In his diary, Rene Gimpel, a French art dealer who helped many robber barons to build their collections, recalled a story about the notorious tight-wad James Hill, one of the original directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

"He was a dock worker somewhere in Canada, and used to have lunch and dinner at a restaurant with about twenty-five other dock workers, all thrifty and all sparing in their tips to the waitress; but on Christmas Eve, Hill got up and asked them all if they were prepared to give the girl the same sum as he. They said yes, particularly as they knew Hill was even stingier than they. He put $20 on the table. They were horrified, but they were men of honor: they had given heir word, and they kept it.

"Twelve days later Hill married the waitress."