this man Holmes has made away with.” See also Philadelphia Inquirer, April 12, 1896.
chemical odors: Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895.
There were inquiries: Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 21, 1894, July 22, 1895; Franke, 106; Schechter, 233. Also see Eckert, 209–10: Eckert quotes a letter from Julia Conner’s mother, dated December 22, 1892. Eckert’s book, The Scarlet Mansion, is a novel; the letter, Eckert told me in e-mail correspondence, is real.
Holmes did not kill face to face: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1895, where a Chicago police inspector states, “While I believe that Holmes would not dispatch a victim with an ax or other deadly weapon, I fully believe him capable of sneaking into a dark room where his victim was asleep and turning on the gas.”
The subsequent articulation: Regarding the work of the “articulator,” Charles Chappell, see Chicago Tribune, July 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 1895; New York Times, July 29, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 23, 27, 29, 30, 1895; Boswell and Thompson, 81–86; Franke, 98–101; and Schechter, 39– 44.
He disposed of other: Chicago Tribune, July 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, August 18, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 1895.
One Good Turn
The rim arced: The Ferris Wheel had a diameter of 250 feet but a maximum height of 264 feet because of the necessary gap between the bottom of the wheel and the ground. The Masonic Temple was 302 feet tall, but that height included a cavernous roof that rose high above the building’s last rentable floor.
“It is impossible: Hawthorne, 569.
“Engines have steam: Rice to Ferris, June 8, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“I did not trust myself to speak: Anderson, 58.
“Suddenly I was aroused: Ibid.
As the wheel began to turn: Ibid., 60.
“No carriages were as yet placed: Ibid.
“I could have yelled out: Ibid.
“The last coupling: Rice to Ferris, June 9, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“Your telegram stating: Ferris to Rice, June 10, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“rather handsome: Weimann, 560.
“Nothing could be more entertaining: Ibid.
“I realize with some bitterness: Ibid., 262.
In preparation: Weimann, 560.
She declared: Ibid.
“Her Highness: Quoted in Wilson, 264.
“I am going to leave: Ibid., 267.
“Royalty at best: Ibid., 269.
Nannie
Without even thinking: Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1895.
First Minnie and Harry: Despite the stench and pools of blood, the Union Stock Yards were Chicago’s single most compelling attraction for visitors, and tour guides did indeed lead men and women into the heart of the operation. It seems likely that Holmes would have brought Minnie and Nannie there, partly because of the yards’ status, partly because he would have derived a certain satisfaction from subjecting the women to its horrors. In The Jungle Upton Sinclair wrote, “It was too much for some of the visitors—the men would look at each other, laughing nervously, and the women would stand with hands clenched and the blood rushing to their faces, and the tears starting in their eyes” (35). For details on the stockyards and the operation of the overhead hog-butchering line, see Sinclair, especially 34–38; all of Jablonsky; and all of Wade. Wade notes that in the year of the fair more than one million people visited the stockyards (xiv). Rudyard Kipling, in his essay “Chicago,” writes, “Turning a corner, and not noting an overhead arrangement of greased rail, wheel and pulley, I ran into the arms of four eviscerated carcasses, all pure white and of a human aspect, pushed by a man clad in vehement red” (341–44, especially 342).
The great fair: I’ve presented one likely path, based on guidebooks from the era, maps of the fairgrounds, and reports that described the features that exposition visitors found most attractive. For details of fair exhibits, see Flinn, 96–99, 104, 113–14; Rand McNally, 34–36, 71, 119–20, 126.
Below the chandeliers: Rand, McNally, 119–20.
Minnie and Nannie rapidly grew tired: Tours of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building were said to be exhausting. One common maxim of the day held that a boy entering the building at one end would emerge from the other as an old man. Rand, McNally & Co’s. Handbook to the World’s Columbian Exposition observes, “The standing army of Russia could be mobilized under its roof” (116).
“A man in Europe talks: Flinn, 71.
the Moorish Palace: Flinn, 25; Gilbert, 114.
Even the concession tickets: For a collection of the actual tickets see Burnham Archives, Oversize Portfolio 4, Sheets 16 and 17.
He bought a souvenir: Geyer, 300.
Vertigo
By Sunday evening: Anderson, 60.
“I did not enter: Ibid.
“Owing to our car: Ibid.
The car traveled: Ibid.
Gronau’s first reaction: Ibid.
“… it seemed as if: Ibid., 62.
“It was a most beautiful sight: Ibid.
“This,” Gronau said: Ibid.
“God bless you: Untitled typescript, Ferris Papers, 6.
“Six more cars: Rice to Ferris, June 12, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“Burnham nor anyone: Ferris to Rice, June 14, 1893, ibid.
“Unwise to open: Robert W. Hunt to Ferris, June 17, 1893, ibid.
“If the directors: Ferris to Rice, June 17, 1893, ibid.
“It was about sundown: Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1893.
Heathen Wanted
He traveled through: Olmsted to Burnham, June 20, 1893, Olmsted Papers, Reel 41.
“Everywhere there is: Ibid.
On June 17: Chicago Tribune, July 11,19, 1893.
“That building gives us: Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1893.
