The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-04-22

Less is Known of the head of the Swift
& Co. corporation than Of the ArmouEs.
because Louis F. sWift's home has al
ways been IN Boston. He is more ret1-
cent and exclusive than J. Ogden Ar
nlour. Living within few miles OF the
birthplace Of Gustayus F. Swift, he lives
in a mansion which costs fortune,
while the farmhouse in which his father
was born. which still stands, is small
and devoid of all modern comforts. he
rides in automobiles; his father, as
boy. drove butcher wagon. His income
and resources are like those of an en-
peror of the east; his father grubbed
meager living from his farm.
]. Ogden Armour has O home On
Michigan avenue which cost $125,Qo0.
His wife is a beautiful woman, and So
ciety leader, who takes much interest II
outdoor sports and driving, who in an
unassuming and modest way is liberal
in her charities. At Oconomowoe, Wis,
they have summer home which is said
to be one of the most complete in the
country in equippage and comfort.
Value of the Plants in Combine.
The following are the figures at which
the various packing plants were valued
in the consolidation which is called the
beef trust:
SWIFT & co.
Capital ..................:. 25,0o0,ooo
Annual business ........... 290,U00,eeV
Stock value in merger ...... 75,000,000
ARMOUR & co.
Capital .................S 20,000,000
Annual business ............ 200 100000
Stock value in merger $4,000, 0o0
NELSON MORRIS & co.
Capital ................s 100000
Annual business ........... 25,O00,0o0
Stock value in merger 1859. l5,000,00g
CUDAHY & co.
Capital ...............S 5000, 000
Annual business ........... 100000 0C
Stock value in merger .... $4,000 GOO
Stocks and securities repre-
senting purchase from
Hammond & Co, and 0ma-
ha Packing company By
Armour & Co........ 100000
Value in merger ........... 21,00O,0oG
Stocks and securities repre-
senting purchase from
Fowler & Son Packing Co.,
the Anglo-Ameriean Pro
vision company, by Swift
& Co. Observation-Disclosures. 5,00000C
Value in merger ........... 100000
Total capitalization OF beef
trust POI ,000, 0oC
Remarkable Display Of Genius.
The story of how the present gigantic
power Of the beef trust was born and
nurtured has its beginning in the char
acter and personal achievements of Gus.
tayus Swift However much P. D. Ar
raour contributed of sagacity and ener-
getic constructiVeness the present con
dition Of supremacy of the beef trust
and of subseryience of the railroads, the
fruit growers, the farmers and the stock
raisers of the United States would never
have come about but for the rawboned
money-1oying Yankee, Swift the elder
An idea that was his and to which he
elung with the tenacity of an inventor
and upon which be staked his all
brought it to pass.
We have said that Gustavus Swift left
/ the cattle buying business in Brighton
and other Massachusetts towns when be
discovered how superior western cattle
were over those Of the east, and how
much more money there was for him il
dealing in westerns.
Although he later gave evidence of the
innate genius for organization and mon
] ey making, he had not up to his remoy.
al to Chicago been successful except il
/ a very small way. Utmost frugality ant
\ incessant attention to business had Civ
i en- him slender bank account. He wa!
able to merely hang on the skirts of tht
Chicago cattle market and had to b
content with insignifcance. Occasion
ally he picked up a carload Of cattle at
bargain and shipped them east. H
grew more and more successful in this
/ He found there would be a saving to hin
| in having a butchering place in Chica
go. and in a few years he had established
one. It was a small concern, which Gu