The Devil in the White City

by Erik Larson

“What was done: Daniel Burnham, “Biography of Daniel Hudson Burnham of Chicago,” Moore Papers, Speech, Article and Book File, Burnham 1921, Proofs and Biographical Sketches.

  “It was questioned by many: Ellsworth to Moore, February 8, 1918, Moore Papers, Speech, Article and Book File, Burnham Correspondence, 1848–1927, Box 13, File 2.

  In 1901 Burnham built: Hines, 288.

  Of the twenty-seven buildings: Lowe, 122.

  “Up to our time: Hines, 351.

  “I thought the fair: Burnham to Margaret, April 7, 1894, Burnham Archives, Family Correspondence, Box 25, File 5.

  “If I were able: Edward H. Bennett, “Opening of New Room for the Burnham Library of Architecture,” October 8, 1929, Burnham Archives, Box 76.

  “You’ll see it lovely: Undated biography, Burnham Archives, Box 28, File 2.

  Recessional

  “It has today: Olmsted, May 10, 1895, memory no longer to be trusted.

  That summer: Stevenson, 424.

  “the bitterest week: Rybczynski, Clearing, 407.

  “You cannot think: Ibid.

  He beat the family horse: Roper, 474.

  “They didn’t carry out: Ibid.

  His wife: Rybczynski, Clearing, 411.

  In the autumn of 1896: Anderson, 75.

  On November 17: Ibid., 75.

  “The request of Mrs. Ferris: Ibid., 77.

  “miscalculated his powers: Ibid., 75.

  In 1903: For details on the fate of Ferris’s wheel, see Anderson, 77–81.

  “But one thing: Bloom, 143.

  The fair made Buffalo Bill: Carter, 376; Monaghan, 422.

  He died in Denver: Monaghan, 423.

  “I went to Jackson Park: Lingeman, 114.

  “It means so much: Hines, 266–67.

  “No one should be: Prendergast to Alfred Trude (the letter is dated February 21, 1893, but the date is clearly incorrect, as the letter was written after his conviction; the return address is the Cook County Jail), Trude Papers.

  “a poor demented imbecile: Darrow, 425.

  “I am sorry for all fathers: Weinberg, 38.

  They dumped: Darrow, 228.

  In New York: Legend holds that a notorious belly dancer named Little Egypt made her debut at the world’s fair. Sol Bloom says she was never there (Bloom, 137). Donna Carlton, in Looking for Little Egypt, says it’s possible a dancer named Little Egypt was indeed at the fair but that many dancers adopted the name. Some sources also claim that Little Egypt’s name was Farida Mazhar. (Half a dozen spellings exist; I’ve chosen this one.) About all that can be said with certainty is that a dancer named Farida Mazhar likely did appear at the fair. Carlton says she “probably performed” (74) on the Midway and cites a source who contends that Farida believed “‘the title of Little Egypt belonged to her.’” George Pangalos, the impresario who brought the Street in Cairo to the Midway, stated publicly that he hired Mazhar to dance at his concession in the Midway and that she was considered one of the finest dancers in Cairo. And columnist Teresa Dean describes a visit to the theater in the Street in Cairo where she saw “Farida, the pretty girl who goes through her contortions” (157). In any event a young woman using the name Little Egypt apparently did pop out of a whipped-cream pie in New York several years after the fair, at a stag party that became so notorious it was called the Awful Seeley Dinner. Its host was Herbert Barnum Seeley, a nephew of the late P. T. Barnum, who threw the party on behalf of his brother, Clinton Barnum Seeley, who was about to be married (Carlton, 65).

  Holmes

  “There was a red fluid: Trial, 117.

  “I would ask: Ibid., 124.

  “It was an expression: Philadelphia Public Ledger, October 31, 1895.

  “I saw them at Toronto: Trial, 297.

  “the most dangerous man: Schechter, 315.

  “That he fully intended: Geyer, 317.

  “I am convinced: Philadelphia Inquirer, April 12, 1896.

  “Here I left them: Ibid.

  “It will be understood: Ibid.

  His lawyers turned down: Franke, 189.

  The Wistar Institute: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 10, 1896.

  “The man was something: Ibid.

  “Take your time, old man: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 8, 1896. The Philadelphia Public Ledger of the same date offers a slightly different version: “Don’t be in a hurry, Aleck. Take your time.”

  “Holmes’ idea: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 8, 1896.

  Strange things: I derived this account mainly from news clippings gathered as an appendix in Holmes’s memoir. See Mudgett, after page 256. Schechter offers a nice distillation of these strange events on 333–37.

  No stone: My observations.

  In 1997: Stewart, 70.

  Aboard the Olympic

  “But—I know: Burnham to Millet, April 12, 1912, Moore Papers, Speech, Article and Book File, Burnham Correspondence, 1848–1927. Box 13, File 1.

  Hon. F. D. Millet: Envelope, April 11, 1912, ibid.

  The builder of both ships: Lynch, 159.

  “I think it is nothing serious: Whyte, 314.

  “Frank Millet, whom I loved: Hines, 359.

  As he and his family traveled: Hines, 360, 433.

  Both are buried: My observations. See also Hucke and Bielski, 13–30.

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