2
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!|§Bij ffe THE NAPOLEON OF . . .
II!| §)% Chicago Capitalists
v\\it <^ Gossip and Story about P. T). Armour, his Methods and his Work..
liogiji =}=
(Copyrighted, 1*96, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
CHICAGO, May B.—The world is his
field, and the United States is his work
shop. His employes number thou
sands. His army of workmen is great
er than was that of Xenophen, and it
is an army never in retreat. He pays
out in wages alone half a million dol
lars every month. His business di
rectly gives support to more than 50,
--000 people, and it amounts to $100,000,
--000 every, year. Four thousand rail
way cars are now speeding over their
iron trucks loaded down with his mer
chandise. He has his establishments
in every city of the United States,
and his agents are at work for him in
ev< ry part of the globe. The cai le
and telegraph wires which come into
his "tin-., are daily loaded with private
news for him as to the wants and sup
plies of the nations of the world, and
by telegraph he sends forth the orders
which arc to make or lose millions.
From the wheat fields of RU3Sia, from
tli*- grain-bearing plains of North In
dia and from the markets of Australia
and Europe come the reports of his
men, and every morning he has, as it
were, a map of the actual condition of
the world before him, and (ran tell
from whence his products will be in de
mand, and where and why prices will
rise or fall.
I refer to Phillip D. Armour, the Na
poleon of the Chicago capitalists, the
baron of the butchers, and the king of
the pork-packing and grain-shipping
products of the United States. T have
heard much 'if him during my stay
here in Chicago, and I harl an interest
ing chat with him in bis cage-like
room, where he manages his immense
business.
ARMOUR AND HIS STOLEN MULE.
But first let me tell you something
of the man. He is. you know, self
mad'-. Horn in New York about sixty
years ago, he started West to make his
fortune. tie was, t Ihink, still in his
teens when the gold fever caught him,
and he worked his way across the
plains and over the mountains to Cali
fornia. His journey was fuil of hard
ships, and he tells many interesting
stories concerning it. At one time his
shoes had worn out. The sage brush
and . I cut into his feet, artd
he wa aim st wild to obtain some kind
of conveyance to carry him onward.
At last, upon nearing a town in the
Rockies, he met a man riding a very
line mule. He ■:■>: ped liim and asked
iiiiu if he would sell the animal. The
man replied that lie did not care 10 sell,
could
This, . was
.
■
mule for $160, j
which was ius. about all the money he
had, In telling the story Phil Armour
ribes the delights of riding the
. and how light his heart was as
lie tri Lb !om -.Md. He rode gaily into
tnd was passing through the
m he was met by a man
who in fierce tones asked him where
he had gotten that mule. Mr. Armour
told him. The man then said:
"Why, man that mule belongs to
It has been st *m, and
you to give it up at once, and
iut of town, or you will be in the
hands of the vigilance committee."
The ma-i succeeded in thoroughly
ho gave up the
mule, and, sick at heart, hurried on
his way. A day or two later he came
to a miners' camp in the mountains,
and there spent the night. He was
asked how he had come, and he told
of his adventures, including the swindle
of the mule. As he did so, the miners
burst out laughing, and one of them
said:
"Why, man, I bought that d—n mule
myself. It has been sold over and
over a^ain and fully 100 men have
been taken in by it. The man in the
town is a confederate of the seller of
the mule, and they are making their
living by taking in tbe tenderfeet."
It did not take long, however, for
Phil Armour to get his eye teeth cut.
He finally got to California ami there
made the little money which formed
the foundation of his fortune.
ARMOUR'S FIRST BIG STRIKE.
Mr. Armour is a far-sighted man.
He looks ahead, and is not afraid to
trust his own judgment. He is broad
gauged in his ideas. There is nothing
of the pessimist about him. He is al
ways a bull in the market, and never
a bear. His great fortune has been
made largely through his faith in the
_i %/.«-^%» -vmL' -v
United State., and it:-, prospects. His
first big str'Ke war-, In fact, a bold bet
on ihe^suct.essful outcome of the war.
