The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1904-12-16
$1,000 FOR A
PAIR OF SHOES
Former Sioux City Shoemaker
Gets That Sum for Z
Single Pair.
CRIPPLE WALL
Matthew Aillsert Realizes a Royhoos
Ambition to Develop the Science
of Manufacturing Shoes
His Interesting Career.

Sioux City Tribune: Matthew Hill
CERT. who formerly ram a shoe
shop on lower Fourth street,
Sioux City, recently came into prom
inence nationally by winning a $4,000
suit for a pair of shoes he made for a
New York millionaire.
The delnand OF $4,000 for n pair of
shoes was so unique that the judge who
read the papers characterized it as pre-
posterous, but when the evidence de-
veloped that Hillgert had spent a half
year of patient experiment producing
Il pair of shoes which enabled the mill
lionaire to walk for the first time in
his life, he ordered the bill paid.
Hillgert. was the son of a shoemaker
at Galena. ILL.,, mo learned his trade
under his father, who made shoes for
Senator Washburn. Congressman Nc
statesmen. When he WAS Il boy he
went to live with MIR. and Mrs. Fred
Strict, who now reside at GIG Park
street. Sioux City. Mrs. Strict practi-
cally reared the boy. Her husband. who
is a shoemaker. worked for years for
the elder Hillgert.
Cherished Scheme in Boyhood.
when l SAN MATHS picture in the
Ne@ York papers a few days ago"
said Mrs. Strict. Il was not sur
prised, for as Il boy he Was Il remark
able fellow and Was continually tigur-
ing on how to manufacture shoes for
people with deformed feet. When he
was learning his trade he frequently
suggested to his father, an old fash
1oned German, that by taking plaster
casts of feet and building the shoes to
conform with it, it would be possible
to fashion shoes so that the wearer's
deformity would be concealed. The
| elder Hil1perf p1-ori,b1v ,,cnh-ranhnl
his sons ideas and bade him cease be-
ing Il dreamer. Matt was a fine young
fellow. He was dutifuf. respectful and
worked hard at the bench, and finally
learned expert cutting at a shoe fac
tory in Galena. Then he came west to
Sioux City and for a while ran a shoe
shop here. Many sioux City people
remember him"
When Hillgert lived here lie patented
a ventilated shoe and later went to Salt
Lake City to try his long cherished
theories regarding the manufacture of
shoes for cripples. There he made
money. and when he called upon the
Striefs on his way to New York fous
years ago, he brought with him a large
number of photographs of people he
had fitted out with shoes. enabling
them to walk. He got good prices. from
SIS to 5000. but believed the field was
not wide enough in the Mormon city.
Mrs. Strief,'' he said, I'm going to
go to New York. There I'll FIND a field
for my work and depend upon it, I'll
mak good"
Has Succeeded Remarkably.
And he has. He is Of sufficient inn
portance in that great metropolis hat
the New York papers gave him n write
up of several columns II filled out an
entire page with illustrations showing
the methods he employs in his bust
ness. A picture Of the now famous eX-
pert attracted Mrs. Strief's attention
last Sunday and she learned with much
pleasure of the prosperity of the boy
she brought up in her home. HillGert
is about 40 years old and has two chill
dren.
He sbegan the construction OF scien-
tiic shoes many years ago. People with
| deformed feet are equired to have plaS-
ter casts made of them and then Hill
CERT studies them ana makes q shoe
to fit all the hollows II bumps. Tie
outside of the shoe looks exactly like
any other shoe For people of sedentary
habits he manufactures Il shoe which
has an electric battery between the
outer and inner layers of the sole. With
every step a light shock promotes the
circulation II stimulates the brain.
Blood Vessels Abused.
Hillgert says the electrical appliance
is made necessary because MODERN
civilization and abuse of the blood YES
sells connected 18th the spine made it
so. He requires about three weeks to
construct a shoe for an ordinary pa
tient. After the patient has worn them
a while, Hillgert takes them back to
make additional alterations. When the
foot has regained perfect Doise and
the wearer Is walking normally the ex-
pert considers his work done. It is lit
tie wonder hat he gets high prices for
his Shoes.
Hillgert claims he pract:ced on him
self before he tackled the public. He
Induced in himself certain diseases
which he wished to cure. Once he man.
aged to bring on locomotor ataxia and
by working on the opposing basis he
discovered how to make Il shoe that
woul cure the disease.
But Hillgert's great reputation lies
in the fact that he manufactures shoes
for people with club feet, short legs and
crooked limbs. so that they may walk
perfectly Inc without a limp. Some OF
the shoes he has made took him q yea1
OF work and study and among the
wealthy patients with whom he deals
there Is seldom a kick on the prices he
charges.