The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1905-05-04
6 4 T THIS date 1880 the things
~ am about to relate are old
and have ceased to cause any

and have ceased to cause any
comment, but to me twenty
five years ago, then a young country
lad, it all seemed so strange and un-
real that it made lasting impression
on my mind" said Charles Endicott |
Booster, president of the Consolidated |
Electric Plow and Harrow Co.: and i
director of the Amalgamated Auto
matte Soil Tillers of America.
sit was my first visit to the great
city of Chicago" he continued. 81 was
then green country boy of twenty, or
whereabouts, and had never been be-
yond the borders of my home county |
ia the western state where / was
raised. 1 knew nothing of the world
aside from few facts CLEANED from
our weekly, Tally Ho, published in our
own country village and seldom read
by any one except the editor himself
and few of the village business men,
and what little 1 had LEANED in my ex-
tremely limited attendance at the
country school.
$50 you see wss quite Jay when
1 arrived in the western metropolis,
and all things 1 saw and heard were
new to me. will pass by the great
hustle and uproar at that truly mag
nificent structure, the union depot,
with it's movable sidetracks; elevators,
capable of lifting an entire train of
cars to the elevated tracks; baggage
hoists and shoots, and all those
other mechanical appliances so COM
mon today.
after being established in my new
lodgings / sailed forth on a tour of
sightseeing. l strolled from the west
side of the Chicago River over Madison
street across the monster drawbridge
to the east side, past Clark street with
its labyrinth of sky scrapers, whose
frOwning caps of stone and steel
seemed to end in the very clouds, to-
ward Chicago's greatest thoroughfare,
State street. And there, on the corner
of Madison and State streets, L beheld
most wonderful and imposing edifice
of polished marble, onyx and granite.
1t had entrances on both streets, COW
cred by porticoes each supported by
two large pillars of polished black mar
BILE, contrasting strangely with the
shining white marble steps below and
the onyx columns at their sides and
back. At either side of these
entrances were drawn up in lines a
number of hearses, with horses and
drivers draped in black. Every once
in little while black-garbed individ.
ual would come out to the edge of the
steps and call off number, upon
which one of the waiting hearses would
Immediately back up to the entrance
Soon the massive doors would swing
open, black-robed men, carrying 6
fiower-decked coffin would descend the
steps, place the coffin in the waiting
hearse, and return for another load
Costly carriages, filed with laughing
men and women would then fall il
behind the departing vehicle convey
ing the dead and the procession NOV
out of sight.
81 watched these performances will
growing amazement for some time.
then approached one of the crowd o
curious spectators and ventured to in
quire what it all meant. The part
accosted regarded me with surprise TO
some moments, then mildly asked m
where 1 happened FROM I reptile,
that had just that day arrived fror
my country home in the state of
and that everything in this great cit
was new to me. Then seeing that
was indeed green farmer lad he be
came more communicative.
"Why, that's the Osslerian Chlort
formatory.' said be.
"What kind of place is that 2
asked.
"Huh, never hear of the Ossleria
Chloroformatory? No? Well, the
I'll tell you.s The Chloroformatory, m
boy, is place where they put all thos
fossiliferous old fogies over sixty OIL
of business he explained. They CHI
reform them to death; and thes
hearses are waiting to bring away tt
corpses.'