He had made his little pile in Califor
nia, and had gone into ti. -_• pork-pack
ing business with old John Planking
ton, of Milwaukee. One day he came
into the office and said:
"Mr. Plankington, I am going to New
York at once. The war is over. Grant
has practically beaten the rebels, and
we will have peace in a few weeks.
I am going on to New York to buy all
the pork I can get."
Mr. Plankington at first questioned
the plan, but he finally consented, and
Armour went East. He bought right
and left. The -New Yorkers were de
spondent. They had lost faith in the
Union, and prices were away down.
The news from the field, however, soon
changed matters. It soon became ap
parent that the war was really over,
and th»- result came as Armour had
predicted. Prices went away up, and
out of that deal Mr. Armour cleared
something like a million dollars. There
are several other stories of a like na
ture which I have heard concerning
Mr. Armour. He thniks quickly, and
acts on his own judgment.
HOW BROKERS WERE BROKEN.
Armour is not afraid of a big thing,
and he Is ready to fifrrit to hold his
own. An instance of this occurred not
long ago. For some time the grain
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brokers here had hoped to be able to
down Armour. They had tried it a
number of times and failed. At last
it was discovered that he had bought
3,000.000 bushels of wheat to be deliv
ered in May. The market was in such
a state that he had to take it. The
Chicago elevators were full and the
brokers laughed in their sleeves when
they thought of Armour's having all
that wheat dumped down upon him
and no place to put it. They expected
he would have to sell it, that they could
buy it at their own prices and that he
would lose a fortune by it. This was
the situation about the Ist of April. On
that day Mr. Armour called in his ar
chitect and builder. Said he: "I must
have within thirty days elevators built
large enough to store 3,000,000 bushels
of wheat."
"It can't be done," said the architect
"It must be done," replied Mr. Ar
mour.
"It is a physical impossibility," was
f. D. ARMOUR.
the reply. "We might do it in a year.
We can't do it in a month!"
"I tell you It must be done!" was
'Armour's reply. "Call in some of the
other men."
1 At tins, others of the employes con
THIS SAINT ±*AUL, DAILY GL,OBE: SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 10, 1896.
nected with building matters were ad
mitted. They all joined in with the
architect and pronounced the putting
up of the structure in that time an
impossibility.
Mr. Armour listened to them, but
his iron jaw at the close came together
more firmly than ever, and he said:
"I tell you it must be done, and it will
be done!" He then gave his orders.
He bought a little island, known as
Gooseneck island, in the mouth of the
Chicago river, on which to build the
elevators. He had advertisements
posted over Chicago that any man who
could handle a pick or drive a nail
cculd find work by calling at P. D.
Armour's stock yards. He put up ah
electric lighting system, and worked
three gangs of men eight hours at a
stretch, putting so many men on the
work that they covered it like ants.
He went out every day and took a
lcok at the work himself, and the re
sult was he had his elevators built
three days before the wheat began to
come. This work had been done quiet
ly, and few of the brokers knew of it.
He took care of his 3,000,000 bushels,
and made a big thing off of their sale.
This was like Armour. He Is Na
poleonic in his strokes. He is Napo
leonic in his make-up. He is one of the
few men who can do more than one
thing at a time. While he was talk
ing with me messenger boys would
bring him telegrams showing the con
dition of the stocks. He would answer
them, giving his orders to buy or sell.
At such times it seemed to me that he
was not listening to my questions and
to what I was saying, but I soon dis
covered that he was carrying both our
conversation and the markets in his
mind at the same time. I have been
told that he has this ability in a mark
ed degree. Dr. Frank Gunsaulus, the
NEWSPAPER ROW, THE HOME OF THE GLOBE.
head of the Armour technical institute,
says that he does not doubt that Mr.
Armour could dictate letters on dif
ferent subjects to three or four secre
taries at the same time, holding the
thought of each separately and carry
ing on the three or four threads of
thought without confusion.
THE PANIC OF 1893.
Another instance of Mr. Armour's Na
poleonic character was seen here in
the panic of 1893. He was one of the
few men prepared for the panic. He
saw it coming months before it was
a possibility in the minds of other
great capitalists of the linked States.
