The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-12-07
GREAT COTTON
EXPERT NEVER
OWNED A BALE
Could Have Made Millions
. - Satisfied With
Salary.

BIZ NEA Service
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 1.-THE
worlds greatest authority on cotton
never has owned a bale Of 1t in his
life.
For fifty-six years he has stuck
firmly to the job Of proving that
two plus two equals four" and has
spurned chances to become a mil
lionaire.
A few words from him can sway
the cotton market all over the world.
That is a brief picture of Colonel
Henry G. Hester, SO-year-old Sec
rotary and superintendent of the
New Orleans Cotton Exchange.
Two Potent Words
"Hester says"
Those two words mean everything
in the cotton market. They cause
men in every corner of the globe to
risk fortunes buying and selling.
They win the swift attention Of
every cotton interest in the world.
But through all the years Colonel
Hester has refused to invest one
cent speculatively in cotton. Nor
has he allowed any member Of his
office staff to do so.
I'VE have our honor" he says
simply.
Colonel Hester was a reporter in
1870 when the New Orleans Ex-
change was founded. He was per-
suaded to become it's secretary. and
it was not long before his passion
for exact figures, his insistence Of
rigid accuracy, made his forecasts
and predictions on cotton the most
authoritative to be had.
His Simple Formula
"All my life 1 have gone on the
belief that two plus two equals
four" he says. II have seen
hundreds who spent their lives try
ing to make two plus two equal
three and three.quarters or four and
one-quarter. but it can't be done"
Here is one example of the oppor-
tunities for personal gain that
Colonel Hester has ignored.
In 1915 cotton went down to rock
bottom. 1t went begging at cents
pound. Colonel Hester sat at his
desk and went over his figures. Re-
ports of other cotton experts We're
| that cotton consumption that year
would be only 100000 bales.
Colonel Hester figured it at 14,000,-
600.
He went down TO the cotton ex-
change, posted his prediction on the
bulletin board, and wired the fore
cast to New York. Instantly cotton
began to climb. 1t went to Is cents
pound, wavered a bit, then went
on higher.
A Chance for Fortune
Eventually It stuck at 40 cents
a pound. Spectators who had
bought on Colonel Testers forecast
became rich.
How much would you have made
II you had bought a thousand bales
before you posted those figures?"
| Colonel Hester was asked.
J my NiACi6 ALOlIi llliGc HuHuIcu
thousand to a million dollars, de-
pending on where I got off," he
replied. But I didn't buy. I never
owned a bale Of cotton in my life.
I never speculated a copper cent
in the market.
mo man connected with such re-
ports as so out of this office can
have one cents interest in thoset re.
| ports outside of the salary he draws
/ for accuracy"
No Idea Of Retiring
Colonel Hester is New Orleans
most famous citizen. lie has done
much for the cotton trade and for
! his city. Though he is so he Is not
thinking of retiring, and he insists
no man is old until he thinks he is
He smiles when asked how the
1925 flappers compare with the sto-
ried southern bellies of his youth,
back in the crinoline days.
1.-The girls of today make as good
wives and mothers, when they mar
ry. as their grandmothers did," he
says. And they know more and
are better equipped to advise and
assist their husbands than their
grandmothers were. I am the firm
| est believer in. and the most ardent
advocate of, the girls of today"
After his days work Is done
Colonel Hester goes home to his
wife and his grandchildren and
| grandchildren.
Il never think OF cotton except
when I'm in my office" he says.
That's one secret of how I keep
going"
Copyright. 1926. NEA Service, Inc.)