Evening star., 1932-07-25
FORTUNES SLUMP
TO AMAZING LOWS
Many Huge Accommodations
Decline DrasticaIIy Besides
That of Mrs. Mccormick.
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.
lal Dispatch to The Star.


CHICAGO, July 25.-Public revela-
tion of the heavy losses that have re-
moved Edith Rockefeller Mccormick,
daughter of John d. Rockefeller, from
the list Of the Nations richest women
has focused attention on the disas-
ter that has overtaken many great
Middle western fortunes.
Inheritance taxes. levied On the basis
OF inflated stock values, the market
collapse and business reverses have
wiped out some Of the huge accumula-
tions Of capital. garnered during the
past 80 years and more by Middle
western entrepreneurs, who grew up
with Chicago during its period of rapid
development.
Among these fortunes obliterated are
the $100,000000 hoard of Samuel ]
insult, the 5000 000, 900 accumulation of
the late J. Ogden Armour and the 500
0C9000 fortune Of the late Reuben H.
Donnelly. Among the fortunes which
have been subjected to terrific pressure
are those of the late Richard T. Crane
Of the SwiftS, of Mrs. Rockefeller Nc
Cormick and of others whose plight has
received less public attention.
Definition of Millionaire,
The situation Is such that it lends
real color to the observation of Nicho-
las Murray Butler that the modern
millionaire Is a man with a job and
$500 in the bank.
Mrs. Mccormick. who ventured too
deeply into real estate promotion and
was crippled financially to an extent
that caused her to remove from her
Michigan Avenue nlansion-a gift from
her father - to take up residence in
four hotel rooms, still Is far from poor
She no longer lives in the regal style
that long was her custom, but Edwin
Krenn, her spokesman, calls attention
to the fact that Mrs. Mccormick still
can meet all obligations and holds a
huge block Of Standard Oil Co. Of In
diana stock.
Besides, Mrs. Mccormick has not sold
her solid gold dinner service that once
was the property of Napoleon Bona
parte, or the diamond and emerald
necklace that formerly belonged to
Catherine the Great Of Russia and car
ries a Million dollar appraisal
1t Is different with the insult for
tunes, those Of Samuel and Martin In
sull, utility magnates. Both have lost
everything, and Samuel insult today is
living in two rooms of a Paris hotel
on an $18,000-a-year remittance from
the three operating utilities he devel-
oped here.
Armour Misjudged Market.
The j. Ogden Armour fortune, accu-
mulated over two generations in the
sensational development of the packing
industry in Chicago, was lost in the
commodity price collapse that occurred
IN 1921. Mr.. Armour misjudged the
European market for meats after the
war, lost bis business to. the bankers
and, wrecked in health, was credited
with dying Of a broken heart.
Three years ago the holdings of the
late Julius Rosenwald were valued at
well above 5000, 900, 900 and he was one
OF the country,s wealthiest citizens.
Today the size of the estate Is open to
conjecture and will probably depend on
what Uncle Sans tax collectors do
with it. At the time Of Mr. Rosen-
wnen the VIII was prchated, the hold
ings Of the mail ordaf pioneer were
valued at S45, 100000. They included
789, ,238 shares of Sears-Roebuck stock,
which had a value of $145, 900, 600 in
1929. At the time Of death this stock
was worth $50 share in the market,
with the Federal inheritance tax to
be levied on that basis. Today the
stock is worth around $12 a share.
Definite bequests Of $11 1,00o,0 900 were
provided In the will. so that a once
huge fortune must be badly shrunken.
Inheritance tax collectors got the
estate Of Reuben H. Donnelly, pub
Usher, once valued at $20,O0O,000. This
valuation included $4,000 shares of
Montgomery-Ward stock, which was
valued at sl1,0O0,0O0 when Mr.. Donnel-
ly died. The tax, on a 20 per cent basis.
was in excess Of $2,9o0,000 The value
Of the stock in the market has dropped
to below $50o,000, leaving deficit of
over $l,500,000 after taxes are paid.
1t Is much the same with the estate
OF Richard T. Crane, which shrank
from $19,000,000 on November Z. 1881,
the day of his death, to $4,000 900 at
present. The Government wants to
collect a tax Of over S3,000,000 After
specific bequests. almost nothing re-
mained for the family.
There are other fortunes here, built
on banking, which have virtually dis
appeared. so that Chicago's one-time
Gold Coast is inhabited with the pres
ent-day pOor-rich.
Copyright ig32)