the ceremony but haven't cards, they will be admitted as long as there is room."
It was not a new rule, explained the Rev. James Green, assistant rector. Three members of the vestry brought to his attention today, he said, reports that restriction was planned by invitation.
"I made it clear to them," said the assistant rector, "that the church will be open, as always, to its parishioners, beyond Mrs. French's reservations."
He said he was not aware that Mrs. French had limited admission to the ceremony.
"No person within the church," he said, "can make a ruling for the church."
The church will seat only 600, and it is understood that the guest list numbers 250---consequently there can be only 350 more, at the most.
Like the French and Astor families, Trinity Parish wishes to avoid a crowd of "gazers."
"Two of our young people are coming to Trinity to say their prayers and be married," said the assistant rector. "We want to keep it as simple as possible. Our regular ushers will be at the door, and they know the parish. The general public definitely will not be admitted."
A "wine-glass" pulpit in the quaint little Colonial church will almost screen Mr. Astor and his bride from view while the marriage ceremony takes place. Standing squarely in the aisle, the tall pulpit bides the centre altar from part of the house.
The Astor wedding party will go up a short walk, through an old burying ground surrounded by an iron fence and shaded by one big tree.
The chimes in the slim spire, which is topped by the device of the British crown, will not sound for the wedding. They ring only for Sunday services.
In one of the maroon-cushioned pews with four-foot sides, Mrs. William H. Force, Mr. Astor's grandmother, will be seated. His aunt, Mrs. Spencer Lorillard, also will be there. These two will be his nearest relatives on the scene.
His half-brother, Vincent Astor, is in Europe, and ill health will prevent the presence of his mother, Mrs. Enzo Fiermonte, wife of the Italian boxer.
There has been much speculation over the make-up of the guest list, but it is certain that Dr. Ernst Franz S. Hanfstaengl, Chancellor Hitler's aide, will be present. He will be a guest of the bride's father.
---
CHETWODE GIFTS SHOWN
---
Famous Ring Given to Bride Will Be Reset for Her in a New Brooch
---
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
---
NEWPORT, R. I., June 28---John Jacob Astor 3d told a group of newspaper men and women whom he had as visitors today that he did not plan to have an extended wedding trip. Mr. Astor, who is to marry Miss Ellen Tuck French on Saturday, said he and his bride expect to be back early in August to spend the rest of the Summer here.
Mr. Astor permitted his visitors to inspect the many wedding gifts at Chetwode, his new home. The gifts, pieces of silver, cut glass, linens and other articles, were displayed on long tables in the dining room.
Miss French was a guest at Chetwode at the time, showing a group of friends the gifts, but she was not present at the interview.
He has given a new automobile of expensive make and small pieces of jewelry to his fiancée as wedding gifts, Mr. Astor said.
The 32-carat Eugénie diamond about which Mr. Astor recently had a difference with the family of Miss Eileen S. S. Gillespie, his previous fiancée, will be reset in a brooch and will be kept among the family jewels, he said. It will not be reset in the original brooch. The diamond had been set in the engagement ring Miss Gillespie returned.
Mr. Astor granted the interview at a conference that he called at his home with the reporters who are here to cover the wedding. He stipulated that questions first be submitted and that unanswered questions were not to be repeated, saying at the outset:
"I desire to cooperate with the press in any and all matters of legitimate news value. I regret, as does Miss French, that stories have been issued without foundation in fact or reason.
"I will be glad to answer questions that I consider proper if they are submitted in writing at this time. Any questions not answered are not to be repeated.
"As to the plans for our wedding trip, we feel that long custom has decreed this not to be the subject of publicity as is the wedding itself."
Mr. Astor expressed the hope that his mother's condition would permit her to come to Newport to attend the wedding. This was in response to a question as to whether Enzo Fiermonte, his stepfather, and his mother would attend.
"I hope to learn some business and later establish a business of my own," he told an inquirer regarding his future plans. His health, he said, was "all right," and he looked it.
He also touched upon his relations with his half-brother, Vincent Astor.
"I have always been most friendly with him and still am," he declared.
Many questions were submitted by the correspondents, who were gathered about the dining-room table, and in due time they were answered. But when Mr. Astor was asked about the gifts that had been given him by his fiancée, he said that these would not be made known until the wedding day.
He invited the news gatherers to attend the wedding rehearsal, which will take place tomorrow afternoon at the church, and he concluded the conference by showing the visitors about the lower floor of his home.
**********
TO ATTEND ASTOR BRIDAL
---
Trinity Parishioners in Newport Win Entry for Wedding
---
NEWPORT, R. I., June 28 (AP)---Plans for exclusiveness for the Astor-French wedding, to take place here on Saturday, were today set aside at a special meeting of the vestry of famous old Trinity Episcopal Church. The church will be "open as usual" to the regular parishioners in addition to the invited wedding guests.
Word had gone out from Mrs. Livingston French, mother of Miss Ellen Tuck French, fiancée of John Jacob Astor 3d, that only persons with invitations would be admitted to the ceremony.
But from Trinity Church came this statement:
"If any of our parishioners want to attend the ceremony but haven't cards, they will be admitted as long as there is room."
It was not a new rule, explained the Rev. James Green, assistant rector. Three members of the vestry brought to his attention today, he said, reports that restriction was planned by invitation.
"I made it clear to them," said the assistant rector, "that the church will be open, as always, to its parishioners, beyond Mrs. French's reservations."
He said he was not aware that Mrs. French had limited admission to the ceremony.
"No person within the church," he said, "can make a ruling for the church."
The church will seat only 600, and it is understood that the guest list numbers 250---consequently there can be only 350 more, at the most.
Like the French and Astor families, Trinity Parish wishes to avoid a crowd of "gazers."
"Two of our young people are coming to Trinity to say their prayers and be married," said the assistant rector. "We want to keep it as simple as possible. Our regular ushers will be at the door, and they know the parish. The general public definitely will not be admitted."
A "wine-glass" pulpit in the quaint little Colonial church will almost screen Mr. Astor and his bride from view while the marriage ceremony takes place. Standing squarely in the aisle, the tall pulpit bides the centre altar from part of the house.
The Astor wedding party will go up a short walk, through an old burying ground surrounded by an iron fence and shaded by one big tree.
The chimes in the slim spire, which is topped by the device of the British crown, will not sound for the wedding. They ring only for Sunday services.
In one of the maroon-cushioned pews with four-foot sides, Mrs. William H. Force, Mr. Astor's grandmother, will be seated. His aunt, Mrs. Spencer Lorillard, also will be there. These two will be his nearest relatives on the scene.
His half-brother, Vincent Astor, is in Europe, and ill health will prevent the presence of his mother, Mrs. Enzo Fiermonte, wife of the Italian boxer.
There has been much speculation over the make-up of the guest list, but it is certain that Dr. Ernst Franz S. Hanfstaengl, Chancellor Hitler's aide, will be present. He will be a guest of the bride's father.
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