Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-02-14
]. B. cRkENHUT.

The recently effected merger Of tn,
two large stores of the Siegel Coope,
Company and Greenhut & Co. draw,
attention to the exceedingly inter
ksting personality of the man who i
mainly responsible for this amalga
nation, notable as this is in the com
mereial history Of New York City. tt
Capt.. B. Grcenhut is due the credi
OF the consolidation of two immense
enterprises task h~ereulean In III
magnitude and ono which might well
have daunted = younger and less en-
terprising merchant.
Capt. Grecnhut has had an interest
ing history-in certain aspects a typ
tcally American" one. He is sixty,
eight years of age, and, like many
prominent New York merchants, he
Is foreign by birth. Arriving in this
tonntry from Austria at the age of
uine, he went TO Illinois, receiving his
EARLY education In the Chicago pubic
schools. His twelfth year found him
possessed of q restless desire to make
Iis wi way In the mercantile world,
IND with that object in view he went
10 st. Louis, thence working his way
outh as far as Mobile, where he
rived with . quarter of a dollar in
$ pocket. A youthful stranger in
A@s<ranGe town, knowing nobody, he
lnrassed the entire commercial dis
sct ON . hunt for a job This
fnally presented itself in a tinsmith's
establishment, where the future COM
nlercial genius was awarded the posi-
ton Of solder heater From so
laamblcNa beginning Capt. Grecnhut
studied the tinsmith's trade In all its
BhAssa. deyotinH several years to the
same coming north Just before the
outbreak Ct wsf-
81 Tfe opening of hostilities found
Capt Greenhuf In Chicago. Follow
volunteers, he Immediately enlisted In
he Union army, being the second
ian in Chicago to do SO. He active
IL participated In most OF tina battles
or ffg civil war, and at the battle of
Fort Hcr-t.cr was shot through the
Rrna. Promotion speedily overlook
him and he rose to be eaptain OF
Company X. Eighty-second Illinois
Volunteer Infantry. AT ths time he
was mustered out Of the army he was
thief OF staff of tho brigade.
! Various commercial ventures occn-
pied Capt. Grcenhut's attention after
The war, when he settled In Chicago
lEhe great FIRE OF 1871 completely des.
troyed hts home and his business
and, like many another previously
Well-to-do merchant, he found himself
kndex the necessity OF starting life
hnew, which he did with unabated
spirit, connecting himself with sundry
enterprises in the state of Illinois.
From the year 1895 datrs Capt.
Ereenhuts connection with the Siegel
Cooper store, though his FIRST acttvi-
ties were more of 3 negative char
ecter, other financial affairs absorb
Ing much of his attention. Neverthe-
less, in process of time and after dem
~onstfatiols of his genius which
stamped him as q mar of mark III
the commercial world he bought a
controlling interest in the Siegcl
Cooper Co. This was in 1901, since
which period he has been q factor to
Be reckoncd with in the commerce OF
New York. Under his guidance the
Siegel Cooper Co. store has devel-
oped to a truly remarkable degree,
attaininy proportions that are notable
even in this country of vast bust
masses.
In 1907 Capt Greenhut founded the
Ttore which bears his name directly
opposite the Siegel Cooper Co eStab-
iishfnent on Sixth avenue. and the
new store at once took sank as among
the leaders In the American retail
world. Not content with this. and
looking toward even q greater eff
cheney In the conduct OF his business
BE then decided to merge the Siegel
Cooper and Gfcsnhnt tercs Into one
vast whole under tho style of the
Greenhut- Siegel Cooper Co, which
1m~aiganaation was recently effected
1t is clzinaed that the successful union
OF the two enterprises will call inte
being a mercantile establishment
whirh Is not OILY she largest In this
city, hut as well ore possessing fseili-
ties for xn=h expansion as will piacs
u .rer. eAe largest iw sAe world
Such Is i brief resume Of the his
tory OF i man who ut the age OF tixsy
eight has fttingiY crowned . llfetim'
Of honorable Commercial endeavor BIZ
giving TO New York It's greatest stor'
and most wonderful retail establish
mene which will wei remain q monu
ment to his Sbls IN Tntive powers am