ª U.S.A.: North American Transportation and Trading Company,...

Hammer

£30

ª U.S.A.: North American Transportation and Trading Company, $100 Shares, Chicago 19[00], #B463, signed by Michael Cudahy as president, vignette of mountain view, green and black. Michael Cudahy, 1841-1910, revolutionised the meat industry by using refrigeration in meatpacking and preservation so that this business, that was until then limited to the winter months, could now be operate continuously throughout the whole year. After selling his business, he invested in other companies where again he showed his talent for profitable investments. His North American Transportation and Trading Company was a pioneer in steamboat transportation on the Alaskan river Yukon, where it operated a fleet of 15 ships. When the Klondike Gold Rush broke out, the company was in the quasi-monopolistic situation. Not only able to provide prompt and rapid transport from Seattle to Dawson, the centre of the gold rush, but, even more profitably, it was able to sell the passengers the needed supply. At the end of the Gold Rush, Cudahy sold his company to Northern Navigation Co. VF

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