Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-04-15
FRANK w. WOOLWORTH
[From the Philadelphia Ledger. ]

Ills Tdplu rise from q small pig
eonhole" store to the palatial Wool
worth building in this city-with
more than 500 branch stores in the
United States and more than sixty
in Canada and England-forms one
of the most interesting business ro-
mances in the history of the world.
The business was incorporated seN-
erdl years ago for. S65, 100000.
In addition to being president of
the firm of f.. w. Woolworth and
Company, he was the director of a
number of banks and business enter
prlses here. He maintained a resi-
dence on Fifth Avenue noted for it's
rare paintings, and a country home
at Glen Cove.
Some one characterized Frank w.
Woolworth as The man who made
little things big" He gave a Won
derful illustration of the importance
of cent. He was the sublimated
small merchant.
Mr.. Woolworth wasn't a man of
particularly fine sensibilities, and he
was asked one day how it happened
that he got the ambition to build
such structure, and particularly
II built that magnificent affair
when I was boy" he said. MY
folks were poor and we lived in a
very small house. Back of our house
there were stone piles, and l started
10 build house of my own. After
| was making lot of money as 4
merchant, I wanted to build some-
thing bigger than any other mer-
chant had. The Woolworth build
ing is the result"
\ story that is little known about
Woolworth has to do with his first
day as a merchant in PENNSYLVANIA.
He put every dollar he had in the
world, and he didn't have many.
into his stock. his fixtures and his
rent. His opening day was circus
day. The streets were crowded, but
nobody came into his store. The
parade was bigger attraction. But
along in the late afternoon there was
a sudden change. After the circus
the people seemed to find particular
attraction in the new store that had
just opened. When he counted his
cash that night, he found his total
sales exceeded his carly forecast.
Later in life he said that first day
was the most trying of his life.
One thing the death of Mr. Wool
worth may clear up is the mystery
of the City Park at Watertown, y.
Y. The park was built and year
after year the bills for its mainten-
ance have gone to a banking house
in New York. There always has been
more than n suspicion that Frank
Woolworth was the man who paid
Mr.. Woolworth had one great pas
sion aside from business. That was
4. 1.
he had one of the most remarkable
organs in the world. 1t was fitted
up with all sorts of mechanical ap-
pliances for reproducing storm eff
thunder and such.
He did not play particularly we'll and
appreciated this fact. When he got
talented organist to visit his home.
he was delighted. He was rather
sensitive about his own limitations
as a player, and when he had guests
he could not be induced to go to the
organ. But he would, if he was
pressed. play the piano, on which he
was a fair sort of performer.
There are a lot of stories illustra-
tive of Woolworth's business meth
ods. Once he went to Germany to
visit man from whom he had been
buying penknives for years. Coins
into this mans Office one day, he
said: Here's a knife that you make.
It's a pretty good knife. It's higher
priced than the goods I handle. How
much does it cost you to manufac-
tuie it?"
The German told him. "If 7 gave
you a big order" and Mr.. Wool
worth named a considerable total,
at what price would you sell it to
me
sixteen cents" said the knife
man.
IF I gave you an order sufficient
to keep your factory busy night and
day, twenty-four hours, for a year,
what then
The German figured for a long
time. Then he said, Eight cents"
Done" said Woolworth.
There was no pretense to Wool
worth: he was big, bluff and hearty.
He didn't pay his employees particu-
| larly large wages, and he held them
to a strict accountability. He insisted
upon courtesy. The customer is
always right" was one of his doc
trines. Never forget that. He or
she is right whether she is or not"
Once or twice or thrice a year he
would shoot a telegram to every ono
in his hundred or more stores in
America and have the same thing
done in his fifty or sixty or more
stores in Canada England or else