The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1906-06-16

1.-THE emblems on the four corners Of
this lot represent the different kinds
| of business in which have been en-
gagged"
| So reads the inscription on a marble
tombstone in a cemetery at Boylston
erected by George A. Flagg to himself.
Mr.. Flags is not dead yet Far from
it; he is engaged in prosperous bust
ness, cider-making and house-building:
but he wanted to have his tombstone
made to suit him, SO he had it done
now, in order to supervise the job.
And it is certainly unique
The heavy block of white marble
bearing the above inscription stands in
the middle Of the lot, while at each of
the four corners there is smaller one
of almost the same shape But in the
smaller ones the top is followed, and
within this hollow on the first stone
there is a marble representation OF
pile of cordwood; in the second of
COW; in the third OF a cider barrel, and
in the fourth a house.
1t would puzzle stranger to fathom
the meaning of this strange collection.
Egyptian hieroglyphics seem, by COM
parison, like child's primer Yet the
matter is simple enough; those arti
cles represent in marble the four diff
ferent ways in which Mr. Flagg has
amassed a comfortable fortune He is
proud of having been successful, and
! believes that one of the most vital
characteristics Of man is his method
OF making money. So, briefly: he will
inform the world about himself when
he dies.
| In the meanwhile, he is alive. and is
willing to tell all those who ask by
word of mouth His shrewdness is still
with him, and he even looks upon the
monument as bit of good advertising.
| AS he says, many a stranger has gaZed
| at the monument, inquired about him
out of curiosity, found he made good
! cider, and has ordered some.
He is still young-only about 40. He
| hair, black eyes. black mustache
and the ruddy cheeks of boy
"How did I happen to erect such
monument" he repeated, in reply to
| a question put to him. well, I'll tell
you. Ever since | was knee high to
| a grasshopper' I've been going
| through cemeteries looking at the
tombstones used to like to read
the inscriptions and then wonder
about the men. On most of them
there wasn't much but Here Lies
Tom Grant. or Here Lies Jim Smith.
Now, that doesn't tell fellow much.
What did l know of the man when I
got through reading that? l could
have hunted up some Of their friends
and found out, probably. but that isn't
the point. Here was I. a stranger,
! just passing through, and naturally
| curious to know something about the
| fellows who had done their work and
retired.
1.-THE more I got to thinking about
this, the more I made up my mind
that when it came my turn | wouldn't
leave anybody who happened to pass
! by my. tombstone in the same guam
Diary. If I put on just Here Lies
| George A. Flagg' they wouldn't know
me from John Smith. So said: I'll
tell 'en something about: George A.
Flagg and how he made his money
1T took me long while to think
| out how to do this best; to have it
brief and to the point and forceful
Men don't have time to stop and read
| a whole biography, and it wouldn't be
interesting. anyway. Finally I thought
of the scheme Of having little cary
ings made of how I'd earned my
money. I reckoned that would tell
EN- most about me.
There are just four ways that I've
done .this-by dealing in cattle, in
cider. in wood and in houses. So I
had the things carved to stand for
these four things, and that made just
a neat block for each corner Then I
had the middle block with my name
on it and the sentence which tells
| just what the meaning Of the other is.
There is another thing about that
middle block that people don't know;
| it is just my height from. top to bot
tom and from corner to corner.
''I had a good deal of trouble in
getting that monument put up. Three
or four contractors figured on it, but
they had to give it up because they
! couldn't get: the right kind of marble.
/ One of the. things I insisted on was
that the: stone should be white with