Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1939-06-02
WHO'S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON

ny A6WO6b 3. EANlON
NEW YORK.-The muezzin from
his tower cries that he can't ex-
actly say that everything is all right,
but it might be worse and it proba-
~. bly, will be bet
HIS Restrained ter. That would
Optimism Hits be Col. Leonard
A Cheerful Note P; Ayres Of
laying fears Of bear market, in his
monthly business survey, a periodic
voice as authoritative as any noon
tide bulletin from the minarets of
Cairo.
Colonel Ayres, vice president Of
the Cleveland Trust company, was
school teacher for many years,
and is the author of a book called
"The Measurement of Spelling Abil-
ity," one Of about a dozen of his
books on educational subjects. He
has written a similar number of
books on business and finance, and,
in his entire range, from spelling
to selling, he has never overlooked
detail and he is no offhand prophe-
cier-prophecy being his main line,
as contrasted to that of mere mar
ket analysis.
He has logged eight major de-
pressions and eight cycles Of in
dation and deflation, and he gets
the feel Of the thing, In about
the same way good cook gets
the feel Of q cook book. He was
one Of the few financial experts
who saw the 1923 blizzard COM
ing, and said so. On October 3,
1928, he wrote: "The golden age
Of American business has come
to an end"
Nobody was paying much atten-
ton. 10 the muezzin then. He kept
on repeating that the condition of
finance was thoroughly unhygien-
ic," but the wind wasn't right and
the words didn't carry down to the
market place below.
A native Of Mantle, Conn.,,
Colonel Ayres was educated at
Boston university, later garland
ed with . chaplet of honorary
degrees from other colleges. He
taught school at Rochester, N.
T., and at Puerto Rico, and in
the latter engagement turned
his spare time to statistical re-
search, with such success that
he became statistician for the
A. E. F. in war days-hence his
title.
IN THE depth of the depression, a
group of Wall Street financiers
hired an economist to draft for them
a shock-proof and slump-proof plan
for the invest
Slno 6uslness ment of their
Sagacify Seems surplus funds,
Highly Plausible to assure them
security in their
old age. After diligent research,
their adviser found that no such
plan was possible, but suggested as
an alternative that they put their
money in the keeping of some sa-
gacious Chinese financier.
This writer recalled then that sew
eral Of the shrewdest business men
in this country, including Edward
Bruce of the fine arts division of
the treasury department and the
late William r. Murchison, had
learned about the care and nurture
of money from the Chinese sages of
the abacus, and now comes Richard
c. Patterson Jr., also schooled in
business in China. He retires as
assistant secretary of commerce to
take a private post.
Back from China in 1927, with
half Of his allotted span of years
still ahead Of him and a stable
fortune already in hand, he
wished to put in the rest Of his
life being socially useful. He
was commissioner Of corrections
Of New York city until 1892,
given q big hand for his effec-
tiveness on the job.
Just a year ago, he became a sort
of liaison officer between the de-
partment Of commerce and the ma
TONS business. In this capacity, he
urged a friendly get-together in an
economic Clinic" as he thinks part
of our trouble is due to a lack of
basic facts and sound understand
ing of economic and business forces.
He was Nebraska farm boy,
routed through the University Of
Nebraska and the Columbia
School Of Mines to q successful
professional and business ca
reer, first as q mining engineer
with the J. G. White Engineer
ing company, rs . consultant for
the DuPonts and later In mining
and husiness ventures in China
He served on the Mexican bor-
der and in the World war, 4 ma.
jor In the latter, annexing sew
eral foreign decorations.
Consolidated Festures-wNu ServicsJ