Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-05-12
Alistsllaasuus 8eaains.
wuMAN WHO CAN KEEP SECRETS
On That Ability Is Based Miss GiIes's
Business Success.

Business Success.
Miss Katherine NJ. Giles is proba-
bly, the only woman in Wall street who
could, were she so inclined, turn the
tide of cotton speculation so that
operators would win or lose millions
Of dollars, for Miss Giles is the cot
ton statistician, who every now and
then bucks up against the govern
ing colors, beating men grown old in
the business at their own game.
It has been said that a woman
can't keep secret, but the author Of
that saw didn't know Miss Giles, for
she is known as the sphinx among
cotton spectators. She never by a
word, a look or even the infection of
her voice indicates in the slightest de-
gree any Of the secrets for n knowl-
edge of which some men would pay
thousands Of dollars.
It isn't because she hasn't been ap-
preached that she hasn't told her Sc
crets. Many men have attempted to
extract a word from her as to crop
conditions. Men to whom the slight
est inkling would mean heavy gains
have tried ruses of all sorts to catch
this young woman off guard. They
have yet to be successful.
1t was some six years ago that Miss
Giles earned the name Of the Cotton
Queen. 1t was on that eventful De-
cember when her report Of the
cotton crop, differing from the gov
ernment returns by a large percen-
tage, turned the tide Of the cotton
market and increased cotton values
by some $5,OOO,OOO.
Before that time she was compare
lively unknown, but when this hap
pened kilograms began pouring into
New York from all over the country
asking, who is Giles?" Few knew
she was a woman then and plenty Of
her subscribers today have yet to learn
the fact, for the address on the hum
dreds of return postals she sends out
to the big cotton growers Of the south
to get information as to the extent
and condition Of the crop is simply
*. NJ. Giles, statistician."
She Is probably one of the very
few women in the country who by
their own efforts are earning an an
nual income of $4,000. She has ris-
en- to this position by hard, conscien-
tious work from a salary Of SO a week
as assistant in the office Of a cereal
statistician in the Wall street district
Miss Giles was found by a Sun re-
porter at her office in the financial
district pouring over a big pile Of tab
ulated reports, while beside her lay
symmetrical piles Of return postals,
some 800 of them, which had just
come in the mornings mail from the
cotton growers of the south. Some
how one naturally expects that a
woman whose business is almost
wholly concerned with figures and
mathematical problems should her
self be cold, dry and calculating. Miss
Giles does not meet expectations in
this respect.
She is youthful looking. exceeding
ly feminine, with a pretty, we'll
rounded figure, real golden hair and
clear, steady eyes. With pleasant
smile she greeted her visitor and ex-
planned the nature Of her business and
how she happened to enter into a
profession which taxes even the re-
sources Of the government Of the
United States.
ITO what do I owe my success?"
repeated Miss Giles. She sat far back
in her big revolving desk chair and
thought moment and in doing so
her blue gray eyes took on deeper
color ITO the fact that I never
speculate" she finally said, gazing
steadfastly at her visitor to empha-
size her words.
Yes, I am quite positive that to
this fact I largely owe my success.
You see," she went on rapidly as the
idea grew on her, "the temptation to
do so is almost overpowering, but it
has proved the Waterloo to more than
one statistician. If one speculates 1t
is only human nature to be biased in
the direction in which you want the
market to go. But you can see it is
the utmost folly to do so, for though
you might win and you might not. in
either event you would lose the con-
fidence of your clients.
Another important thing is to al
low no one to influence you. You
must rely solely on your own judg-
ment. This is absolutely imperative.
MANY persons have attempted 1t
with me but have not succeeded. at
least in the way they meant to. l well
remember that one man who tried to
make me believe that my calculations
of the crop should be greater than
they were managed to send me in the
other direction. That season as
consequence my estimate was way too
low"
10 the S'Si ~ w o.
information by strategy" Miss Giles
was asked.
Indeed, yes" replied Miss Giles,
her face lighting up in amusement at
some of her experiences. "All sorts
of subterfuges are worked in order to
get line on what my report will be
and all sorts of stories and rumors
are circulated FOR which l am held
responsible.
when first l started in with this
work | was kept in hot water all the
time by these tricks. You can fancy
yourself how it would seem when you
were guarding your information as
you would your life from the knowl-
edge of any one, and some one came
| to you saying they heard you had
given out certain important facts. 1t
certainly used TO try my soul. But l
have got so now that / almost never
answer the phone even for fear OF
being betrayed into a reply that, no
matter how innocent it looked on the
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