Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-09-21
STATISTICIAN
NELL DEAD
MEETS WITH FATAL ACCIDENT
IN NEW ORLEANS.
FIXED PRICES FOR YEARS
information was Given Out Through
the London Office Which He Gath
cred With The Greatest Accuracy
Throughout Cotton World.

NSW OIleduS' 1lcHIy Nj NO1Ali
whose name is known wherever cotton
is grown or spun, and probably the
only man in the world who has fixed
the price of the Southern staple year
after year by his estimates of the
size of the crop, met a tragic death IN
this city.
Though his influence on the cotton
market has waned in later years, the
news Of the accident which befeli
him, and later the announcement Of
his death, excited much interest in
/, the commercial centers Of the world.
Many dispatches were received here
inquiring for particulars.
Mr.. Neill was quite advanced ii
years, having attained the age of rs,
but was still active, and went back
and forth to his offices ON Gravier
Street twice a day. Yesterday short
ly after noon, having had lunch at his
home, 1910 Sixth Street, corner Of
Chestnut, he walked out to Camp
street to take the Coliseum ear bound
downtown. 1t was not known exact
ly how lie met with the accident, but
from member of the family it was
learned that he had evidently stepped
too near the track as the car came
along and was struck and violently
thrown to the ground. He was ten
derly picked up and carried to the
front porch of the residence of Mr..
J. B. Sinnott. near by, and placed in
a chair. There he was recognized
and his sister-in-law, Miss Schultz,
notified He was Immediately taken
home and physicians called. They
found his condition extremely serious,
especially on account of his old age.
Several ribs were broken, his collar
bone and the shoulder blade shattered
and he was badly bruised. Though con-
scicus to the last minute, he was un-
able to articulate, and could not, there
fore, tell just how the accident occur
ed. He fingered until ten minutes to
O'Clock, when he quietly succumbed to
his injuries, the shock having been too
great for one of his. years to bear.
His three sons and his daughter,
Mrs. Richard Mccall, were wired, and
pending the arrival of one Of them,
no arrangements will be made for the
funeral.
Mr.. Neill was a member of the
firm of Neill Brothers Of London,
consisting of his elder brother, Will
liam M. Neill, who, though SO years
Of age, is still in active control of
affairs, and himself. His brother only
last year made a tour around the
world. Henry NJ Neill came to New
Orleans in 1S49, to open the New Or
leans branch of the firm, and con-
tinued III charge of it up to the time
of his death. He saw the cotton indus
try of the South develop almost from
its infancy into its present vast pro-
portions. He has seen it during the de-
pressing period of the Civil War, and
he has looked upon the most flourish
ing periods ii its history Early in his
career as the American representative
Of the English house, he realized the
Importance of forecasting the size Of
the crop, which at that time was al
most exclusively taken by the Eng
lish spinners. He began making trips
out into the country, and formed
corps of correspondents, who kept
him informed of conditions, which en-
abled him to make fairly accurate es-
Inmates. These were sent to the Lon
don house and by them given general
circulation among the spinners. By
the accuracy of these estimates, he
soon established reputation which in
the course of time made him the most
important factor in the price of the
American crop. The time has been
when he could cause the market to
rise or fall fifty points or more, by
the. simple announcement of his es-
innate of the crop. He was at the
zenith Of his influence, in the latter
eighties and early nineties, and then
others began to figure, just as he had
done, and the Government stepped in
with its bureau reports, all Of which
tended to minimize his influence on
the market. He continued to make his
estimates to the last however, and his
figures on the crop just completed are
said to have been very close to the
actual results. There were times, how
ever, when his figures were greatly in
excess of the actual crop, but the in