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G. W. POST A SUICIDEIN CALIFORNIA HOMEBattle Creek Cereal Manufacturer, Despondent Over Illness, Shoots Himself.plant. Tn September, IIUlt;T, In* began ■ a sui» b * quitv. naming among the defendants Samuel Gompers, President of the Federation, Joim Mitchell, 'Ice President, and Frank Morrison, Secretary. Mr. Post complained that if theFederation succeeded in its plan to unionize the plant the company would ' he deprived of the opportunity or recovering thousands of dollars lost through the union boycott and that the company. would sustain Irreparable injury becausei the prestige it gained in defeating the; unions in the District of Columbia courtswould be lost.This proceeding brought Mr. Post and j tire labor unions into a war that continued with great bitterness for many:■ ears. Mr. Post attacked the unions in, the newspapers throughout the countrv, _ paving out large sums for the publics -RECENTLY UNDER OPERATION ben of his articles. Incidentally, tinsHC.VC.iv u w fashion of fighting mftdo the foods manufactured by the Whittle Creek Company the subject of much discussion.But one of the biggest fights Mr. Postever engaged in followed an attack upon_ . „ ... * U1. ) him hv Collier's weekly on July - lt;, IP*0-Hurried Trip to Minnesota—mis )one of the n)etb0ds of advertising usedby Mr. Post was to assert that his foodI products were valuable In the preventionand cure of diseases. Of one of these public declarations Colliers WeeklySurgery Failed to Cure Him After■Caireer and Fight with Unions.SANTA BARBARA. Cai.. May 9. Despondent 'oeoause of continued illnessand the failure of surgery' to relievehim of a stomach disorder. Charles \v. Post, the wealthy manufacturer ofcereal foods, whoso headquarters v,-ic*t Battle Creek, Mich., hot and killedhimself in his Winter home here to-day. He had smuggled a rifle into his room, and while his wife and his nurse were*1 sent, stretched himself on the tied,put the muzzle of, the weapon tn hismouth and pulled the trigger with hisfoot.Two months ago Mr. Post was hurriedacross half the continent to Rochester,Mi nil., for treatment for appendicitis.The operation was performed on March 10. and at first was believed tohave been successful, lie came backhere, hut the stomach disorder fromwhich he had suffered from his crh Iff© returned and he had been under Bit*care of nurses e'er since.This morning Mr Poet discussed his private financial affairs with his wile and at his request Mrs. Post went downtown to transact some business tor him. Soon aftm Mr* Pont left * he h-uc-Mr. Post told the tineo*. EH* Brown, fto wish* d to sleep and insisted thatjrtte leave the room.pi uin very nervous, he said to t ie purse. “My mind is perfectly clear hut | cannot control my nerves.She Imd been out of th- room only* few minutes when she heard the ghot and. hurrying back, found the patient dead.i The body probably will be takenIn Battle Creek for burial.I Mr. Post's trip from Santa Barbara fo tlie hospital at Rochester, Minn , teas made with all the speed possible. As an extra precaution* gainst delay, the special train Which carried the invalid was followed over the various roads by ahextra engine prepared to take • up the trip should accident interferewith the train. The arrival at Rochester on March ♦ was three and $. half hours ahead of tune. A crowd gt the station hindered the removal ff tin* patient t*» the hunpltal and he b vs examined by specialists in th** tar before being taken to th.