Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-04-20
The firm of A. T. Stewart L Co. has
branch hONSos in ROaf0n Dhi1o6o1rhio

lously, and required others tb do the
same. If he promished :toapay a dol
lar, he paid a dollar, and il i man prom
ised him dollar, nothing less than a
dollar would satisfy him. Hence he
got the name Of being hard and exact
ing, and consequently was, rather un-
popular. He was also strictly truth
full man. He never told lies, nor ask
ed any in his employ to tell them. The
foundation of his business success was
the reputation which his establish
ment gained at an early day, for de.
scribing goods exactly. as they were,
Offering them at the lowest price in
tended to be taken, and then making
no deviaations. And in. the course Of
his long career it has never,rbeen al
legged against him that he defrauded
man, woman or child of a cent.
MR.. STEWART PROPERTY
is variously estimated at $50, ,000, 900
to $40, ,O0O,O 900. The opinion of the
best judges is that it is not far from
$25 600, 900; but only one man in the
world, during Mr.. Stewards; lifetime,
besides Mr.. Stewart himself, knew ex-
actly. That man was John NJ. Hop
kins, his confidential book keeper. His
real property is also large in amount,
consisting Of two stores, numerous
warehouses, two magnificent hotels,
the Globe theater, great many houses,
marble mansion in fifth avenue, the
working women s home on fourth aven.
ue, and many manufacturing establish
mentS. - :
1t is we'll known that MI. Stewart was
extremely superstitious. The slight.
est incidents or accidents became to
him impressive omens. The fact that
he caused an apple woman who for
many years vended her edibles on the
sidewalk in front of his wholesale store
to be removed, stand and all, to his up
town store, under the impression that
her presence insured his prosperity, is
well authenticated. A lady whose ac-
quaintance he made just previous to
the opening of his new store, warned
him not to sell anything there until
she had first purchased something in
the store, and on the opening day, early
in the morning, she called and bought
nearly 5000 worth of goods, principal
ly Irish laces. Years afterward, when
Mr.. Stewart was in a foreign city, he
learned that she was living there in re-
duced circumstances. Her husband
had squandered her fortune. Mr..
Stewart sought her out and gave her
an elegant suit Of apartments, and af-
terward settled upon her a handsome
annuity. He supported her during her
life in comparative luxury, because he
believed her early purchases in his new
store had brought him luck.
1t is understood that Mr.. Stewart,
by his will, has left to Judge Henry
Hilton the future management and
disposition of all his business affairs.
Mr.. William Libbey, the only sur
viving partner of Mr.. Stewart, acting
in accord with Judge Hilton, will con-
tinue the business under the firm name
of A. I. Stewart & Co. Nowhere in
all the city outside of his own family
could he heard any word Of regret at
his death. It is a singular fact that,
without personal enemies, Stewart
was most universally unpopular. He
had not 4 blood relative in the world
to love him-neither child, nor
brother, nor sister. He was rich.
however, and his wife has relatives of
whom the name is legion. His unpop-
ularity grew out OF the system on
which he conducted his business, not
his personal habits or peculiarities.
1t ground down and drove out similar
dealers. It grew in years to be a
great monopoly which ruined thou
| sands of smaller merchants, scores of
whom became his most trusted en-
ployes. In later years it's magnitude
enabled him to almost crush, in any
| emergency or panic, his strongest
rivals by underselling them. 1t was
not natural that they should love him.
And thus it happens that, while no
one had anything unkind to speak of
him personally, and cannot recall any
evil or unkind thing that he did, no
one has a good word to say of him.
Mr.. Stewart had nearly completed a
vast hotel for workingwomen, where
in at an expense of not over two dol
lars and two and a quarter week,
| l,50O might have most of the substan-
tial comforts of home, together with
we'll cooked food, everything being
furnished at cost. He had also com.
menced a similar hotel for working
| young men. The cost of these two ed.
ilices and of the land is estimated to be
$5,OCO,OOO.
Mr.. Stewart usually breakfasted at
eight o'clock, his meal ordinarily con-
sisting of plain bread, bit of fish, an
egg, and some oatmeal porridge.
Then he was driven to his retail es-
tablishment, where he spent two or
three hours, walking through every
part of it, asking the statesmen the
| price of goods in order to ascertain
whether they were up in their duties,
and observing how affairs were car
| ried on. Then he went down in his
carriage to the wholesale store. There
he read his letters andtransacted busi-
ness until six o'clock. Though cour-
teous in manner, Mr.. Stewart wasted
no words, and anything like a bore was
summarily dismissed. And in 10 9TH
er way could he have got through
with the immense number of calls
that were daily made upon him.
Mr.. Stewart was in the true sense a
philanthropist. At the time Of the
great famine in Ireland he sent to his
| suffering countrymen ship load of
| provisions, and with the American
flag floating at the foremast she en-
tered the harbor of Belfast. 1t was
one of the Americas contributions to
Ireland. and was so intended by the
giver. But the enterprise was not yet
complete. The agent at Belfast was
directed to advertise for young men
and women who desired to go to Amer.
ica, and free passage was given to as
many as the vessel could carry, the on.
]y requirement being that the appli.
cant should be of good moral character
and able to read and write. A circu.
lar was issued by Mr.. Stewart himself,
and sent to his numerous friends, stat.
ing the fact that he expected large
number of young persons, and asking
employment for them. When the YES.
sci reached the harbor of New York,
places had been found for almost every
one of the new emigrants. just after
the Franco-Prussian war he sent the
bark Hunter, containing 1872 barrels
of flour as gift to the suffering French
| people. His gift of $50, 900 to Chicago
and his subsequent gift Of another$50,' =
0O0 oro froSh in ovorvhn6v,c m onOrv