Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-11-13

Balances Carried by Men Of Means
Phil Arm00r's Vast Deposits.

| From the Chicago Mail
Big cash balances are often controlled by peo-
pie whom one would not expect to keep great
amount of ready money on hand. Around the
board of trade 1t Is the gossip that one of the
biggest balances is kept by young fellow who
a couple OF years ago was working in Armours
office for $50 month. He saved enough 10 get
q membership, and began trading In the thou
sand-bush'l lot crowd. He took the selling
side and soon had enough to his credit To trans
fer his operations TO the big pit. f. III. Hill,
called Familiarity Elite" in the pit, is now the
bigges; scalper on the floor. He sells 100000
bushels OF wheat now nonchalently as he
sold 1000 bushels when he began. The gossip
In the pit is that he has made ai'out S20O.OOO,
and that he keeps all OF 1t in bank ready TO be
drawn at q mOment s notice. Leopold Bloom,
Oh the other hand. Is a man who does not pc
lieve in big balances. When he gets $4,000
together anywhere, whether at the Corn EX-
change bank or in the hands OF broker or
anybody else he gets the currency, buys prop
erty and puts it in his wifes name. Ten thou
sand II a sort of unit with him. Any sum under
that can lie undisturbed, but he no sooner gets
his hand on that sum. or any multiple OF IT.
$4,000. 100000 or S4O.OO0-than he puts II
safely away.
When OLD s. II. Thompson, the restaurateur,
died, Sl34. 900 in bills was found packed away
in his safety deposit vault at the Illinois Iruss
and Safety Deposit Company's building.
Thompson could not write, and it has always
been supposed that 1t was the old gentiemans
constituencies on this score that caused him 10
keep great fortune like this in greenbacks.
He could write check for 500 or $500, or any
even sum like that; but when IL came 70 writ
Ing out odd sums he was at q loss II Old Thomp-
son had invested his money he would nave ieIt
probably S50O.OOO instead of Sl5O,OOO. An
drew Cummings, who was for SO many years IN
his employ, and who was only taken into part
nership a few years before his death, Is sup
posed 10 be worth 100000. ThOmpson's res
taurant bias always had charm 1or ladies, ana
has always been the headquarters for cold
water advocates. The old gentleman did at
one time serve English ale, but not regularly.
He never sold bHt OF wine In all lis
career restaurant-keeper Tire very day
that he put this wine on the Uill Cummings,
gambler, came in and ordered bottle. He
drank too much, got into wrangie with the
darkey serving him, whipped out his gun and
shot the waiter. The wine came right OF
Thompson's list the very next day.
hut TO get back TO the topic OF big balances
again. Armour each morning has a little
ticket put on his desk which shows the funds
on deposit at Chicago, Kansas City, New York
and elsewhere. The writer has seen these
figures when the balances e xceededS 1,OOO,OOO.
ArmOurS cash balances used to be larger than
they are now. He invested in st. Paul and be-
came a director there mainly because he had
well employed. He is now using S5,OOO,0UO
in carry ing wheat. Then there are the Luilions
he has in ST. Paul and In his business Ar
mOur does not believe in keeping balances un-
employed. Hutchinson bought and paid for
10000 shares of Northwestern common about
year ago and is now said TO own 900. He
probably has nearly $1,OOO,O0O ready money
all the time at his disposal. EggleStOn, one OF
the board of trade grain carriers could proba-
bly, raise great deal of cash in thirty minutes.
Ed. Pardridse must Keep very large cash
balance. The amount kept on deposit by
Marshall Field q 90. and j. V. Farwell & Co.
must be something like $1,OOO,OOO Tor the
former and S7oO,OOO for the latter. In the
winter the packers need big balances. The pay
roll OF the big houses out there run from $50 900
to $1OO.OUO per week, and Armour pays for
cattle and hogs about S75O.OOO per week in
the busy season. Just think OF the balances
that q business like that requires.