- hospi-t.tp. wher* th** operation wan pet-f tned four days later. .Mr. Post’s aged father and mother gnd one brother reside in fort tVorth, Tex. The news of his recent Illness and trip to Rochester w a* |c-pt from his mother because of her advanced years and feeble conditionMr. Post resided m Fortfore moving Battle rr^ek. Mi* .1.At one time he owned a groceryStore there.At th- Coroner’s inquest this eveningDr J. C. Bainbridge, Mr Posts »*hvsi-* un. testified that the patient had shot himself during a fit oi temporary m-ganity.me widelv circulated paragraph labors to Include the Impression that Grape-Nuts will obviate the necessity of an operation for appendicitis. ’I his is Bing and, potentially, deadly ping. Similarly, Postum continually makesreference to the indorsement of a dis-tinauiahed physician* or ’a prominent h. a ill id fil ial,’ persons as mythical,dmdulcss as tliev aro mysteriousMr. Post replied to this Httack In a half-colunm assault upon Collier's which ho wrote himself and had published in various newspaper* at an expense or Sl.TuOO. Mr. Post said In this attackthat Collier’s was being prostituted and that its publishers could not force mon-♦ y from him by sult;*!i ni6t»iouM. i..ollior s broufcrhi suit against Mr. Post for i*»»a damages and in December, linu. tne rase came to trial. It resulted in averdict for Collier’s for $50,ouo.11ml#* n Sludy of Food*.\\ hen Mr. Post was testifying he told the court that a large part of his lifehad been spent in the. study ot food element.--, and the whole range of dietetics. lie said he had attended c Union in France and Germany under greatteachers and that Grape-Nuts wan theresult of his own experimental searchfor a food that ho could digest easily. lt;»!•** of fhe exhibits at the trial was ahook written hv Mr. Post with the caption I Am Well.” The inscription on the title page read: “The ModernPraotir»*. Natural Suggestion or Scien-tia Vitae, by C. W. Post, (Worded for Plain People). Published by La Vita Tnn Company, Battle Greek, Mich.” It came out in the testimony that ” la* Vita run ” was ” an institution for healing by the practice of mental suggestion” and that Mr. Post was the head of it.In the hook were tales oi many cures Concerning these tales Mr. Post said in reply to a question: ” It did notclaim to heal people, but to explainthings that would help them to heal themselves from within. I am unable to say what it is that conveys a curioushealing impulse.”In summing up the case Mr. Posts lawyer pictured his client as a man of d»ep religious convictions and one who looked upon th- spiritual ratlnr thanth, irat-rial side of (hings iGucc Mr. Post off-red Col. Roosevelt floo.ooO for one year's services with the National Trades and Workers’ Association. Despite his poor health and the manv interests that took a good deal of his time, Mr. Post kept close persona! supervision over the factory atBattle Greek. He tried to make it amode! factory so far as cleanliness and sanitation were concerned.... .■DEDICATE SUFFRAGE CAR.Gen. Jones's Gift Auto Put in Commission at Columbia Circle.%.The new suffrage car presented byGen. Rosalie Jones to the suffrage0work was pul In commission formally at Columbus Circle yesterday, morning. The car is painted yellow',, tho suffrage color. On the glass guard at the front is printed in small letters the words: “Votes forWomen,” and on the back of the car ar- printed the same words and“Victory 1915.”Tho eHr was gnyly decoratedy* * to relay with Spring flowers,largely in yellow, and th- repre-BATTLE GREEK. Midi:. May P.— harlea W. Post was one of the found* rs ’ the so-caled health tood indusiij. is business Interests here for trie man-'acturing of breakfast foods repro*ct t* 1 millions of dollars. Although Mr.ost’t office address was In this ci y. tie *d maintained a residence m Washing-»n, D. G.. for several years. Employing thousands cn workmen. M;. nxt took an active part in loc al lt;o i* 'fairs. In 100H he was made i r-M-*nt of flu- National Citizen* I'uiustni. ssoclstlon of Artierlea, and rm r.dhi m he Milt acted wld« att-Ulnn belli at* of Itih attacks lt;*ti laboi unions. ms an ardent supporter of the ” o)en«iMr. Post traveled abroad a huge part ' the time during re—nt y-urs. an*, ms•f c ollection in this city is rega.ua d asa* of the most valuable in th • country, is relatives and fri-nds li *ro tnoii, :*• had pi - tically recovered from ms.!’harles W. Post was