The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1905-04-06

Less is known Of the head OF the Swift
& Co. corporation than of the ArmOurs,
because Louis F. Sw'ift's home has al
ways been IN Boston. He is more reti-
cent and exclusive than j. Ogden Ar
m0ur. Living within few miles Of the
birthplace of Gustavus +. Swift. he lives
in 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 a
boy. drove a butcher wagon. His income
and resources are like those of an en-
peror of the east; his father grubbed a
meager living from his farm.
j. Ogden Armour has a home on |
Michigan avenue which cost SIPS 900.
His wife is a beautiful woman. and a So
ciety leader. who takes much interest in
outdoor sports and driving. who in an |
nnassuming and modest way is liberal |
in her charities. AT Oconomowoc. Wis.
they have summer home which is said
W w oES VI SuO IuOSl SOAAplCNC III luc 1
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 ................... 2o,00O.OOO
Annual business ........... 100000, 900
Stock value in merger 5000. 75,OOO.OOO
ARMOUR & CO.
Capital 2O.OOO, 900
Annual business ......... 0,OOO, 900
Stock value in merger ...... 10000. 900
NELSON MORRIS & co.
Capital MISUNDERSTANDING 5000, 900
Annual business ........... 25,O0O.OOO
Stock value in merger 5000. $4,000. 900
CUDAHY 4 co.
Capital observation-disclosures 100000
Annual business ........... $4,000, 900
Stock value in merger 5000. $4,000, 600
Stocks and securities repre-
seniing purchase from
Hammond & Co. and Oma-
ha Packing company by
Armour & Co............. 1000, 600
Value in merger ........... 81 900. 900
Stocks and securities repre-
senting purchase from
Fowler & Son Packing CO..
the Anglo-American Pro-
vision company. by Swift
& Co. Observation-Disclosures. 5000, 900
Value In merger ........... $4,000, 900
Total capitalization of beef
trust Observation-Disclosures POI, OOO, 600
Remarkable Display Of Genius.
The story of how the present gigantic
power of the beef trust was born and
nurtMred has its beginning in the char
acter and personal achievements of Gus
'tavus Swift. However much p. d. Ar
nlour contributed Of sagacity and ener-
getic cOnstructiveness. the present con-
dition of supremacy of the beef trust
and of subservience 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-loying Yankee, Swift the elder.
An idea that was his and to which he
chung 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 he
discovered how superior western cattle
were over those of the east. and how
much more money there was for him in
dealing in Westerns.
Although he later gave evidence of the
innate genius for organization and mon
ey making, he had not up to his remov
al to Chicago been successful except in
very small way. Utmost frugality and
incessant attention to business had Civ
en- him slender bank account. He was
able to merely hang on the skirts of the
Chicago cattle market and had to be
content with insignificance. Occasion
ally he picked up carload of cattle at
bargain and shipped them east. He
grew more and more successful in this.
He found there would be saving to him
in having butchering place in Chica
go. and in few years he had established
one. 1t was small concern, which cut