He began to prepare for it In 1892. He
had not been feeling well and he went
to Europe for his health. While loaf
ing about Carlsbad he came into con
tact with scores of the moneyed men
of Europe, and from the way they
talked he learned that a storm was
brewing. All at once he decided to
come home. The day he landed at
New York he telegraphed the leading
managers of his different departments
to come there to meet him. They
came. They told him that business
had never been better, that all of his
enterprises were paying, and that they
were making money hand over fist.
Mr. Armour heard their reports and
then threw a thunderbolt into their
midst by telling them to cut down the
business to the closest margin. Said
he:
"There is a storm brewing, and we
must draw in. We must have money
to prepare for it, and I want you to
get all the cash you can and put it
away in the vaults. I want you to go
out in the street and stretch the name
of P. D. Armour to its utmost tension.
Borrow every dollar you can and then
let me know the result."
Some of the men rather thought that
the "old man," as they sometimes
call him, was crazy, but they did as he
directed. At last they came to him
and told him that they had about $2,
--000,000 in cash.
"Oh," said he, "that's not half
enough! Go out and borrow more.
'Don't be afraid. Get all you can, and
get it as.quick as you can."
This was done, and they finally told
him that they had secured $4,000,000 in
cash. In addition to this he also had
in hand about $4,000,000 in negotiable
securities. With a capital of what was
practically $8,000,000 on hand, Mr. Ar
mour then set back in his chair and
said to himself:
"Well, if the crash must come, I,
at any rate, am ready for it."
It was not long after this that the
crash did come. Money was not to be
got for love, work or high rates of in
terest. Prices dropped to the bottom.
Armour was practically the only man
who was perfectly prepared for it. He
turned his $8,000,000 over and over, and
realized a fortune, while the masses of
less far-sighted business men were on
the edge of bankruptcy.
HOW PHIB ARMOUR WORKS.
You would not think that a man who
made sucb big strokes and who is so
wealthy would be a hard worker. This,
however, is the case. There is no man
in Chicago who watches his business
more closely and who puts in more
hours than P. D. Armour. He has all
his life been an early riser. He is at
his office, winter and summer, at 7:20
o'clock every morning, and he remains
there usually until 6. He goes to bed
regularly at 9 o'clock every night, eats
simply, dresses well, but not extrava
gantly, and g?ts hIS chief pleasure, I
judge, out of his w&rk. He has great
power of organization, and as we
walked together through his big office
he told me that the machine practically
ran itself. H# took me through the
great office room, in which, fn cages
surrounded by wire screens, something
like 100 men were w^k-king away, keep
ing accounts, fjgurfng up columns to
find the percentage of profits and loss,
and answering1' the'enormous corres
pondence which rls' connected with a
great business 3ike^ this. At the back
of the room We stopped at the post
office, and Mr. 'Armour asked the clerk
within it how 'many letters they had
received that iay. The man replied
that 8.000 letters had come in. and that
already 13,000 had been mailed. The
man who writes a letter or so a day
can get some idea of Armour's business
by comparing his work with the an
swering of from S.OOO to 10.000 letters a
day. Leaving this part of the room,
we next went off to the left, where, in
a sort of an L, is the telegraph office
of the establishment. There were, I
judge, a dozen operators at work, and
the instruments which were clicking
away were enough to do the business
of a city of 20,000 people. Mr. Armour
has his own private operator apart
from these men. This operator has
an Instrument just outside the little
cage which is Mr. Armour's private of
fice. It is his business to take the
messages direct from the chief, and he
Is at his office as early in the morning
as Mr. Armour, ready to give him the
reports which have been received by
telegraph and cable from all parts of
the world. These are first disposed
of, and by 8 or 9 o'clock Mr. Armour
thoroughly kno|vs just what he wants
his men to do I$P all.parts of the world.
By 10 he has jpraetically settled the
business problems of the day, and by 11
he is at leisurejjjto, meet his friends, or
to go about among- his employes and
chat with thenijabqjiit their work. He
is thoroughly demoCtatic in his ways,
and he knows personally every man
in his office. As we walked through
the room he spoke to many of the men
by name, and he told me that many of
his men had been with him for years.
