Show providence AND A TRUST simple circumstances that brought about a monopoly in a publia public necess ty this trust business now agitating the public is by no means a new thing said a banker from northern michigan the other day to a chicago journal reporter although it seems to be something of a surprise to the public trusts were heard of as many as forty years ago and it not on such a large scale it was because money was not so plenty I 1 believe that I 1 was one of the first trusts ever heard of in the united states I 1 was in business in missouri and a creditor who went to the wall turned over to me a barrel of catfish hooks the supply was large enough to meet the ordinary demand tor for ten years to come but a singular thing happened that tall fall there was an epi demic among live stock and beef pork and mutton became scarce and high there hadn haan t been a run of cat fish in the fall for twenty years but that fall they fairly swarmed in the missouri everybody went rent in for cat fish and of course there was a big demand for books hooks it gasn wasn t long before I 1 discovered that I 1 had the only supply for a him hun dred miles up and down and after thinking the matter over I 1 stated the case to an old justice of the peace rho ho came into the store he smoked a pipe over it and then replied tom this seems to be a case of providence providence decreed that there should be a run of catfish to help us out but about my barrel of 9 7 I 1 asked do you think providence decreed that I 1 should have them on band hand to sell at a cent apiece no sah no sah he replied with much earnestness when it come to QU ou providence let right go and gave you a chance to either play the fool or sell them hooks for a dime ap ece and now you tal e your own way about it I 1 put up the price and sold every hook aid the trust originator and if I 1 made a thousand per cent profit the people along the river had p nty of catfish and providence that winter as an offset |