The Daily Alaska empire., 1932-08-23
FARMERS STRIKE SPREADS; GOVERNMENT MAY ACT
ternined Royalty and Ruled Society," Career Is Halted

feller Mccormick rule as the grand dame of Chicago.
 No more, perhaps, will she en- certain notables and royalty.
 And no more will she direct a huge real estate business or take an active interest in the opera.
 For the one-time worlds rich est woman lies serious ill here. Her chances for recovery doubtful, according to friends and attend ants, who say that her condition has been aggravated by financial worries. Even though she recov- CTS, 1t is held likely that her health will be so impaired that she will be unable to resume her former activities.
 Society Leader For Decade
 For more than a decade Mrs. Mccormick was the society leader of Chicago end a pillar of culture in the midwest. Her millions, af- ter her return from an eight years sojourn in Switzerland in 1921 and a subsequent divorce from Harold F. Mccormick, en- abled her to set up a magnificent suburban estate and install herself in a gray stone mansion at the head of the "goldcoast," Lake Shore Drive.
 It was in this mansion, which Mrs. Mccormick recently closed be- cause of financial adversities, that the daughter of John D. Rocke- feller, Sr., held open house for the cream of society and enter tained foreign notables. Among them were Queen Marie of Ru- mania and Prince William of Swe- den.
 Mrs. McCormick's interest in things cultural has been express ed in many ways, but principally in her devotion to opera. She was the ''god-mother" of Chicago grand opera before formation of the Civic Opera Company and an ardent patroness of the ~opera in English" movement.
 Punctuality Her Creed
 Many of her dinners were pre- opera affairs, and through them she established reputation for unusual punctuality, going ahead with the repast regardless of late arriving guests and running her courses on a strict time schedule, timed by a tiny jeweled clock be- side her plate.
 This seeming rudeness to her guests, she held, was justified by the necessity for arriving at the opera in ample time for the over ture.
 Activity in the Penwomen's club, founding of the Chicago Zoolo- gical gardens, for which she deed ed a 160-acre tract to Cook County and collection of Persian rugs and valuable pieces of art were other evidences of her cultural interests. She wrote lyrics for a Love Song Cycle" consisting of six compo- sitions.
 Although not particularly inclin- ed to philanthropical gestures, her philanthropic spirit has been noted iv, soJvx.i,.set,,o4,0v, oF 1,a,. y,,-o1,orfi oc during the depression.
 Friends point out that she has chosen to add to her own finan- cial burdens by reducing pay ments from hundreds of small home-buyers rather than forfeit the equities of those whose re- stricted incomes made them unable to keep up payments.
 Disliked To Flaunt Wealth
 A similar gesture, they say, was her decision to close her town house and move into hotel. It was not only to save money, they say, but also because she disliked to Haunt wealth when so many were hard-pressed.
 Rifts with both of her daugh- ters, Muriel and Mathilde. marred McCormick's family life. Mathilda married a Swiss riding master, Max Oser, against her mothers wishes and it was not until after eight years that the, couple re- ceived the maternal blessing.
 Muriel now Mrs. Elisha Dyer Hubbard of Connecticut, became estranged from her mother after the latter's divorce, and only in the last few years did they be- come reconciled.