Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-03-15
He Earned a Million
Making "Magic" Shoes.
Former Sioux City Shoemaker. wso Went to New York a Few Years
Ago q Poor Man.

The following story OF the remarkable
career In New York OF Matthew Hill
CERT, who left Sioux City a shoemaker
q few years ago. n made a fortune
selling wonderfully made shoes to mil
lionaires. was published by the New
York Herald:
Boots there have been since mans
feet became so tender that he sought
to protect their soles, and all the
changes have been rung on IN styles
OF footwear from the wooden sandals
OF h ancients to the soft. silken slip
pers milady uses In her boudoir. but 1t
still remained for Professor Matthew
Hilgert to bring forth the Magic
Boot''-maglc in the cures they are said
to work and certainly magic In the
prices they bring. for surely some su-
pernatural attribute Is essential to
cause a pair of ordinary looking shoes
TO b. valued at $ll. 500 n to cause
others to be sold In enormous quantities
at 5000 q pair.
1t is a matter of grave doubt whether
even the Seven League boots. made
famous by the Grimm brothers would
command the ready sale III the open
market that these newer foot cover
ings enjoy. The Boots of Invisibiltty
kltdS "hC& r.
sessed qualities that the Professor
admits his devices lack. but he is not
80 sure about the Seven Leaguers, 1or
by using his creations he declares that
he has made to walk those who nave
never walked before. and he oeleVes
that that feat IL fully the equal OF the
one described by the German story tell
erS.
At last. says the Professor" he is
to have an opportunity of proclaiming
to the world at large the onder OF
the new science he has discovered. and
this enlightenment Is to come. AS ~
The case in the revelation OF 80 many
other great truths. through the humilt-
alton and ignominy OF its discoverer.
For he has been arrested. together With
his chief associate. and they are now
being prosecuted by Champe 5. An
drews. counsel for the County Medical
Society. for practicing medicine With
out a license.
Professor Hilgert smiled In a man
ner intended to be grim. "Scha. ne
says, with q Gerlman accent and with
choice of words scarcely calculated to
please Lindley Murray. II expected this
thing long ago: 1 expected to be nip
ped by these doctors who know so lit
10 n charge so much. What do 1
care? Hilgert is here to stay. He has
cured thousands and will cure thou
sands more. He knows and the others
don't. and that Is why they are sore
And this solution seemed to amuse him
hugely; he threw back his head and
laughed long and loud. coming to a
sudden stop. peering at you suspicious
~, as II to see whether You are laugh
ing with or at him.
Cures, Magic and Otherwise.
Since A~esculapius hung out his
shtngle and toll the people Of the many
4lls they We're heir to there have been
n,.~4~ v,a-% <@, ,,y,, (ts.N. cA lnA N,n,
to physiology. and many that were
not. These cures have differed radical
ly In form. II the water cure. brain
cure. food cure. rest cure and their
vogue; but it remained for the PRO
lessor. as he delights TO call himself.
to bring a boon to suffering mankind"
in the shape of n foot cure.
Have you IL headache'-it's your feet.
Have Il stomach arls'-it's you
feet Have you Il pain in your back
it's you feet. Have you a ileartach.?
its your feet. There are II few. IA very
few. aches that aren't au.rI by your
feet, according TO the newest school OF
medicine" and even this minority il
being brought arouni III proper shape
30 that they'll respond to ;he FOO cure.
Perhaps never before in the history
of the County Medical! society's Efforts
to root Up and destroy all forms of
Quackery has its action met with such
q diversity of sentiment as has attend
- the arrest OF Professor Hilg,rt and
his colleague. DR." Wh!tehouse. In
the atfidavits on which IT,. action was
taken are oath bound that
Hilgert. in addition 20 diagnosing and
prescribing had wrought great harm
to certain patients through the prac-
tice of his methods.
100000 in Five Years.
He himself. in an authorized inter-
view with u reporter for the Herald. In
which he both asked and answered
the questions. admitted that he had
been called "a fraud and fake" but
there are not Il few who believe that
the Professor" has greatly benefited
them by the use of his science and
they are ready to be living exhibits to
the worth and efficacy Of his skill.
I'm this connection it is n peculiar
fact that in many instances those pa
tients who have written letters of APP
probation to him afterward turned
against him and several Of them are tn
be witnesses for Mr.. Andrews III the
prosecution OF the suit against the
Pr ofessor."
Every man with a ICY idea says
the latter. must get hard knocks. /
don't mind it. 1t does Hiigert good"
He has a habit of referring To himself
in the third person whenever he has
occasion to say anything in praise of
himself.
To the average man II tale that a
shoe maker sold his product at a fair
level of $4,000 a pair would sound like
a Earon Munchhausen tale. Yet this
Is the truth. And nlebbe you think
dest people would pay for something
that didn't do them no good.' COM
mented the Professor with "a shrewd
leer as he ran his fingers lovingly
through a bundle of at least sixty con-
tracts. each for shoes that We're 10 cost
$4,000 n all of which had been paid.
Five yea ago Professor" Hilgert
came to New York with high hopes and
a little money. Today he owns an
eight-story apartment house at No. 81
West Twenty sixth street, in which
his 'sumptuously furnished offices and
spacious workshops are situated. and
he Is the president Of ne Hilgert Cur
at!vo Toorgear institution, with a paid
Up capitalization Of $1,000. 900. His
patrons have included some Of the
wealthiest men in New York and the
country. m when he Incorporated
George Griswold. one OF the governors
OF the Tuxedo club and association.
was one Of his stockholders. Mr.. Girls
void was n Of the earlier patients
OF the Professor and. according to
the latter's own statement. the chief
of h dissension which arose be-
tween them was his bill of 81, 500
which he asked Mr.. Griswold to pay.