And yet the business which this man could forget when he gathered
children about him and moved in his simple home circle amounted, in
1897, to over $102,000,000 worth of food products, manufactured and
distributed. The hogs killed were 1,750,000; the cattle were 1,080,000;
the sheep, 625,000. Eleven thousand men were constantly employed, and
the wages paid them were over $5,500,000; the railway cars owned and
moving about all parts of the country, four thousand; the wagons of
many kinds and of large number, drawn by 750 horses. The glue factory,
employing 750 hands, made over twelve million pounds of glue! In his
private office, it is he who took care of all the general affairs of
this immense world of industry, and yet at half-past four he was done,
and the whole subject was comfortably off his mind.
“Do you believe in inherited abilities, or that any boy can be taught
and trained, and made a great and able man?”
“I recognize inherited ability. Some people have it, and only in a
certain direction; but I think men can be taught and trained so that
they become much better and more useful than they would be otherwise.
Some boys require more training and teaching than others. There is
prosperity for everyone, according to his ability.”
“What would you do with those who are naturally less competent than
others?”
“Train them, and give them work according to their ability. I believe
that life is all right, and that this difference which nature makes is
all right. Everything is good, and is coming out satisfactorily, and
we ought to make the most of conditions, and try to use and improve
everything. The work needed is here, and everyone should set about
doing it.”
When, in 1893, local forces planned to defeat him in the grain market,
and everyone was crying that at last the great Goliath had met his
David, he was all energy. He had ordered immense quantities of wheat.
The opposition had shrewdly secured every available place of storage,
and rejoiced that the great packer, having no place to store his
property, would suffer immense loss, and must capitulate. He foresaw
the fray and its dangers, and, going over on Goose Island, bought
property at any price, and began the construction of immense elevators.
The town was placarded with the truth that anyone could get work at
Armour’s elevators. No one believed they could be done in time, but
three shifts of men, working night and day, often under the direct
supervision of the millionaire, gradually forced the work ahead; and
when, on the appointed day, the great grain-ships began to arrive, the
opposition realized failure. The vessels began to pour the contents of
their immense holds into these granaries, and the fight was over.
The foresight that sent him to New York in 1864 to sell pork brought
him back from Europe in 1893, months before the impending panic was
dreamed of by other merchants. It is told of him that he called all his
head men to New York, and announced to them:
“Gentlemen, there’s going to be financial trouble soon.”