, 1884-10-28
ARMOUR, PORK KING.
A Ruler Whose Realm Is the world'i
Provision Market.
Transactions which BroughtR Colos,
saI Fortune-Onee u Spectator,
but Now Claiming To He
Legitimate Dealer.

tChicago Letter in New York SUM-
Speaking Of his last great pork deal, which
Melted him S2, COZ, 600, Mr.. p. d. Armour said
that tie result gave him peculiar satisfac
ton, because be had been raided by the bear
OF New York and Chicago and had heater
them of. He declared most emphatically
that be was not u speculative trader
in the sense that the term is generally
understood. He always buys pork when it is
cheap, but he says he never buys it for the
sake Of selling again on the speculative mar
ket. When he finds the market attacked he
always protects his property. Thus far ths
bear attacks upon him have resulted very
favorably TO him. He made 50, 500, 900 out
of one five years ago, and the S2,OOO,0OO just
pocketed as the result Of his ummera bust
ness, makes him feel very comfortable finan
cially.
"If the bears had let me alone, he said re
Gently, Il should not have made this money.
i am engaged in a legitimate business. buy
ing and selling for consumption. / have
over 10000 men in my employ, and my sole
business is to distribute the product in the
markets Of the world
When the raid was made On this market IN
May, Armour had more than Sl2,OOO,O0
worth Of pork on hand, and, Of course, he
was vitality interested In maintaining prices.
He bought everything that the short seller
threw on the market, and, having almost uur
limited capital, he found no difnculty IN
carrying all the stuff.
Close Observations Of the pork king >
methods say that his great corners invariably
follow some great public calamity or wide
spread panic. He buys when other PEOPLE
have lost confidence IN values and limits hh'
purchases only to the amount OF the uher'
ings- In 1917, when 1t was announced that
yellow fever had appeared Mt Memphis d
panic occurred here in pork products, which
are largely consumed at the south The mar
ket dropped sL.51 n barrel IN two days The
collapse broke nearly all the southern speeu
lhtors, who were, as Il rule On tue long side.
Inc natural result OF oV~ertradlng on TIT
short side was that the market was cornered
in october, the bears settiing their pork Will
Armour at clio IA Darrell ne having Doushi
tor 81 and -.
In 1851 the snort sue OF PORK again alr
peared attractive TO spectators, not"ith-
standing repeated unpleasant experiences
with Armour. Inc stock ON hsnd was large
ana on April ~ pork sold down 10 SD IL
was unoh mat armour LOOK nolo ana ihlu ule
foundations LOT ms slghhtlc ueais OF the sum
mer' beginning at TINS hgure' ne bought all
the way up TO SiS IN july During th+
next three months he cornered the market
tied at elf, IN September at SIS, and IN DC
tober at sls. The total quantity OF pork
handled by Armour was not less than 5,OOO,
OOO barrels, and the number OF shorts out wa;
large, covering more than tO,OOO barrels.
IL was a mammoth DEAL and involved buy
ing all the pork IN the world. In spite oil ITS
Immense capital ne would nave been ruined
had not the demand Tor pork been heavy
ana the puDhc persistent IN sPecuiatlng On
the long slue.
lhls same good fortune mas followed thii
suseessiul trader IN all MS ventures his 81
gantic legitimate business makes II easy ioI
MIN TO dispose OF the product, and his super
abundant capital enables MIN 10 protect Ut
enormous holdings whenever anybody raid,
aim The deal which he has Just closed VI
so satisfactorily To himself resembles the
greater one Of leso, and the money which 1t
mas taken out OF many spectators Is a cieai
giIt
nile strehuousiy ihslstihg maj ne Is mol
lleculator or gahplef' MI. armour hu'
nlits that ne mace ms hIst great fortune ny
speculation Just before the close OF th' war
when Armour was II packer in Milwaukee
ana pork was seilfhg at S4u' ne dreamed one
night thai there would be u great tumble II
prices. On the why down town the next
morning ne stolpea at ms partners mouse
ana told nm that ne thought pork was toe
high, That's my opinion too said Mr.
~flanklntoh- Aiter II niue lurther converse
ton 1t wns agreed that Armour should take
the hrst train Tor New YORK and
SOL all he could. lie went sold
pork at $40, and never took 1t IN untilsit
struck 90 making over sl'ooo,ouo by
tue oIeihtoh- nut ne hau RTeat ulrhcultN
III 'arlyihg out ms plah. Inc ne" YORK
agents Oh fiahklhRtoh * armour were wal
lace * Wlcks' at that time one oil the heaV-
lest hIms In the trade. Ihe big packers all
over the country Were bulls on provisions,
Cleveland Indianapolis, and 81 Louis pack
en- being Persirtent buyers wallace q
MIcks dld business Tor all oil them' and were
bulls themselves II underworld by
every means III thei power 10 dissuade
Armour ~ Co. from selling pork, but h.
steadiastly adhered to the object of his visit,
refused to 20 to meetings, and would have
nothing to do with the nool For about
,hroe months rmour was The terror NJ tbs
- -, - -
PioNhi"" "taiNe'' an" "neh no sob ieauy l"
20 home prices had come down -. Just a.
he was leaving kingan, "A prominent bull
operator, said he wanted to make Just onr
more trade.
~ sell YOU 1000 barrels. u said Armour
am ,ata 49, said no otha- avvI,.,
~ e., -o I'm
p"ih SENS II e"' "9itv' Sou VIII "aht II
BACK. e
TN deliver you that pork" replied ar
mour, when il sells at S1S.r
The packers, with few exceptions. We,
,,inad NV the break and beco,,a "a.
,Grhsst nocksr IN tba world Hs .draits ,ta,
.i'"eSe paSAs' = sas I ne auhnltS .pa'
t.e "lria.'oh "a notnins outa huge ghl"
haye nm ,uinsd a. il was he was avn,
iy circumstances over which he could In,
20 nossIle control a1bat was the onIv -,