Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1876-04-14
The merchan, Primo, Dead.

arr WAS HI, Tue news VI uIS uSai III come
with startling suddenness. NotwItt
standing his advanca d age Of seventy
three years, be had seemed to retail
such good health and had attended 8
fltlfullv to the personal management
of his Vast business that people rarel
thought of him as a septuagenaria
who must be approaching near tn
natural limits of his days. He ha
figured 30 conspicuously IN the publ
eye. his success as merchant ha
| been SO phenomenal and his accumu
atiOn of wealth 80 great. that In til
| litter wears of his life the reading
world has known him well, and hi
career has b en- almost as familia
as household words. Mr.. Stewart wa
born in B4lfast, Ireland, in 1903, ant
| came of that race OF North Irish Pres
| :,Yterians Who are famous for courage
! steadfastucsS aud in diligence. He re
/ cHived collegiate ducltiou, and hfte
graduating a. Trinity college. Dnbiin
cam ~ TIE United states III 1928 II
was fi"st q ;.lch"r % ctf -sics at al
American school, but il 1927 he EN-
barktd his ntfle capital oi So 600 II
trade, investing most of it IN tie I'M
portatiou ot Irish linens and luceS. L
was one of his rules at the bcginni ng
70 have no business partner. aud il
WAS only after many years that the
firm became 4. !. Stewart i Go
From the start his prosperity WAS
amazing, AID only those Intimately
acquainted with his uffairs can form II
correct est mate Of his wealth. His
retail dry goods store at Broadway
and Tenth street is the larges;
establishment of the kind in the
world It was built after ht4 had
"a-ned millions IN hiS down
,lwn p ace ut Btuad say and Chambers
street, whIc'l he afterwards retained as
hi wh)iesaie house. He h.d ha1 IA
dom branch houses in other cities of
The United STATES. and bureaus and
warehouses; III Condor, Paris, and 9th
er European tbs. His annual sal. :
ranged from seventy to seventy five
millions Of dollars. aud hi: profits
might be anywhere from five to six
millions Of dollars. He never went
into the whirlpool Of sp, culation, his
investments outside of his regular bust
ness being in real estate of solid value,
OF which he was rsputed a short time
ago to hold 81, 600, 900 n New York
theatres, a New York hotel property
Of great value, ana the largest hotel at
Springs, which it was said he
even contemplated extending. His
private residence on Fifth avenue, not
lar from Central Park, is marble pal
ice tit for king. He had a great ad-
of art, and his early education
bred in him a fine taste, which was
with prodignl lnvishuess III
"a of 70 4
other art works. His home was filed
with magnificent productions, his lat
est acquisition being a Meissonier at q
cost of 100000. He had a resident
partner Ill New York, Mr.. Libby, an
other, Mr.. Fox, in London, and third
in Paris. whose name W.. do not recall.
MIR. w. II. Perkins of tins city,
whose personal and business relations
with Mr.. Stewart We're intimate, relates
much of interest in connection with
the dead merchants character. Mr..
Stewart was liberal, but it was after
bis own war Like all rich men, he
was constantly being applied to for
money. If he had any means of dis
covering the character of the applicant
ne would use them, and if be found
him worthy the request was frequently
granted. At the same time he had 10
mercy for sloth and negligence. His
own bnsiucss-like habits had built him
up in the world, and in his rules for
flauag iug his stores he Was as rigid as
a Ii 4rtiliet. One of his strIctest princi
pies was never to deceive a purchaser
ia the class OF goods sold. At one
time he had on his counters lot
81 prints which he found were not of
the duality represented to him. He
marke them down for sale al "A sacris
fee, and iss ned orders that customers
should be invariably Informed of their
grade. He detected salesman mis-
Informing a buyer Oh. this point, aud
he dlscha :ged him on the spot. Mr..
Stewart was the first man to establish
he dry goods trade Oh a sound ba SIS.
After he rose high III business he con
-racted the system Of long credits of
we've and fifteen months do~ to six
and when the war commenced
40 concession longer than nIueGy days
would he make, and no customer
could induce him t. go beyond II. The
OF invincibie iirmuess
WAS supplemented with a practice APP
olicatiOn Of the system Of ply As yon
90. His pu ..Iu>eS were always for
ash; he pan -oney down for every
hing; AID -. doubt If now at luis
ipath al hie d.-hts could not be set
;l:,. up III a week.
It was these traits and his far-seelng
" eacity that made Mr.. Stewart the
nan that he was. We have said that
ne was charitable. bnt the world knew
lothing Of his many private gifts. H,
iiSiiked newspaper publicity, a"d
4 yer lowed himself to accept pnGho
Jtiice except when President Grant
offered him the IS crctaryshlp Of the
Treasury III 1869, and he was only pre-
vept"d by the law from accepting. Ia
i&47 he sent 8 ship load of provisions
It his own expense in tie sutferiDg
I;ish, and in 1862 a sblp-load to the
l. lncashire operatives. He had emil
lcntly the business iCea i'll charity.
His "Garden CITY," Cd Long Island,
this. There he purchased
L Whole township, with the view OF
homes for the industrious
Young men of New York. He placed
the building lots Oh low ground
rents Gnd built pleasant cot
tages. which he would sell at
small advance to deserving tenants,
Allowing them plenty Oh tlGe III winch
TO pay. Ga Fourth avenue, in New
York, he erected Il magnificent s;rtc-
ture, covering nearly whole block,
and designed a. ahoma where working
women could live at small expense.
This project has never been pl crd ia
practical Operations, but lie never
abandoned the nope Of. 'onsum eating
it. Mr.. Stewart had ten III pu'and
people in his employ aud as i may be
estimated that ench OF these had two
others d*palden on hIm Or II r. he
wages he paid supported fuzzy thirty
thousand people.
There viii. Of c',nree, be a great 1cHl
of curiosity TO know VIII 1t viii become
of Mr.. Ste warts vast wealth. His wife
is still living, but their u1ion has be- Il
with children, and his
nearest relatives by blood are in he
land. Recently he remarked to tie
Baltimore visitor whose ia nae We have
given above, on peoples On iOslty as
to She devising OF his mon"y and Oh
served that when they knew they
would be satisfied.