New-York tribune., 1922-02-20
Father ally Ar
nounces Engagement Of
Daughter TO Riding Mas
ter, After Conference
Relative Asserts
Chosen Man Is 81
Cousin Says Prospective
Bridegroom's Father
Once Lived in u. s.
sncctnl nisnntch 70 Thc rrihn,c


CHICAGO. Feb Formal an
nounccmcnt Of the engagement Of Miss
Mathildo Mccormick to Max Oscr, rid
ing master Of Zurich. Switzerland. was
made here tonight BY the girls father,
Harold f. Mccormick, president Of the
International Harvester Company.
Miss Mathildc is sixteen years old.
Her fiancc's age is said to be forty
eight, although this was disputed to
day by Emil l.. Rurgy. of this city.
who said he WIS first cousin of Oser.
He fixed the riding masters age as
hfty-sevcn. Miss Mathildc met Oser
when she went to Switzerland several
years ago with her mother. She has
lived there since and came to the
United States recently to obtain her
parents consent to her marriage with
Oser.
Mr.. Mccormick issued this statement
from his Rush Street residence after 2
day of conference with his daughter:
Harold F. Mccormick announces
the engagement of his daughter, Miss
Mathildc to Man Oscr, Of Zurich
Switzerland. This announcement is
FASTENED a few weeks by the fact Of
the recent newspaper publicity.
Whether Miss Mathildc's mother.
Mrs. Edith Rockefeller Mccormick,
who is divorced from her husband was
called into the FANNY consultation on
the engagement is not known. 1t is
believed however, that John d. Rockc-
fcller ST., grandfather Of the girl, was
consulted by telegraph He is in
Florida. Mr.. Rockefcller's antipathy
to international romancos is we'll
known.
Decision whether o.. Mccormick
would consent to the match was de
layed until he could return from New
I ork, where the engagement report
was first circulated last week. The
Harvester president spent yesterday
with lis daughter here, but said last
night that an armistice had been dc
clared temporarily while he and Miss
Mathilde talked of other things. He
intimated then that his decision would
be made known to-day
Hes Fifty-sevcn Not Forty-cight"
Burgy, who is himself an old man.
asserted that the Swiss riding master
was much more than three times his
6ancee's S age. as has been understood
heretofore
forty eight" sand BurgN He is my
mother were sisters. My {stcr, Mrs.
Martha kulcke, of Milwaukee, is an
other cousin of Oser in this country.
"Mr. Oser's father, Sebastian Oser,
came TO America years ago, about the
same time my people came here. He
lived for a while near Lake Geneva and
later returned to Switzerland"
Rurgy said he has never seen his
cousin.
"He has always been in Switzerland"
he said "and have always been
here
Burgy says Mas Oser'S right name
was German nobleman. Count Won
Der Muehl. His widowed mother mar
ried Sebastian Oser after Sebastian
returned to Switzerland from America
in 1868. Max sdoptcd his stepfa thcr's
name.
Sebastian Oscr came to America as
a young man some years before the
Civil War He came with great hopes
in his heart to seek his fortune He
came first into the Middle West, and
for time worked as a lumherjack in
the wods Of Wisconsin.
"After while he tired OF logging
and started southwark on the Missis-
sippi. For time he worked as
dcckhand on various vessels plying the
river between the North and South
After time he also grew weary of
the river and settled down in New Or
leans, whore at first ne worked on the
wharves as a stevcdorc.
Made Fortune in Cotton
But the wanderlust got him again
and he drifted about in the South for,
some time. and then he learned lot
about cotton and discovered that
fortunes could be made in cotton-in
the cotton brokerage business. SO he
started in it with two partners.
"They made money-lots Of it-and
hen just at the close Of tho Civil War
there came an epidemic of yellow fever
which carried away both of his part
ners, leaving him in full possession of
The business. He summed up his
wealth about this time and found he