The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1906-01-04

this lot represent the different kinds
of business in which. I 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.. Flagg is not dead yet. Far from
it; he is engaged in a prosperous bust
ness, alternating 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 there is a smaller one
of almost the same shape. But in the
smaller one the top is followed, and
within this hollow on the first stone
there is a marble representation of a
pile of cordwood; in the second of a
COW; in the third of a cider barrel, and
in the fourth a house.
1t would puzzle a stranger to fathom
the meaning of this strange collection.
Egyptian hieroglyphies seem, by com
parison, like a child's PRIMER. Yet the
matter is simple enough those arti-
cles represent in marble the four diff
ferent ways in which Mr.. F1agg has
amassed a comfortable fortune. He is
proud of having been. successful, and
believes that one of the most vital
characteristics of a man is hbs 'method
of making money. So, briefly, he will
inform the world about himself when
be dies.
In the meanwhile, he is alive, and is
willing to tell all those who ask by
word of mouth. His shrewdness lis still
with him, and he even looks upon the
1moEum ent as a bit of good advertising.
AS he says, many a stranger has gazed
ait tine monument, inquired about fim
out of curiosity, found he made good
cider, and has ordered
He is still young-only about 40. R8e
is nsther short of stature, has BLACK
hain, black eyes,, a black mustacfe
End. tire rudy cheeks Of a boy.
"BF@w did / happen to erect such a
monument" he repeated, I'M reply to
q question put to him. "Well,, Flu tell
YOU Ever since l was knee high to
a grG%sshopper' I've BEEN going
Through cemeteries looking att tine
commissioners. /. 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 a fellow much.
What did l know of the man when l
i got through reading that? d could
have hunted up some of THEM friends
and, found. out, probably, but THAT isn't
the point. Here was 1, a Stranger,
just passing through, and natnraIly
curious to know something about the
fellows who had done their work and
retired.
The more l got to thinking about
tff6s, the more l made up, my mind
> that when it came my turn D wouldn't
leave anybody who happened to pass
by my tombstone in the same guam
Diary. If l put on just There Lies
J George A. Flagg' they wouldn't know
me from John Smith. So 7 said: I'll
!. . tell 'em something about George A.
Flagg and, how he made his money
1T took me a long while to think
out how to do this best; to have it
brief and to the point and f%orceful.
Men don't have time to stop and read
T a whole biography, and it wouldn't be
. interesting, anyway. Finally ! thought
{ Of the scheme Of having little cary
u ings made of how I'd earned my
; money. I reckoned that would tell
u 'em most about me.
5 There are just four ways that I've
done this-by dealing in cattle, in
cider, in wood and in houses. So
x had the things carved to stand fo1
u these four things, and that made just
y a. neat block for each corner. Then
: 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 thai
middle block that people don't know;
a it is just my height from top to bot
tom and from corner to corner
y II had a good deal Of trouble II
9 getting that monument put up. Three
or -four contractors figured on 1t, bu'
= they had TO give it up because they
couldn't get the right kind of marble
ls One Of the things l insisted on wa!
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