ARMOUR'S BUSINESS METHODS.
Mr. Armour believes in young men and
young brains. He has said at times
that he was a buyer of youth and
brains. He is a good judge of men,
and he usually puts the right man in
the right place. I am told that he
never discharges a man if he can help
it If the man is not efficient, he gives
instructions to have him put in some
other department, but to keep him if
possible. There are certain things,
however, which he will not tolerate,
and among these are laziness, intem
perance and getting into debt. As to
the last, he says he believes in good
wages, and that he pays the best. He
tells his men that if they are not able
to live on the wages he pays them he
does not want them to work for him. '
Not long ago he met a policeman In his
office.
"What are you doing here, sir?" he
asked.
"I am here to serve a paper," was
the reply.
"What kind of a paper?" asked Mr.
Armour.
"I want to garnishee one of your
men's wages for debt," said the police
man.
"Indeed," replied Mr. Armour; and
who is the man?" He thereupon asked
the policeman into his private office,
and ordered that the debtor come in.
He then asked the clerk how long he
had been in debt. The man replied
that for twenty>.years he had been be
hind and that he coujd not catch up.
"But you get a good salary," said Mr.
Armour, "don't =,you?"
"Yes," said the clerk, "but I can't get
out of debt. My life is such that some
how or other I can't get out."
"But you must get .out," said Mr. Ar
mour, "or you must leave here. How
much do you owe?"
The clerk then gave the amount. It
was less than $1,000. Mr. Armour took
his check book and wrote out a check
for the amount.. "There," said he, as
he handed the clerk the check. "There
is enough to pay all your debts. Now
I want you to keep out of debt, and
If I hear of your again getting into
debt you will have to leave."
The man took the check. He did
pay his debts and remodeled his life
on a cash basis. About a year after
the above incident happened he came
to Mr. Armour and told him that he
had had a place offered him at a high
er salary, and that he was going to
leave. He thanked Mr. Armour and
told him that his last year had been
the happiest of his! life and that get-
ting out of debt had made a new man
Of him.
I could give you a number of similar ,
; stories concerning Mr. Armour which ;
j I have heard through his frienda here ;
iat Chicago. The above incidents came
from them, and not from Mr. Armour
: himself. During my visit to his office
, I had a chat with him covering a wide
| range of subjects. This I will publish
j in a future letter.
—Frank G. Carpenter.
PAIXLESB EXECITIOX.
NEWARK. X. J., May 2.—A prominent
physician of this city is advocating a new
! method of execution. He had been experl
! menting, and favors a device of his inven
tion by which murderers would be put to
i death by means of a carbonic acid gas cell.
! He does not consider the present method
j humane, and he condemns electrocution. The
! following interview will give an idea of the
• novel plan of the Xewarker.
"Xo method should be used which admits
j of resu3citat;on after the current has be*-n
i administered. The surgeon's knives, as we
■ all know, have completed the work the elec
i trical current left undone many times. The
; guillotine is. perhaps, the surest and least
I painful death, but will always be looked on
! with abhorrence, for most men don't relish
th? idea of having their bodies mutilated.
"They want ta look well after death.
Shooting is probably the most manly method,
if any such practices can have such a char
acteristic. It Is used in warfare, where the
victim may have done no dishonorable deed.
lle is permitted to stand upright, a mark
I Is placed on his chest over his heart and
I a fH<3 of soldiers Are a volley at that mark.
J Xo one man is individually responsible. 5"
' far as be knows, for the killing, and it
! any bullet touches a vital part death Is pra»
i tically instantaneous. There have been
j cases, however, where even shooting has
j failed to kill, and a second volley is neces
sary, the victim suffering intense agony in
the meantime.
