The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1901-01-11
PHILIP D. ARMOUR DEAD.
Millionaire Packer Expires at
His Chicago Home.
ILLNESS WAS PROTRA0TED.
Realizes Death is Near aud Repeats Lords
Prayer Almost with tits Final Brcath.
Never Recovered From shock of His
Sons Dcs,h--sL.tch ot Ills Career.

hlNNEV, iii. hllll' ''bHiol'h
Armour, phlanthropist, innncicr and
multi millionaire, head of the vast com
mcrcial establishment that bears his
name, died AZ his home. 2lll Prairie
avenue, at 5;i5 o'clock yesterday aft
Crnoon
A muscular affection of the heart,
known To the medical profession M
myocnrditis, was the immediate cause
of death He had been slowly rcCov-
cring from pneumonia that for three
weeks had threatened his life. At y
o'clock yesterday morning his heart
gave way under the strain Of his re
cent illness, his pulse running up to
1913. That was the beginning of the
end
During the day he had realized that
death was near, TO those around him
he had said: II know ! am very sick,
and am ready for death when II
comes
Soon after luncheon, and Just before
the physician forbade his talking more,
Mr. Armour. In feeble tones, said that
he would like to hear the Lords
prayer read.
One of the trained nurses who had
hccn attending him drew n chair to
the bedside and slowly read from the
bible the prayer for which the dying
man had asked. 1t was read sentence
by sentence and each was repeated 10y
Mr.. Armour When the "amcn' had
been repeated by him, he sank back on
the pillow and closed his eyes rest.
fully 1t was the last word the great
fnnncicr spoke, except feeble fare
wells to his family IA little later.
The end came after two years OF
Illness during which time Mr.. Armour
visited German baths, passed the cold
months in southern California and de
voted himself largely to an attempt
to restore his health, which, however,
had been broken never to he rcgaincd.
For several weeks the dead millionaire
had been living at the old family home
| Oh Prairie avenue, the usual trip to
southern California not having been
taken this winter He came down to
the Office OF the Home Insurance
building but seldom, and as the cold
, increased he did not come at all. II
was understood in the Office that he
had had an incipient attack of pneu-
| monia, but ii was given out no later
! than week ago that he was on the
road to recovery. 1t was noted, how
ever, that the constant attendance OF
DIR. Frank Billings. the family physi-
can at the bedside of the sick man
did not corrohoratc the favorable re
a.,
For several days death has been
feared as the outcome by the close as
socates of the great captain of indus
try. They realized that the decline
from day to day did not cease, and
that there could be but one end When
death came his grandchildren. who
had so close a place in his heart. were
at the family residence, as was J. Og-
den Armour, the surviving son.
Lost Strength Steadily.
Mr.. Armour had lost strength stead
fly from day 20 day since the com
mencemcnt of the winter. The pncu-
monia was checked, but strength was
not regaincd. The firm grip he had
so long maintained upon the business
of Armour 4 Co., whether ut the office
or thousands of miles away, slowly
relaxed. Reports no longer interested
him as they were wont to do during
the first months of his declining
! health. The sudden death Of his son
| and namesakc nearly yeGr ago hung
heavily on him during the closing
months Of his life. In fact, he never
| recovered from the shock he expert
| enced from that event 1t stopped his
progress toward recovery in his winter
home at Pasadena, and its sorrow re-
mained fresh until the end.
After the death Of Philip ID. Ar
mOur, Jr., the vast interests OF Ar
| mour & Co, which had been carried
| on as o-partnershp, were incor-
| pOrated under the old name of Armour
d Co. This was to provide greater
stability in case of death, and made
no change in the practical owner
| the grain department had been incor-
porated under the title of the Armour
Elevator company. The death OF
| Simeon b. Armour at Kansas City in
March, 1899, caused no particular
change in the Armour interests there,
| as they were operated as "A stock com
pany.
| So carefully had the plans for the
future been made that the death Of Mr..
Armour will have little effect on the
outward working Of the great enter
prise with which he had been so close
ly Identified. II is believed all the
Armour properties will be held intact
until the grandchildren come into
their own.
Estimates of Mr.. Armour's own es-
tate run from S100O0,OO0 TO S25 5,O00,-
600. This, of course, does not in
rlude the $15,0OOOO0 or $4,000, 900
owned by the younger members Of the
family. For years every enterprise
he was interested in has been making
immense profits. His holdings of
stock have all advanced largely dur.
ing the last three years.
| sketch of His Career.
Philip u. Armour who was in his
Goth year, made his own lie on lines