The Washington herald., 1908-06-21

! so Mr. Patten settled the matter by draw
ing his check He felt repaid when he
learned that a young chap who had de-
cided TO go 10 Cornell had declared for
Northwestern when he heard Of the new
gymnasium.
The new building is not the only Pat
ten donation 70 the school In 1905 ne
gave the old Beveridge mansion. fine
structure standing but one block from
the campus. as residence for the presi-
dent OF the university. and his purse
strings have not been tightly drawn when
| other needs OF the school were manifest
James A. Patient asked him what the
a. stood for and he replied that he
didn't KNOWS a Presbyterian. He Is
also a good bridge whist player and told
me with some hesitation that he oc-
! casionally played for money-a tenth Of
cent a point. lie Is cautious is James A
Patten. and he does not intend 10 be led
astray by the lure Of the card table. He
has some ideas on the subject OF gam
bling and while we sat in front Of the
big blackboard after change hours-a
/ board decorated with chalk marks and
such painted devices as Visible supply
| OF grain" stocks Of provisions" New
/ York bank statement" London stocks"
and the Ike. he iuveghed somewhat
| against real estate speculation and told OF
men Of his acquaintance who went TO the
/ bad in an attempt 20 corner the market
| Foolish" he said. utterly foolish"
Then continuing. Don't you see how Ut
terly futile such a thing is? There IS
I I'll L. .r. -
] Is always 20 be had.
| Now. grain speculation is based on
/ the very principle OF economics-suppiy
and demand. That IS all there is 10 it..
/ II is a very simple thing. I bought corn
! on the theory that the supply was not
\ equal 10 the demand. II was pure mer-
| chandislng Away back IN war times,
/ Marshall Field and L. z. Letter bought
| cotton cloth on the same theory, and they
/ were right The embargo on cotton
/ sent the price up. They bought largely
| on credit-their credit was their margin
and when the day Of reckoning came
/ they made fortunes That is all there
/ is 20 IL. Everybody specUlates. The
merchant buys goods at a low price
and sells them at a higher price later
on in the season. II he did not he would
not be good merchant
This talk Of a corn corner has, OF
course. been grossly exaggerated. Why.
I sold 10000 bushels Of corn to-day for
] 4 cents a bushel. Does that look like a
/ corner?"
But you have all the corn" 7 ven
tured
II know" he said. but they all want
IL It's merely a case Of merchandis-
ing I bought II 10 sell. 7 bought Z
az a low price and am selling IL az a
/ profit. II IS merely good merchandising.
after all"
Well" I ventured again, Is It a
fair question TO inquire how much you
! bought
well he returned. you might Just
say that I bought enough"
James a. Patten is a popular man
with his fellows. and he IS one Of the
few Spectators on the Chicago Board
Of Trade who Is believed when he makes
a prediction. He is a pleasing man 20
meet and he looks his type-wholesome
American. Lacking an inch Of being six
feet tall, he weighs 1s5 pounds, is we'll
propOrtioned, we'll groOned and anable
He talks easily, promptly, and looks
into your eyes when he speaks. At this
season Of the year he dresses IN gray
and wears a gray Fedora hat. In tho
office and out His gray mustaChe and
hair contrast harmOniOusly with his
clear rGddy complexion. and his blue
gray eye IS OF the laughing variety. He
is a good sort, is James A. Patten. and
he says that oats are good 10 own and
that corn IS going 20 stay IN the vicinity
Of 20 cents a bushel all summer.