"But of all ways of putting a human be-
ing tc death none is so horrible, so revolting
and so brutal as hanging. A large percent
age of the criminals who have been hanged
have had the job bungled fearfully. Their
sufferings must have been something mon
strous. If a man ran drop six feet with a
rope around his neck, and the rope breaking,
get up and .stumble about, does it not stand
to reason that when the rope does not break
he has sufficient vitality to live some mo
ments while suspended in the most fearful
agony? To my mind, hanging should be abol
ished, and should never be permitted In a
civilized country. Any of the methods I
have mentioned are preferable to It.
"As to my own device, it is not perfec
tion, but I feel confident it could be made
a decided improvement on all existing sys
tems. The idea Is by no means a new
one, the arrangement of the different parts
being all that I lay claim to as original.
First, I would construct a cell of boiler
iron. Its doors should be provided with rub
ber padding along the edges, so that when
closed the cell would be hermetically sealed.
The upper half of the door should be pro
vided with glass to let in light. There might
be a window If desired, but it would have
to be sealed hermetically, like the closed
door. The cell would have on the interior
nothing in particuar to distinguish it from
other cells save for a few perforations In the
boiler iron at the top, possibly on the sides
and bottom. Now, when the death watch
was to be set on my criminal I'd order him
removed to this cell. I'd tell him he might
enter it In absolute confidence that no bod
ily harm should be done him—that for two
or three days (giving the <=xact time) his
life would not be taken, but after that peri
od, some time within a week, he should
die, and die painlessly and practically un
conscious of what was happening.
"I might take his life while he ate his
breakfast, while he read the paper, smoked
or lounged about his cell, or I might kill
him while he slept, and (If you can make
use of the expression) the victim is none
the wiser. How would I do it? By throwing
several jets of carbolic acid gas Into the
cell from different quarters so suddenly and
so rapidly as to flood the cell with it to the
total exclusion of the air. The gas has a
greater density than air, you know, and
would find the way to the bottom of the ccii.
gradually displacing the air until it would
nave driven it all out.
"Bui long before this the criminal would
be dead. One breath of the gas and he never
would take anuther. Death would be prac
tically instantaneous, without pain or any
inconvenience. If the gas was very much di
luted, he might be conscious for a few sec
onds, when he would experience a pressure
on the temples, buzzing in the cars, and pos
sibly some nausea. He would very quickly
pass into a state of coma, however, and thus
to the end. I am confident that I could flood
the cell with gas so eiuickly that none of
these intimations of his approaching dissolu
tion would be given the Victim. This could
be done by sending the gas in from a dozen
or more channels.
"The principal objection I can think of to
the carbonic acid gas cell is that the victim
might suffer more mentally, in the way of
anticipation, than in other methods, but I
scarcely think so. Criminals are not toll
when they are to be executed, and the man
in the cell would really be served the jour
ney to the gallows or to the electrical chair.
True, the horror of being taken unawares
would be great, but would it not be preferable
to the fearful death by hanging or electrocu
tion? We can never hope to make death plea
sant, nor to take from it its mental terrors.
"There would be absolutely no warning
when the deadly fluid enters the cell, no hiss
ing or rushing sound or any Jarring or clack
ing of pipes. It would be noiseless, and death
would come with the e.wlftness of a flash of
light. There would be no boggling or bung
ling. The victim could not escape, even if
he knew what was going on. Before he could
conceive that death was coming, and strive
to rouse himself to fight it, it would have
come."
The doctor proposes to submit one of his
inventions to prominent physicians and pen
alogists. and to make some practical experi
ments with animals.
Among the jobbers and wholesale dealers ,
j of St. Paul there is a considerable enthosiai m
over the prospects for the coming year. Sine-? i
' the first of the year business has Increased ;
' to an enormous extent in ninny ins-,
; and in all branches there has been a mark i
; advance. Appearances Indicate that there
i will be a still greater increase in business as j
i soon as the farmers begin to reap the re- ,
: wards of their labor this year. The good j
times of '91 and '92 are to be repeated, ac
cording to the beliefs of many, and within
i a few months the delayed collections of the
! past two or three years will have been at
j tended to.
