Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-03-12


man who had been active and successful.
but who had not as yet gained the title OF
king of the print trade. Fall River had
not begun to pay attention to Mr. Borden's
movements. So when he dropped in one
day in December no one looked for any.
thing unusual 1t was the winter after the
panic and everything was fiat. Mr.. Dor.
den went quietly to work and bought ev.
cry piece of print in sight Then he slip
ped over to Providence and bought all he
could get there. He was back in New York
before the rest of the print men realized
that he had purchased 700, 600 pieces of
cloth, and when he opened his commission
store the next morning he found that he
had put prop under the falling market
and boosted prices to u full time schedule
Then it was realized that Mr.. NJ. c. d.
Borden of Fall River and New York was
a factor in the cloth trade who was worthy
of serious attention.
His latest important visit to Fall River
was not long ago, and the people in the
dry goods trade all over the country are
still talking about it. This time he went
in secret. All winter long the market has
been in the slough of despond into which
it fell during the presidential campaign OF
last fall. The Fall River looms had been
and any of the 20 mill owners would have
been glad of an excuse to shut down.
Ever since last November the market
had been going from bad to worse Even
a purchase of 300 600 pieces at ~ cents
by Mr.. Borden did not stop the decline,
and finally prints reached 2l9, the lowest
price in the history of the trade. There
was surplus stock CT l. 500, COO pieces still
on hand, and it was being added to every
day Then Mr.. Borden proposed IA scheme
for clearing the market. The Fall River
mill men signed an agreement to stop
3,50O0 600 spindles for ID weeks, which
would curtail the production by 90, 900
pieces week. This braced the market up
some, but no one was prepared for what
followed Mr.. Borden quietly met the
treasurers of three big mills and told them
he would buy for spot cash, ut 2 GIG, all
the prints they could find They turned
over to him 81, 500, 600 yards, and, as he
was still unsatisied, made contracts to de-
liver to him 250, 900 more pieces, making
1000, 0C0 pieces in all at the same price.
This bold stroke sent the market up one.
eighth of Il cent yard, and this advance
Mr.. Borden's competitors will have to
meet if they buy prints while the market
is in its present condition. If, as this dar-
further advance, instead of slump, they
will have to pay much more, and he will
clear somewhere in the neighborhood Of
81 900, 600.
The deal caused the greatest sensation
which has been known in the trade for
years. 1t also cleaned out the Fall River
warehouses, put the market on its feet and
set millions of spindlcs TO whirling once
more 1t took a great investment of capt.
tai and an unlimited confidence in the pre-.
diction that good times are surely coming
again Another result of this speculation
will be that every woman who buys a shirt
waist or a print wrapper this summer will
have to pay or 3 cents more for it, bat
the economists argue that she win be bet
ter able to do SO. In other words, bust
ness revival is always accompanied by
higher prices, and, although in one light
Mr.. Borden may be looked upon as "a self.
ish speculator, in another he is public
benefactor.
The man who made this deal did not be-
/ gin to be known in the business world I'M
til about nine years ago, but today, at the
age of o. he is the Napoleon of the cloth
trade-the king of calico 1t was by no
mere chance that he became mill owner
and a commission merchant He was bred
when he was youngster, his father was
the most prominent man in Fall River,
He was big mill owner, promoter and
builder OF steamboat and railroad lines and
a member of the state legislature. Matt,
as he is still popularity known, was sent to
| Yale and was popular member of the
class of '62, with which he was graduated.
He took to the cloth business as "A duck
! does TO water and became partner with
his eldest brother when his father turned
over his business to them. In 1883 he
bought out the whole plant, and since then
nas built four fine cotton mills. He has al
so organized n big firm, with headquarters
in New York to handle not only the out
put of his own mills, but that of others.
| He is very popular man in Fall River,
and in the spring of 1895 gained the bless.
ing of $4,000 operatives by refusing TO
join a combine to cut down wages.
FRANCIS b. TALBERT.