The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-10-28
GIANTS AT WAR.
Coffee King ana Sugar: k'ns stake
Their crowns In . =:
IL ~ Struonie. Il N

William T.. Curtis, staff CORRESPONDENT
OF the Chicago Record, writes to that pa-
per as follows:
'~''A fight between the sArbuckles, the cof-
fee kings, and the Havemcyers, the sugar
kipgs,.ls becoming 80 active that the ef-
1ect WI! soon be felt throughout the roull-
tIy, ana particularly in the grocery trade.
They have already commenced cutting
prices, and the apprehension Of the in
vestols is shown by the rapid decline in
the price of sugar stocks. Brokers calcu-
late that the value of the stock of the
American Sugar Refining company has
suffered a shrnkage of nearly $1,000, 600
curing the last thirty days, and that the
cut already made in prices, if continued
through the year, will diminish the earn
ngs of the trust by more than $G,OOO,-
'rhc firm Of Arbucklc Bros, for sew
eral years the targets coffee dealers in the
world, was formerly composed Of John
and Charles Arbucklc, two Scotcllmen,
who began small business of coffee-roast-
ing in Pittsburg fifty years ago, and hav-
ing made success and accumulated CAPT
tai sought a wider field in New York early
in the '1Os. They were men of little edu-
cation but understood their business thor
oughly, and possessed the traditional
Scotch thrift and economy. which has
swollen their pennies into dollars.
an estate of several MILLIONS. John still
lives and continues to direct the business;
with the assistance of james n. Jarvis of
Glenridge, n. j., his son-in-law, and Will
liam G.. H. Smith of Brooklyn, who mar
ried daughter of his brother.
FOR fifteen years after they began bust
ness in pittsburg John A:buckie roasted
and his brother packed it and sold it over
the counter. He still retains his habit of
looking after details, and spends most of
his days in the factory. He takes an
equal interest in church affairs. and be-
licvrs in the old-fashioned Scotch Presby
terrain brand of religion. In business af-
fairs he has the reputation, like Russell
Sage, of being pcnuricus, and takes the
half-cent whenever he can get it. But no
one ever questioned his integrity, and he
pays his dues to others as promptly and
accurately as he expects others to pay
their dues to him.
1.-The quarrel with the sugar trust be-
gan in curious way. The success Of
the Arbuckle coffee business has been
certain kind OF bag used in wrapping.
These bags ure. made. filled. closed and
sealed by machinery which John Ar
buckle himself invented. aud Il few years
ago it occurred to him that it would be
a good srheine to put up sugar in the
same way. Therefore the shrewd old
Scotchman made all arrangement with
the sugar trust to furnish him certain
quantity of sugar daily, which he put
up in bags with the same machines that
he used for coffee. The scheme was a
great success, and the Arbuckle sugar
sprans into popularity throughout the
country.
'In 1896, however, when the price of
raw sugar went down, Mr.. Arbucklc
demanded a reduction in his bills, but
the HavcmeyerS laughed ut him and
prepared coffee when the green coffee
was cheap. They told him they would
sell him sugar by the quantity at a con-
siderable margin off the wholesale price,
and offered to buy his machines and
take his sugar business off his hands.
This made the old lnun Angry anti he
resolved to put UP fehnerlus IF his own
and enjoy the profit that is now going to
'"rhere were three OF four Interviews
between Mr.. Arbutklc and MI. Have
meyer. The Scbtrnihah and the .Diitth-
man clinchetl and neither would yield.
Mr.: Haveineycr Threatened to 80 intf the
coffee business if Arbuckle tontinticil his
sugar bust ness, and these old friends got
So angry that they promised to ruin each
other.
"Mr. Arbucklc started at once to build
a sugar refinery and coaxed MIR. Stilman,
the sugar-trust manager at Boston. to be-
come his superintendent He but ,;p a
refinery in Brooklyn that is now turning
out 1000 barrels Of sugar Il day, and
every ounce of it is packed in little Ar
buckle bags and sold in that form. Mr..
Havemeycr hired fellow countrynan
named Herman Sielcken, from he Ar
buckle factory, for his manager. and
bought out an establishment at Toledo,
which now has an output of 5000 bags of
coffee a day, and fitted up several idle
sugar factories with machinery for roast
ing and grinding COFFEE, which he Il sell
ing as hear MS possible in the Atjuckle
market
Mutual friends have tried to effect 4
reconcila ton, but it has tjeet iniptjssiblc.
The Gefiiian is just dis stubborn and de-
terminN as the Scot chiian, and each is
bent upon ruinihg the t}thef... AfBucxlc
| has SUCCEEDED III liiaking an alliance with
Claus D6scher of Brooklyn and all he
other sugar :rehheries who have kept out
side Of the trtst,, and their combined fac
tories are noW able t6 produce from 15,-
600 to $4,000 barrels of sugar day. The
| output of the sugar trust is a bout 80 600
| barrels a, day, MI, Arbilckle is organic
ing syndicate with capital of 500
| 100000 to continue the fight against the
sugar trust, and on the other hand the
| Ilavemeyers are negotiating for a com
| bination of all the coffee interests against
the Arbucklcs."