All over the United States, and • specially
! iv the Northwest, the wholesale dealers and
i jobbers have experienced many reverses, in
a business way, a^d It hns been aim wl Im
! possible to make collections from the "cdnn
i try." The farmers had bad crops and got
: but little money for what they did raise. Th-r
! farmers were compelled to disappoint the
small dealers in the towns, and they in turn j
■ wire obliged to allow their bills for goods
: received from the Wholesale houses to re- '
; main unpaid. This resulted in many un
■. pleasant complications and was the cause
'. of many embarrassments. Explanations were
made to the manufacturers and Eastern
houses, but explanations do nr.i balance
books. The result was many (allures nil over
the country, and a large number of tbe
i standard houses were compelled to go to the I
I wall.
The recent heavy snow and rain storms in j
'■ thia portion of tile country have moistened ;
i the ground., which had been deprived for ;
months, even years, of the allott-»l quantity
of Irrigation, and now the farmers are put- j
ting In their crops with tha lull confidence j
that they will reap such harvests as have ,
not been seen in the fields for years, floor! j
crops mean plenty of money, and plenty of j
money means a liquidation of past indebted- )
ness. Everybody will be benefited by the i
good 3eason in prospect, and a period of j
prosperity la looked forward to by all of tho j
merchants who have been compelled to carry
the country dealers. Hank vaults will be
filled with gold and silver coin, mortgages
will be taken trom places of safety and de- j
stroved. bills will be receipted and
and gallons of ink will be used in marking |
the cheerful motto, "Paid," on ail kinds of j
paper. :
When there is money in tie bank, in the ,
stocking which is hidden in the chimney or
among the rafter 3of the attic, in ti:^ tomato
"an planted in the garden, in the dock, and
in the inside pocket of the farmer, it
long allowed to remain undisturbed.
are new dresses to be bought for the wire
and girls, shoes for the children, a new suit
for tbe farmer and new clothes for ihe boys.
The hired man will be paid his back wages
and the broken machinery will bo mended.
Little delicacies and articles which Indicate
prosperity will be brought home
and Improvements in farm implements ■ 11
be selected ffbm the catalogue I
in the shed or in the barn. L
shingles will encumber the wagon on
ward trips, and, perhaps, mere will be an ad
d;Uon to tb.. house built. The barns md
outbuildings will be painted and - t] rlments
will be mode with new shrubs and small
fruits. Perhaps new breed
and bogs will be introduced.
All this means business. 1!
the catalogues which I
will be scattered among *
Me will be given orders to be
cities by the linos with
These Hrms will i
from the manufacturer ami th ■
the various fatories and mills will be
plenty of work. In this way the wb<
trade will revolve, lubricating with 0
of money, and prosperity wIH b« the gi
result.
The railroads will profit by tl
quantities of freight handled and I
The employes of the railroads will n
to fear a cut in salaries, bi
nles can afTord to pay the customary wages.
Perhaps the original scale of wages, paid in
the days of prosperity, will be restored, II
is really remarkable what the effe«
good Bprtog Btorm means. Tho thirsty
ground drinks in tho moisture, the Beeds
planted by the farmer are nourished and tho
green oceans of grain finally ripen into tho j
gddfm harvest which means prosperity.
If the element combat th< wl h -
people and destroy the work of the U
more suffering follows, and bu Iness houses
must go to the wail because of a failure on
their part to carry out their obligations. Prov
idence has many pecttltar lamed
methods of procedure which the men of busi
ness cannot explain.
Among the St Paul jobbers there is a unan
imcus Impression of success for the coming
season. Many of the houses have Increased
the number of their traveling men ai
creased their allowances for expenses; a
indication that they expect, an increase in •
business. Large orders have been plai ed with j
the manufacturers and wholesalers of the ,
East, and the importers In New York, Bos- i
ton, Philadelphia and other coast cities have
received orders which will load down the
immense ocean steamers which bring to our
country the results of European toil and labor.
The treasures of every country on the face ol
the globe have already been requisitioned In
goodly quantities for tho people of the golden
Northwest, and, In turn, the people of for
eign countries are looking hopefully forward
to plentiful quantities of wheat and brtad
stuua from the United States.
