The Independent. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1895-1905, 1896-10-10
CONTINUED from LIST Page)

The failure did not excite much
surprise in the dry-goods district, as
most OF the business men there had
expected it, Bryce Gray, OF the dry
goods firm of James T. White Il Co.
remarked 1--WE have for some time
been obliged to do our business with
Hilton, Hughes e. Co. strictly on
cash basis. AS matter OF fact, we
sent our clerk to collect a bill OF
$1,000 from the firm a short time
ago. We told him to sit in the Office
until it was paid" One Of the mer-
camille agencies in this city sent
warnings to it's subscribers in the
dry. goods districts three months
ago as to the bad condition Of the
firm.
This famous business was founded
by Alexander Turney Stewart
seventy years ago in wooden house
on Broadway, near Chambers Street.
His shop was in one room twenty by
twenty-five feet. His partner was
Mr.. Chambers, who is said to have
directed Stewards energies into the
channels OF trade. Stewart was bred
for the church, and when he left
Trinity College, Dublin, and came
to America, his inclinations were
not toward business. He taught
school for several years in New
York, and finally he came into a
small estate in Ireland. AS he was
about to sail to claim his patrimony,
Chambers asked him what he in
tended to do with it. Stewart re-
Piled that he would invest it and
live on the interest. "How much is
there3" asked Chambers "About
Sl0,OCo," replied Stewart. swell,
take your money to Belfast, buy in
sertions and scallop trimmings, and
you'll double your fortune" Stewart
replied that he never had been able
to buy pair Of gloves without help.
But, none the less, he took Cham
ber's advice. When he reached Ire
land, he found that his patrimony
amounted to only $1,000 instead of
$4,000. Nevertheless, he invested
it all, and stocked the little shop on
Broadway.
1t turned out that the clerical
scholar had perfect genius for
trade. He speedily had to move out
Of his little shop to new store
further up Broadway. In 1882, six
years after he started, he had moved
still further up Broadway, and had
taken a two-story building. In
184S he purchased the corner Of
Broadway and Chambers Street for
100000, and put up new building
costing 100000. The old dry
goods merchants shook their heads
ominously, and prophesied disaster.
In 1862 the downtown building was
abandoned to his wholesale depart
ment, and he moved his retail estab-
lishment up to the Tenth Street
corner, where Hilton, Hughes & Co.
have just failed. This was looked
upon as the most magnificent dry
goods establishment in the world.
There was nothing even in London
or Paris to equal it. The building
was valued at 100000.
1t was after the panic OF 1873 that
Stewart became merchant prince.
He had a genius from the dry-goods
trade. He seemed to thrive on
panics. When establishments were
going down all around him, Stewart
was advertising dry-goods at "panic
prices" and throughout the panic
his profits on these sales often
amounted to $4,000 a day. By the
time the war broke out, he had piled
up fortune estimated at $20,000,-
000 He was an ardent Unionist,
and would have been appointed
Secretary Of the Treasury had he
not been an importer and therefore
disqualified. Toward the last years
Of his life he made many real estate
investments, and built the great