PRESIDENT AND MAJORITY STOCKHOLDER OF NOTHING

The year was 1896. Two years had passed since the Robinson-Danforth Commission Company was formed, and the little feed business was going full steam. They had moved to new headquarters, at Eighth and Gratiot streets in St. Louis, Mo., where milling machinery was installed, and in March 1896, Will Danforth had become president of the company.

May 27 dawned clear and warm, a typical balmy spring day. The sun shone till about 4:30 that afternoon, but at 5 o'clock, the worst tornado in St. Louis history struck. The mill was destroyed. Workmen fled the building and clung to the iron supports of a railroad viaduct to save their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Danforth were stalled in a train on the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River.

A day passed before Danforth was able to get to St. Louis and view the loss. Just the day before, Andrews had sold his share in the company to Danforth, making him the majority stockholder. Tornado insurance was nonexistent in those days, and it looked as though the young Company had met its end. Will Danforth went to his friend and advisor, Walker Hill, president of a local bank, and asked for money to rebuild the mill. The bank lent him $25,000, and the mill was rebuilt at Eighth and Gratiot, the present sight of Ralston Purina Company headquarters.