The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-08

| logue with added zest. Fifty brokers
| gathered about him and 1t Is probable
that they heard more religion in that half
hour than they HAD ever listened to In
all their lives
HE STARTS THE CENTURY CLUB.
He opened a big meat market in Chi
| cago once. mainly in exploitation of his
| many views as to how meat ought to be
kept and what sort of meat ought to be
| sold. He was as proud of 1t as it Is posi-
bic for man to be proud of anything
and often waited upon customers himself.
-Four women came in one day and bought
! ten pounds of steak, which he sold to
them at u cents pound. AS they went
out one of his assistants said: 'Five
| minutes ago, Mr.. Hutchinson you told
| me to mark that meat up to Is cents.
He stared atchs subordinate a moment.
Then the fact that he had lost 30 cents
! dawned on him. He jammed his hat
upon his head in a passion, rushed out
and did not come near the shop for
three days
Some years ago he rented rooms In the
Rialto building and formed an organiza-
ton which he called the Century club. 1t
was a place wherein his friends could
meet him without restraint and wherein
he could practice cooking to his heart S
| content. He hired a French chef, who in
a little while became puffed with the idea
that he was indispensable. ''Old Hutch
| promptly discharged him and presided at
| the kitchen range himself until he could
| get another man. One of the brokers en-
| tered during this interval, and found him
with a white apron hanging to his heels.
| a white paper cap and his sleeves rolled
| zap. The broker sat at a table and called
| harshly for. the bill of fare. The great
i Spectator responded promptly and Tpo-
| e q
asked. -
Ham and eggs. was the response.
land get a; move on you" The dish was
| prepared defuy and served in little
| time. When it had been eaten the Gus
TONER yelled: Here, cookie, more eggs!''
| Mr.. Hutchinson appeared in the doorway
| with a frying pan in his hand. He glared
at the broker f1ercely. Then he hung the
| pan on nail and wiped his hands on
| his apron. George" he said, tsyou get no
more eggs, blank your eyes! There's a
strike on the Panhandle"
THE JOKE WAS ON HIM
He was notably impatient with sub-
ordinates and would sometimes say a
! food of things to them, for which he was
| heartily sorry. In such cases he always
sought the offended agent and apologfzed
| humbly and at length. One of his aids
| was asked why he stood the abuse.
You'd stand it, too" he said ''if you
were getting the salary L get" How
| much?" was asked, naturally. Five hun
bred month Hutchinson heard of 1t
| and called on his employee for an explana-
ton. Yes was the answer, 'T told him
| 1 got that much. I get $500 worth of
cursing and 500 in cash. The great man
broke into roar Of laughter Come
right downstairs" he said. "That puts
the drinks on met" The incident. how
ever, did not reform his temper to any
| extent.
The walls of the, Century Cab were
| hung with many pictures of. the. great
men of the American past Mr.. Hutchfn-
son was specially an admirer of Charles
Sumner and was never tired of express
Ing his appreciation of that statesman.
He once admitted. however. that he
thought Henry Watterson would be a
| lived long enough.
| Often when sitting, in his favorite chair
| by pillar In the board of trade chamber
he would ask -one of his men. for, exact
figures on the market. The 5nlan would
| heSftate5for a sna onfeflt. 60 and buy r50,-
600. bushels!,' sor. go and sell T1O0,0o0,,,
would. be the instant direction, followed
by the remark: "You can find out how It
| stands in that way Frequently he
would walk into the room, stand about
| while with his head in the air, make
ten deals In ten minutes, clear. OF lose
| $4,000 and walk outs apparently suncon-
cerned; He was not a confirmed bear
or, "bulr' and In ordinary times there
was never any telling upon what side of
the market he would be found He would
| keep "a dozen agents simultaneously on
| the rush and was able to tell anyone of
them at any instant the exact figures at
| which he had ordered sale or purchase.
| Often, when asked suddenly, the man
would be forced to consult the tab which
he carried in his hand, but "Old Hutch's''
memory never failed him and he would
give the figures before the agents eyes
| found them.
~ HIS MASTERY OF DETAILS.
He mastered the details of any business
with wonderful rapidity. His son-in-
! law, Mr. Lancaster, some years ago be-
came the managing partner in. furnf-
ture concern called the Chicago Carpet
| company. 'Old Hutch" went in also. In
| six weeks there was not a window cur
tain or a bit of carpet or piece of furni-
| ture in the building from cellar to roof
| that he did not know. He could give a
| customer the ingredients of which it was
| made, what was its cost, just how good
or bad it was and so forth. He acquired
mastery of these details mainly be-
cause he had made it a habit to inform
himself thoroughly whenever he entered
! into any sort of business whatever. A
| remarkable thing about him was his
| neglect of the telegraph. Other brokers
rush about the chamber all of the bust
ness day with yellow slips folded and
| held between their fingers, stopping to
consult them now and then and gallon
| ing on, cheered or gloomed by the mes.
| sages. "Old Hutch" paid no sort of at
tention to this. 1t is probable that he
did not receive a hundred kilograms a
year. Where and how he got his knowl-
edge of crop conditions in all parts of
the country nobody e~er knew, but he
certainly had it and maze fatal use of If
He did not believe, either, in life in
surance, and agents learned after awhile
| TO leave him alone. However, one man
did succeed upon certain occasion in
selling him an accident policy. Two DAYS
! afterward he fell down flight of stairs
and broke his collar bone He was in
bed long time, drawing $50 week from
the company and chuckling with delight
at the thought of how he had got fhe
best of the bargain. 1t was during this
| Illness that he made a study of the cron
conditions of the world. When he got
up he walked into his sons bank and
announced that the ''world was short
on wheat Nobody paid any attention to
| him, so he strolled over to ConIev's
place and declared to the brokers' who
stood about that the world was short
on wheat" They said they were glad IN
see him out again and went on drinking
He entered the board of trade chamhar
a little while after and declared: e1The
world is short on wheat" This created
no stir.
WHEAT CORNER OF 1855
Then he went to his office. tho,eb+ 9
while and started the great corner of 1898
He sent wheat up to 81 a bushel. forcaf
the shorts" to settle at ruinous figure,