MR. WARNER HOPEFITL.
Mr. Warner, of the firm of Lindeke. War
ner & Schunneier, Is of the opinion that
there will be a large increase in business for
this year over the trade of last year. He
says: "Our business so far this y<
larger than for the same months of last year,
while tha business of '95 was largely
Increased over that of the two previous years.
We are looking for a large increase, and ex
pect that within a few months we will be
doing the same good business that was I
acted In tho years of 'SI an • con
dition of affairs In the surrounding country
| is much improved already, although the effect
has not yet been felt in the citie3. Ju*t as
' soon as the natural conditions warrant, how
j ever, the^ities wiil profit by the betterment
I of the condition of the people in the country.
There is a natural channel which business j
must follow, but that channel leads to the ,
cities, and the way is a straight one this
year. It a}l depends on the crops.
S and the prospects are very bright. Our
i traveling men report an excellent condition
! of affairs in the country, and we can depend
' on a large increase of trade during the
! mer and fall months. There is no doubt in
my mind but that there will be a real,
healthy benefit for us all. We are expecting
it and'are making our pr paration:- for !'."
INCREASED TRADE IN VIEW.
Mr. Finch, of the firm of Lampher, Finch :
i and Skinner, dealers in hats, caps, gloves,
j etc., states that there has already been a .
j noticeable increase In business for the m
I and that preparation are being made to lpok j
■ after a largely increased trade, in view of ;
i the reports which have been received from j
! the country. The smaller dealers, who re
i reive their supplies of goods from the jobbers ;
j in St.v Paul, have sent in large orders in |
! anticipation of an increased volume of trade. ,
| The farmers make enthusiastic reports and
expect excellent crops.
C. .1. McConville, of the firm erf Finch.
Van Slyck, Young & Co., Is enthusiastic over
the prospects. "Our business since the first !
of the year was largely in excess of the
business we did for the same months in th
previous year," he said, "but the storms in :
April had a tendency to do us some harm in !
business for a couple of weeks. That is all
over now. however, and we are receiving
large orders for goods from our men on
the road. Of course. It all depends on th"
crops, and if anything should happen to j
disappoint the country merchants it would i
reach us. There is a healthy condition of \
business, however, in th - Northwest. In tho
Southern and Western portioss of the terri- '
tory adjacent to St. Paul and Minneapoll i
there have recently been establi.s-h^^ a large j
number of dairies by the farmers. These
dairies cause a constant stream of money to ]
flow In, so that the farmers have money all i
of the time. This money flows into the !
natural channels* which lead to the business j
houses in the cities, and things are easy for
the dealers who have a trade In that r.ortion
of the territory. We havo received tho best '
ENTHUSIAS/Vl
/\7V\OiNG JOBBERS.
of news from cur men on the rood, a: I
took for a large increase in bu.-n
--coming season. We look for a revtvaj of trie
good times of a few years ago. and there Is
cv ry indicati&n that we will witn
within a few months. It all depe
crops, however, for it" the fan
.-ops they cannot pay their :
country merchants, who gel I
us. There is every pr
prosperity."
I. D. Ferguson, of the firm of Gordo
Ferguson, thinks II is too • arly as yel
make any proper estimate of ise In
business for ih coming season, "Wi
say," he said. that v. do n large
business this year, and look for a retun
the prosperity of a few years ago. Ti
ports which we receive froi untry
shew that the farmers are expecting to have
excellent crops, and are already gft
to th..- country dealers
tion of a bountiful harvest. Our w\
ness is good, and much better than w<
'•• I :,ess will i •
ter new. and look for a 1 . --atie in r>-.i>e i:i
lunie .if trade, i; is our exp eta tion
thiii tbe jobbers if St. Pan! will .)•
benefit from the business of th, year."
I. 11. Art!.in. of the nnu of \rth\ir 4b
Abbott, de«iers in gents' furnishing;
confident of an increase in business for til's
year whi:h will he largely In excess "f thj
past yecr. "So far our i i
been 40 per cent over oui
sam.e length ■ time last vr.ir," he
"The outlook la briaht and
iheie will be a large and healthy grc
busin-ss. li a!' depends on ti.
course, btr rta which
from our correspondents and traveling men
show thut til •re is every expectation i:i t'i-«
minds of th.- people of ti:.- country that (mis'.
ness win continue to ■,; :!1 n .-,, v „,,.
