Telegram-herald., 1889-05-29


FefreshDent, bat delight an& beasnt.
Tie men are similarly cared ioT IL all
ether part Il tie bdii1lag,
Held Is n0E known by sght - more
than odse-half az has 8 50 einpiOyes- he
puts certain men III FsspoDsloie places,
and holds them accountable for results.
As = rule be spenas 10 nlore than nfe "a
SIX hours a day 81 business las little
originality and has personality l. not stTik-
ing, though strong. While ananaker
aud Armour aFe fairly picturesque
Fields face Is dark. handsome and strong.
with . gray mustache and plentiful hair
almost white. lie talks little, and has
more the air of student than great
merchant. Armour aud Wanamaker
are brilliant and ready takers The lat
ter looks one straight in ths eye, speaks
Ia low tone. using the Simplest words.
and tie charm II lis conversation hes ia
the direetness, clearaess and rapidlty Of
his speech. His remarks are like clcsv-
ers, not intended 10 be kept polished and
pretty, but warranted 70 go u the heart
Of things. Armour IS the only enc Of
the THO possessing much humor. lie IS
an epigrammatic talker, is full OF quaint
Illustrations and siuiles. H. likes 70
speak self deprecatingiy. calling himself
"a butcher" His laug.l Is strong and
hearty, and no is the cause Of laughter
in others. Armour abhors a man who
speaks ia his throat and doesn't know
how 10 spit it out.
Armour is not hungry for money. He
goes working along simply because work
is his delight lie gives away In year
more money than any other man IN
America. iic is, too. content with small
profits on his business. Tic net returns
do not exceed three millions 4 year on Il
total of ilfty-live millions, or less than
per cent.
Armour has striking. unique indi-
viduality, but is 20 I'll who know him
well one OF the most lovable Of men.
Though carrying on a business greater
than that Of any railway corporation in
America, and though 1T times he makes
great deal of money in speculative
! deals-he never yet lost 4 fight in that
field-hc is singularly irritable about
some little things. / remember one oc-
casion in which he fumcd and fretted
for nearly a whole day about fifty
pound box of sausage which a careless
| shipping clerk had sent TO a wrong rail
wav station. where it lay all day on the
| platform in the sun and was spoiled.
| For several hours the office men heard
of little but that box Of sausage, and the
chief was not appeased till the offender
had been discovered and rcprimanded.
| The sausage was worth 81. and that
same day the provision market, in which
Armour was largely interested, fell of
so rapidly that nearly $500, 600 Of mar
gin money was required to protect the
housc's holdings. The packer gave no
more than five minutes of thought TO
the provision market. He was too busy
marking down the loss of the box of
sausage.
These three men of success are Of about
the samc age. Wanamaker is the young
est at 1, Field is 50 and Armour 55. Ar
mour was a farmers son. who made his
business start in hfo with yoke of
steers. Wanamaker was a brick yard
boy, whose first mercantile employment
was as clerk in a book store at Sl.25 q
week. From his own lips | have heard
the story Of how his first lucky strike
was made after he had started in busi-
ness for himself in the sale of dozen
uniforms for q secret society. He de-
livered the goods himself in n wheel
barrow and invested the proceeds i'll ad-
vertising.
In the opening year of the war Mar
! shall Field and Levi Letter were clerks
in the Chicago dry goods store of Cooley,
Wadsworth & Co. The trade outlook
was dark and gloomy. john V. Farwell
had recently become managing partner Of
tho firm. and he called in the two clerks
and told them the outlook for trade
was so dark that he feared their salaries
would have to be cut down. Would
they be willing to take n share Of the
years profits instead Of a fixed saiary9
Field consented Immediately and gladly
Letter took few days to think it over,
and finally accepted the terms.
See what luck will do for a man. In
stead of running the dry goods trade the
war gave it tremendous boom. That
very wear Field and Letter drew so. 600
| each in profits. Letter is now q retired
merchant. with s., ,000. 900. Field leads
the continent in his line, and Is worth
s20. .010. 600. Wanamak~r, who was near
bankruptcy less than ten years ago. is
worth probably S4,C00,0 900. All three
are generous with their wealth. Field
subscribes literally TO all worthy CHAIR
ties. while Armour gives as much as
ANYBODY else, and in addition remembers
the needy in private charities TO an in
credible extent. lie has been known to
give away 81 800 Ia single day, in cur
rency. and in small sums. lie has built,
and maintains, great mission and kin
dggarten. Nanamaker's charities arc
princely, and lie is wei known for his
Sunday school and mission.
Armour engages in no enterprises hat
those related to his own busineas, except
ing only the st. Paul railway. Fields
outside ventures arc confined TO the Pull
man Car company ard a few silver
mines, ali fortunate Investments Wan
amaker, On tho other hand. is in large
number of enterprises During the last
six years Il seems "a If he had buf 70
. touch thing ard it vas turned into
gold. WALTER WELI'fAE.