How They Succeeded
a population of a little more than four thousand. In 1856, when Mr. Field, fully equipped
for a successful mercantile career, became a resident of the future metropolis of the West,
the population had grown to little more than eighty-four thousand. Mr. Field's prosperity
advanced with the growth of the city; with Chicago he was stricken but not crushed by the
great fire of 1871; and with Chicago he advanced again to higher achievement and far
greater prosperity than before the calamity.
" What were your equipments for success when you started as a clerk here in Chicago, in 1856?"
" Health and ambition, and what I believe to be sound principles ; " answered Mr. Field.
" And here I found that in a growing town, no one had to wait for promotion. Good business qualities were promptly discovered, and men were pushed forward rapidly.
"After four years, in 1860, I was made a partner, and in 1865, there was a partial reorganization, and the firm consisted after that of Mr. Leiter, Mr. Palmer and myself (Field, Palmer, and Leiter). Two years later Mr. Palmer withdrew, and until 1881, the style of the firm was Field, Leiter & Co. Mr. Leiter