Of course tt is a little premature to make
any positive announcement, but we expect a
betterment in the condition ol tradi
will be ready for it."
• '■• i Arm of Kell
Johnson <s» Co., d ;alei ■
rubbers, said: "There was an ad\
last sieinij, a:..! .:
■ ■ in the pi I
iratlon t,,r ■
in large stocks. For thai reason, w<
have no! c
busings so far this spring II
trade Is qualizing hlnga
is of Buch a characi r as to Indi ite thai tbu
country mercbanl • are ;e In
crease of business this year. We are pel
ly satisfied with the mannei .:i »
ness is '.Hjiuinir In, ami we arc iuri th I
merchants and Jobbers ■ : St. Paul will be
greatlj
bal '.i
■
for th< 'Our hou •
: dv.r :. ly j , . ne, he tald
live yean md we
■ •
-
is bright," <aiil I
our c<
the volume
larger than
•
Indli .■.:■ that th
■
than the •.. .
business foi th< tall d< . , ";i
the outcome of the harvests, bui there Is
•
.
A representative of the firm ol I
r <v Co. said: "Our traveling
statu that the country deal
of ihar i ransacti d dvi Ing ; '■• pasl h
:• aro
being ordered bj the smaller di
conclusively >l ";'^'
an increase in the volume of trade, but
an Improv (m< or In (hi
the trade.
that we carry, we have m ti '
dainties, wh
of tho country merchants cxn.pt m tlm
plenty. We can ti li from this
merchants are expecting the
wiil b i . end In the fall.
for the ::; Ing month so fa
largely in excess ol the trade handled by us
during tbe same months In the past two
or three years. The general Indication
f-jr a good healthy growth in bui Em ss and
; the pi ople. it is
well known that the bu
lepend
on the count - theli tradi
at lea; ter poi tion of ir.
"Tf the country merchants cannol mak<»
their collections when due, the merchant i
with wl deal and from •■'
n iT. r In
Merchants may be a.s g^-d as gold,
but it may be li i fbi m to make
their ci That Is what drives firms
to the wall. II
a Arm 'hat mah
■
■
lections. So far we ; • '.n to
be satisfied with the
I
. . in."
J. 11. Alien, of the firm of J. 11. Ailen &
To., IS
Ing • Is a bright
outlook for trade mths.
"Our bus m I
be said
Glob °, "but we
say much al
coming in slowly, however, ■•■ I
tn<- best. The fanners had a ?.-.!
year, bi ich for if
:.in into debt with tl
merchants and th it i •"'. 'is b
in our
The reports whii b cor
tell us that thin rhe
country are
good busini ss dti ring
the opinion that
rival of business ;!; over the country, and
•
. 'ives nf such lirt'iß a
k .t Co., ;;. c
Ryan ■ • . Dry Coeds
pany, C. Gotzian & Co., McKibben .'■:• Co.,
etc., all gii
that there will be a general
d irlng the
eral report as to
countrj
fn m their • ustomi rs, 1
10 trouble r
turns .... I
..,..:••! months.
Tlhe farmers througbi
looking vith Joy to
free from the ii • by
the lots of crops or I
cash which they were ■ n the
markets. They report thai »k Is
brighter than it has been for a number of
years, and, but for some
they will have a harvest which will swell the
ribs of their granaries with Buch a
has been seldom time when
the crops of Egypt were reserved for .
riod <>.' seven years to prepari
It means plenty, freedom from li
free business channels, th" handling of '
quantities of goods and general pros]
Thero is hope in the hearts lh all. and a
general feeling that the harvest will be a
golden one.
Justifiable.
Harrlsburg Patriot.
She—l have huaid that you said I was
fond of the sound of my own voice.
He—Well, you have years-.-!! admitted thit
you like music.