New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1927-08-16
]. Ogden ARMOUR
dies |NL0ND0N
Wealthy Chicago Packer Victim
=. Of Typhoid Fever

peSaet, Adu pSSu IA LUZ ooiiie t1iiie
with typhoid fever. recovery being
greatly hampered by occurrences OF
stomach attacks, an ailment from
which he has suffered for some time.
The prolonged fever left him In q
weakened condition, cabled reports
said.
Mr.. Armour would have been 81
years old in November.
Jonathan Ogden Armour. eldest
son Of Philip D. Armour, sr.,
founder OF the great Armour &
Company packing industry. sacri-
Need his senior year in Yale uni
versity because OF his fathers de-
sire to give him an early training in
tho rudiments OF the huge business
enterprise that he was destined
eventually to direct.
After a year Of apprenticeship,
during which he made a study of
every branch OF the vast concern,
young Armour assumed the execu-
tive responsibilities Of the packing
house, and for more than II years
applied himself diligently to the
task of mastering every phase Of the
packing business. He assumed CON-
plete control upon the death OF his
father In 1901. r..
Under the direction OF Ogden
Armour. the volume of Armour &;
Conpany's business grew from
S1S2,0oo,000 a year to more than
$1,000, 900 a year, and the &C
tivities Of the company were greatly
expanded and developed. Mr.. Ar
mour bull. additional plants in vari-
Gus parts Of the country to encour-
sge and develop the production of
live stock In the territory surround
ing these plants, and to eliminate
unduly long hauls to the yards. 1t
vas under his guidance also that
the South American subsidiaries of
The company were established.
These opened world markets to
Tho livestock raisers Of South Amer
lea, and broke the valuable mon
opoly held by British interests in
the cattle business of Argentina. To-
day there are five Armour plants
south Of the Equator. Is in the
United States. and one in Canada
There also are approximately 400
branch houses in the United States
70 facilitate distribution. Mr.. Ar
mour's administration OF the bust
ness according to his closest asso-
ciates. was peculiar in that it was
one OF development almost eXclu-
sively.
J, Ogden Armour was born in Mil
waukee, November II. 1863. Twelve
years later the Armour family moved
from Milwaukee to Chicago. After
attending the public schools there,
Mr.. Armour entered Yale In 1881,
and three years later returned to
Chicago to embark upon his business
career. -
Mr., Armour married Miss Lolita
Sheldon, daughter of Martin j. Shell
con Of Spffield, Conn, in 1891. They
have one daughter Mrs. John j.
Mitchell, Jr., who was Lolita Ogden
Armour, born in 1896.
Mr.. Armour had extensive bust
ness activities in addition to his con-
nection with Armour & Company. He
was a director Of several large rail-
roads and financial institutions.
among them the Chicago. Milwaukee
d. st. Paul railway, the National
City bank Of New York. the Con-
tinental and Commercial bank OF
Chicago, the Hibernian Banking as
ISOLATION OF Chicago and the North
western and National Insurance Co.,
CT Milwaukee. He also established
Armour G. Co., Ltd, OF London.
Business took most OF his time
and he devoted little attention to
society although grand opera was
his one diversion. He was never too
busy, however. for a half minute
chat with an old employe or an old
friend. When meeting one of these
he invariably solicited an opinion on
the market first and then demanded
10 know If everything was going all
right. The conversation generally
ended with Mr.. Armour saying,
Whenever l can do anything for
you,let me know
Old employees were his hobby.
Once an old timer" who was dis
charged by department head. took
his grievance to Mr.. Armour.
When the department head ex-
planned that the man discharged
was incompetent. Mr.. Armour re-
piled: IT it took you IS years to
find that out take him back and
keep him as long as he lives"
Another time the heads of his &C
counting departments complained
that an old packing house foreman
refused to keep books and threw out
the bookkeepers they sent him. They
we're afraid to discharge the veteran
and asked Mr.. Armour to do II.
No" he replied. That foreman
taught me all I know about that
branch of the business but not all he /
knows. II you can't get those figures !
some other way you will have to get
along without them"
These characteristics made him .
generally loved by his employees, who |
regarded him as the supreme court |
for minor differences.
In 1911. Mr. Armour and nine
other Chicago packers were tried in |
the federal courts at Chicago for
alleged violation Of the Sherman
antitrust act The defense offered
no testimony in answer to the gov
ernment's case and the jury brought |
in a verdict of not guilty.
Mr.. Armour perpetuated the char
table and educational work founded
by his father. He made large dona-
tion5 to hospitals and relief work OF |,
every kind, but never allowed his
name to become public in these
Armour Institute of Technology
benefited by his generosity, When
the school needed room he pur-
chased an S0-acre golf links. in the
tod 1