CHAPTER XXXI
SOME BIG MEN AND NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
_B.G. Arnold, the first, and Hermann Sielcken, the last of the
American "coffee kings"--John Arbuckle, the original package-coffee
man--Jabez Burns, the man who revolutionized the roasted coffee
business by his contributions as inventor, manufacturer, and
writer--Coffee-trade booms and panics--Brazil's first valorization
enterprise--War-time government control of coffee--The story of
soluble coffee_
In the history of the coffee trade of the United States, several names
stand out because of sensational accomplishments, and because of notable
contributions made to the development of the industry. In green coffee,
we have B.G. Arnold, the first, and Hermann Sielcken the last, of the
"coffee kings"; in the roasting business, there was John Arbuckle, the
original national-package-coffee man; and in the coffee-roasting
machinery business, Jabez Burns, inventor, manufacturer, and writer.
_The First "Coffee King"_
Benjamin Green Arnold came to New York from Rhode Island in 1836 and
took a job as accountant with an east-side grocer. He was thrifty,
industrious, and kept his own counsel. He was a born financial leader.
Fifteen years later he was made a junior partner in the firm. By 1868,
the bookkeeper of 1836 was the head of the business, with a line of
credit amounting to half a million dollars--a notable achievement in
those days.
Mr. Arnold embarked upon his big speculation in coffee in 1869. For ten
years he maintained his mastery of the market, and in that time amassed
a fortune. It is related that one year's operations of this daring
trader yielded his firm a profit of a million and a quarter of dollars.
[Illustration: BENJAMIN GREEN ARNOLD]
B.G. Arnold was the first president of the New York Coffee Exchange. He
was one of the founders of the Down Town Association in 1878. The
president of the United States was his friend, and a guest at his
luxurious home. But the high-price levels to which Arnold had forced the
coffee market started a coffee-planting fever in the countries of
production. Almost before he knew it, there was an overproduction that
swamped the market and forced down prices with so amazing rapidity that
panic seized upon the traders. Few that were caught in that memorable
coffee maelstrom survived financially.
Arnold himself was a victim, but such was the man's character that his
failure was regarded by many as a public misfortune. Some men differed
