The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-01-24
LAST ARMOUR
FADES OUT OF
PACKING firm
Founders Grandson Quits
When Another Is Chosen
as President.
81 United Press


CHICAGO, Jan. 24-Armour g.
Co., for more than sixty years one
of the largest packing concerns in
the world, today became Armour
g. Co. in name only.
The resignation Friday night of
Philip D. Armour as first vice.
president and director, left the
company, for the first time in its
history, without a member of the
Armour family in an executive
position.
Armour is the grandson and
namesake of the late P. D. Arm
our. who founded the company. His
resignation followed the election of
Vice President t. George Lee to
succeed r. Edison White as presi-
dent of the Company.
This is my swan song Armour
commented, indicating his regret
that the board of directors had not
selected him, instead of Lee, to sue
coed White, who was killed last
week in an accidental fall from a
window in his seventh floor apart
ment.
Great Disappointment
81 have resigned as director and
officer of Armour & Co.," continued
Armour. THE severance Of my as
ISOLATION of nearly seventeen years
and that of the Armour family for
more than sixty years with the
thousands of Armour employees
whom 1 was privileged to call my
friends naturally is the greatest
disappointment of my life, but un-
der the circumstances I had no al
tentative"
Lee was selected as president of
the company in preference to Ar
mour and Philip l.. Reed, treasurer,
the two men who had been most
prominently mentioned to succeed
White.
Reed was appointed first vice.
president in charge of finance, sue
eeeding Lee. Directors said, in I'M
official announcements, that Ar
mour had been offered this adj
vancement and that upon his re-
fuSal Reed had been selected. They
indicated they did not feel Armour
had SUFFICIENT experience to warrant
his selection as president at this
time.
Refused Figurehead Post
Expressing his regret that Ar
mour had resigned, one director
said after the lengthy meeting that
the board had endeavored to salts
fly him by creating a new Office,
vice chairman of the board.
He said all members would regret
it if the public considered that Ar
mour had been forced" out, and
added that Lee was chosen because
a majority Of the members of the
board favored selecting man from
the operating staff.
Actual control of Armour a. Co.
by the historic Armour family
ended in 1922, when the late j. o.
den Armour resigned as president,
after losing 100000 a day for
months in postwar financial COL
lapse that depleted his fortune
from approximately $l50,000,000 to
less than nothing.
Romance in Lees Career
White became president after j.
Ogden Armour and it was at that
time that actual and complete con-
troll of the company passed from
the Armour family to finance
committee composed of Arthur
Reynolds, Chicago; Samuel McRob-
ertS, New York; Philip D. Armour;
White, Reed and Albert H. Virgins,
chairman of the Chase National
bank Of New York.
Lees elevation to the presidency
marked the climax of a romance
of finance almost as gripping as
that marked by the passing Of the
house of Armour from company
whose history is long and i'm
portant chapter in the history of
America itself.
Started as Sten0grapher
The new president is SO years old.
He began with Armour s. Com
pany in 1859 as a stenographer.
Within a few years, he was director
of activities in the beef department,
of which White then had charge.
In 1918 he advanced to the posi-
ton of district sales manager, with
headquarters at Philadelphia. In
1921 he was made sales manager Of
the greater New York territory. In
1926, he returned to Chicago to be-
come a vice-president and now the
one-tsme stenographer has become
president Of one Of the most power
ful Business conrerns in the world.