The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-03-06
BULLET FIRED
BY ASSASSIN
CLAIMS LIFE
Chicago Executive Waged
Brave Battle for 10
Days After Shooting.
Continued From Page One

the Democratic national convention
IN Chicago last summer
CermakS political career lasted
through more than thirty years. but
It was only in the last three that he
rose to a dominant position in ma
tional affairs.
On April Z 1881, he was elected
mayor Of Chicago, decisively defeat
ing William Hale Thompson. the
colorfu Big Bill that nobody could
beat"
Faced Gigantic Task
At once the former coal miner
found himself facing as difficult a
task as perhaps any large city
mayor ever faced. Gangsters. tax
strikers, unpaid school teachers and
police and other city employees
played roles in the problem play of
practical politics.
CeImak made war on the gangs.
He made personal trips to New York
to borrow money for relief of his
flnancially-crippled home city.
He reduced expenses to. a level
unmatched in Chicago in years. He
evolved plans for payment of back
salaries to the teachers and city en-
ployes.
And he found time for a trip to
Europe last summer. There he
preached the story of a new Chi
cago, rising from its troubles to pre-
pare for the Worlds Fair in 1888.
Visits Old Home
In Czechoslovakia Cermak visited
the hamlet near Prague, where he
was born in 1873, and from which
his parents had taken him as a
toddling baby to America. The
family settled in Braidwood.
Tony Cermak went to work in
the mine when he was II.
He drove mule through the
gloomy entries and dreamed of a
day when he could visit Chicago.
Although the education he got IN
the little school at Braidwood was
only a preparation, he added to it
by reading at home.
At Is, Tony was a husky. hkable
American lad, with the stamp of
Bohemia IN features and voice. The
time clerk at the mine had written
his name, Tony Chermock," because
that was the way it was pronounced.
Ambition Was BoundIess
Tony had caught step with the
surge OF the new world tempo and
his ambition was as boundless as
his good nature.
One day he said good bye to his
father and mother, swung a ban
dana handkerchief filled with all
his possessions over his shoulder
and set off, like a modern Dick
Wilmington, for Chicago.
He wandered up the canal to the
city and stopped when he saw men
at work in the west side industrial
district.
His first job in the city he later
was to rule, was as a tow boy" on
the horse cars. Every morning he
rode an old white horse to the Blue
Island avenue Viaduct.
The rest of the day was spent
helping drag the horse cars up the
grade. Evenings found him read
lng-hlstory, science and law.
Led Strenuous Life
IL was strenuous life and some
times a lonely one. 1t happened
that Mary Horejas, a milliner then
H. ate in the restaurant where
young Cermak did.
She was as lonely as he was. They
were attracted to each other and
the youth determined to marry.
He was 20 and the world was
his apple. But he knew he could
not support a wife on the small sal
airy he earned. He branched out
as a business man. gathering
waStewood and selling it for kind
ling.
He bought the wood for ST a load
and sold it for $3.50. Then he dis
covered that some of the pieces
were large enough for chair seats.
Those length he sold for $18 a load.
With his profit he bought horses
and wagons. In five years he owned
ten horses, was hiring twenty
teams and employing forty men.
Profits Pile Up
The first real estate he owned was
the home he bought for his bride.
Later, as his family increased, he
moved to another house in the same
vicinity.
Ills wife died there after they had
been married thirty-flye years.
Mayor Cermak lived there until his
last ILLNESS His three daughters
and seven grandchildren visited in
the home frequently.
Cermak foresaw that Lawndale.
the district where he had settled.
would grow, and he bought lots and
buildings.
His ventures were successful and
soon he started a real estate bust
ness and later, when he was 80. a
building and loan association. which
is still in operation. In 1910, he and
associates organized two banks on
the west side.
Brought Into Politics
Cermak's popularity brought him
into politics. After testing his poll
teal wings as precinct committee
man and ward organization presi-
dent, he was elected to the state
legislature in 1902 ana was re-
elected for three more terms.
He served in the Chicago city
council from 1909 to 1912 and was
reelected in 1919 and in 1921. He
retired to become president of the
Cook county board of commission
ers, the post he held when elected
mayor in 1881 In 1912 he was
named bailiff of the municipal
court.
In his first interview after he
won over William Hale Thomp-
son. and became mayor, Cermak
said:
Prohibition is responsible for our
crime. our high taxes and poverty.
I firmly believe that the prohibition