Years Ago A Chicago Restaurant Had Specially ...

Years ago a Chicago restaurant had specially printed place mats at all its tables. The mats were designed exclusively for the restaurant. And if you asked the waitress, she’d give you one to take home, frame, and hang on your wall…The wording that appeared on those mats…went something like this: “In 1923 an important meeting took place at Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel. Attending the meeting were the following men: “the president of the largest steel company, the president of the largest utility company, the president of the largest gas company, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, the president of the Bank of International Settlements, the greatest wheat speculator, the greatest bear on Wall Street, the head of the world’s greatest monopoly, a member of President Harding’s cabinet.”…Yet, 25 years later, where were those nine industrial giants? According to the story on the place mat, the president of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died a bankrupt; the president of the largest utility company, Samuel Insull, died penniless; the president of the largest gas company, Howard Hobson, had gone insane; the president of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was just released from prison; the bank president, Leon Fraser, died a suicide; the wheat speculator, Arthur Cutten, died penniless; The Wall Street bear, Jesse Livermore, died a suicide; the head of the world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Kruegar, died a suicide; the member of President Harding’s cabinet, Albert Fall, was just given a pardon from prison so that he could die at home.