The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1915-01-29
Katherine Giles Is Leading Fore
caster Of That Impor-
tant Crop.
BEGAN WORK AT SO A WEEK
Her Reports, Gathered From Numer.
Gus Correspondents and SkilIfuIly
Prepared, Rank With Those
Of the Government.
ey RICHARD sPILLANE.

become q recognized authority
throughout the world on cotton-a
crop that now means a thousand mil
lion dollars or more a year to the
American people. At times, as a re-
suit of a report which she issues, the
markets of New Orleans, New York,
Liverpool and Havre are violently agi-
tated. Brokers buy and sell tens of
thousands of bales, risk hundreds Of
thousands Of dollars and the change
in the value of cotton means millions
of dollars to the growers and the
spinners. Thousands of men accept
her report with as great a faith as
they do that Of the United States gov
eminent in the preparation Of which a
big force is employed in Washington.
She works alone. She sits in an Office
in Broad street that looks out on a
well made by skyscrapers. The post
man brings more than 10000 pieces
of mail matter a year to her. She
has $500 correspondents scattered
throughout the cotton belt She is
a student of the soil, student Of the
weather and student of cotton, the
plant. She is a statistician par ex-
cellence and has made for herself a
position in the business world that is
unique for one of her sex.
The girl who went to Wall street
was Katherine M. Giles. She is a
woman now with the gray beginning
to show in her hair. She was born
in Salisbury, Orange county, N. Y. She
was graduated in the public schools.
She never has been to college. AS a
girl she had a bent for mathematics
and composition. The Giles family
was a large one. There were eight
children, six girls and two boys. Ev-
cry one of the girls has become sue
cessful business woman.
How She Got Her Start.
The man who gave Kate Giles her
first job had worked in the agricul-
tural department in Washington. He
came to New York and opened sta
tistical bureau to furnish reports on
corn, wheat, fax, oats and cotton.
The principal work of Miss Giles
was to rule paper according to the
needs of this man and then copy the
reports as he worked them out. She
thought he was wonderful Being
deeply interested in his business, she
naturally studied his methods of arriv-
ing at the condition of the various
crops. His health was poor and she
did everything she could to tighten
his labors. The first recognition she
got that her services were appreciated
was when he gave to her the key to
his letter box in the post Office. That
was strong evidence of confidence, for
a crop statistician must be most care
full Of his correspondence. Little by
little her duties were enlarged. In the
first year of her service her employer
had serious illness. The work was
more than he could attend to and he
gradually gave up reporting on corn,
wheat, oats and flax. She took charge
Of the cotton. She made up the re-
ports on this crop and sent them out
in his name until he died.
With the death Of her employer she
had to look for another position. She
got one with big cotton firm. Her
work there was of a character that
was delightful to her. Her employers
wanted her to keep in close touch with
every development in the South that
affected cotton. How she was to do
this depended largely on herself. The
reputation of the firm was excellent
md ~ bod a oood ,opy oliapto In tb a
cotton belt, but the most reliable in
formation about cotton comes from
sources that are not intimately con.
cerned with the size of the crop. II
was left to her to open up new fields
OF correspondence. What her employ.
ers wanted was accuracy. They judged
her by results. She remained with
this firm for two years and then re-
signed to accept a similar position
with Charles d. Freeman, who was
the board man for Price, Mccormick
& Co. in the days when that concern
was perhaps the largest in the cotton
trade in the world and who, when the
firm failed, went into business for him
self and became one of the most prom
inent operators on the exchange.
She had been learning more ant
more about cotton each season and
was broadening mentally. She is 9
woman Of keen perception and calm
judgment and as exact and painstak
Ing where figures are concerned as Q
scientist is in any laboratory worl
he undertakes. She was perfectly sat
isfied with Mr.. Freeman as the EN-
ployer and Mr.. Freeman was per
fectly satisfied with her as an EN-
ployee, but after she had been with
him two seasons she got a notion tina,
she ought to get moro money. Every
one else in the Office had received ar
increase In salary. She couldn't quite
understand why she had been left out
20 she made an application Tor an