Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-14


ing a million, he can stop and crack joke.
AT times he is almost boyish- Neither his
millions nor his cares seem to age him
There is no style" about him He lives
plainly and dresses commonly. He keeps
fewer horses and servants than some men
whose fortunes are not equal to bis monthly
income. He likes to be called a butcher,
and insists that he is only a pig killer. He
greets his country friends with good
natured 'How's hogs down your wayr and
sometimes his eye wrinkles as he tells in
quisitive newspaper men that he doesn't
know anything about it. "Fm killing my
hogs TODAY" he adds, and haven't time to
think Of anything else"
On his desk there is always q huge bou-
quet of fresh flowers, set in the polished horn
of an OK Beside this horn Is placed every
morning ticket showing the bank bsiancs
and on the ticket are always seven figures
Adjoining the walls are sets of broad horns
and the stuffed heads Of ugly pigs Upon
the marble floor are samples of the packed
meats he has to sell, and specimens Of scoop
shovels, nose rings and things which some
body wants him to buy. he is neither proud
of his millions nor ashamed Of his sticking.
Armour is worth probably SO 00O, 600
mainly in cash or securities. He Is not q
large holder Of real estate, and IL is said he
could raise more money on twenty four
hours notice than any other man in Amer
lea, excepting, perhaps, one of the Wander
bilts His recent purchase Of the largest
glue factory in the west, for which he paid
nearly 81. 900 600 cash. was but an accident
The writer knows that the bargain was
made, so far as Armour's part In IL was con-
cerned. in less than twenty-four hours He
determined to have a glue factory to work
up the surplus refuse Of his packing house.
and. learning that one already established
could be purchased sent for q real estate and
factory plant expert. rode out to see the
works, and made his offer in less than three
hours A week later the tender was &C
cepted, and had it not been he would have
had a new glue factory going as soon as
money could get men and machinery to
gether.
Armour is pre-eminently business man
He is cautious, and yet dashing He is big In
big things aud small In small things. He
knows the value Of an eighth Of q cent null
tiplied by hundreds of thousands He Is to
day perhaps the most extensive speculator
In America. He rarely loses He calculates
well, and always sticks. He never deserts a
cause OF friend In 1880 he was credited
with engineering corner in pork. The deal
was forced on him In his cellars were thou
sands Of barrels Of pork which speculators
began raiding. They offered pork In the
rket at price below what it cost him to
pack it The raiders forced him to protect
his cellars" He had to put up O., 0OO, 600 in
order to do IL. but soon the tide turned his
way, and the raiders got out of the scrape
only by putting up IS 0O0, 900 as tribute.
-Four years ago some Of his friends among
them his old partner in Milwaukee, became
involved in a big wheat operation. They
were Il danger Of being eaten up To save
them Armour abandoned q contemplated
trip TO Europe, took all the wheat offered et
SIS and for months kept the price of
wheat in this market twenty-five cents
above quotations in all other markets of the
world. He saved his friends and made
81, 600, coo for himself
The day OF the failure Of Grant & Ward
there was a panicky feeling in Chicago, and
a clique Of bold bear operators undertook to
take advantage of the situation and precipi-
tate panic, which must have worked havoc
In business and financial circles Word wss
sent to Armour. and like fash came hi.
reply: "Take all ofserings' He set his mil
lions and his name in the path Of the wreck
ers and for this was formally thanked by
leading Chicago bankers
Early last summer there were rumors that
for once Armour had changed his custom
and gone into Wall street. There were shAk-
ings of the head and not few sneers at the
pork packer, whom most people expected to
see eaten up by the rapacious New Yorkera
Yet St Paul. the stock in which he had
made his Investments quickly responded
with an advance Armour went into St
Paul because he could see no reason why the
stocks Of that company should sell thirty
points below that of parallel roads no richer
or more remunerative Following his usual
custom OF carrying speculation and business
investment side by side, he bought y, ,OO0, 900
of St Paul stock outright, paying 6a An
other million or two was put In on
margins through his bankers About
this operation there was no secrecy. His
friends were advised to go In. They were
told to look out for q rise In St Paul Some
Of them followed his example. and msds
money. One Of these was . clerk In his Of
fee who invested his savinga 500, in fifty
shares When st Paul reached 20 he drew
out his profits, pocketed his 500 and In
vested the remainder. At rs be cashed in
again, and reinvested At 80 he repeated
the operation, and so on at every five points
advance up to 9a In i've months he made
SO, coo, and then had the good sense to draw
out altogether and invest the proceeds In
real estate In one pork deal Armour made
himself millionaire, and laid the founda-
49,, for bis o-sst Fortune In ono rs,lro.a
operation he has made no less tnan So,oe,
oVu AT one ouIiu uo nas ooooni@ one VI eae
Kings OF wan ssree. whose very Presencs