famous because, or having failed in business tnr.mgh health, he built up the very sue -s -Postum Cereal Company at 1 at !ee-k; because of his many odd meth-* of advertising, and because oi niaarrels with union labor.It* was born in Springfield, 11... tiftv--j years ago. and after a romin )n I education irel a military training nil© I’nlv-rslty of Illinois. * nt« redlines* hut he was n**t able to am- o* lt;1that time b* cause *d physical v*,» iK-s». In l^vl lie failed and he trailIt the study of food- because hethat good h-u.lt h dependedn|y upon the quality of the mod etl H“ resolved to iteqin the manu-UT« of food from cereals. Mean-lt;1 tie went to Battle (freek and * n-a sanitarium. This was m lv'i. lor manv months Mr. Povt at*- on*food he‘prepared hims-if. A: t* r arecovered sufficiently to urulei-th« task of making th- foods tnatbrileved had saved his life and oftrr-4fc«rri to all the people. He hui.t fACtory at Battle ( reek, and it drewII it is now the biggest plant of itsItwi in the worldMr. Post had decided views on m ly.;-Hy atibject. and he never was bn ’K-rd about making them known, unc hit ideas was a plan that would -n-$ |||© public to have a. ready supplyelsaii currency always, atal ttco to Congress what he called the*t checking currency system. i nea was considered by Congress, but hitlK ever * ain- of ;t except a go d il of public discussion that helped nc the cereal business at battle nek Mr. Post’s next national mov e s an attempt to have 1 nit-d States lator Thomas G. Platt punished tor lating his oath of orfice. 1 mr- w.ts lt;ood deal more talk about trim, andn th- matter was dropp—I.HI* Fight with I nlon*.I# *IiIa stockholder in the Bucks Stove Range Company Mr. Post inaugu-rl a fight against the efforts of the rican Federation of Labor to turn works of the company into a unionisentatives of different suffrage organizations made speeches, throwingflowers' upon the top of the motor. “ Nelson said: * England expects everyman to do his duty,’ ” said Spencer Mll-1,-r of t lie Men's League, and to win the suffrage victory T ask every w* man to do her duty.'’Mrs. George Scheuch Clark spoke for the New York State Association. Col. Ida Graft of the Pilgrim Army for theBt joklyn division of the Suffrage Party, and Corporal Klatschkin for the party in general. Mias FlorenceKing represented the Equal Franchise Society and brought with her a nice little Irish terrior, wearing thecolor of the society, a bright blue,an a mascot. The mascot made a speech ifi.it was entirely extemporaneous, for in the crowd he was stlt; pped or. and expressed hi* feelings emphatically. Miss Harmon made an tidd*ress for Mrs Belmont aEqual Franchise AssociationGen. Jones made the first speech and said that New York men hadnever foc« n slow to do their work when they were shown what it was and that ten suffrage States hadshown the value of equal suffrage.Three cheers for Rosalie Jones, called Mrs. Scheuch Clark, but women being weak in cheers they onlyclapped. . , ,“Fnlcss all suffragists come mit^tohe counted w-e can t win in 191ahere is to victory from the crowd,eailed Gen. Rosalie, as she tossedflowers over the shoulders of themen who responded with a real-Hooray!”Automobiles representing the dif-f--elit organizations were decoratedwith their banners. Mrs. Martha Wentworth Suffren of the Suffrage Party brought ft prettv little ha.sket fo- collections to present to tho car. Corporal Klatschkln a cow bell, and Mrs Janies Lees Laidlaw sent asmall electric searchlight.The exercise* just missed not being pulled off. Gen. Rosalie, who acted as her own chauffeur in coming up to the Circle, was stuck in a ,ar track, ran into another vehicle, and had dread visions of a police court instead of a victory celebration \ kind real voter came to her aid and the victory car was at the Circle on time. The General is to use it with actual work for a month on Lone Island to try it out before it is taken by the other suffragists.* »DeiofqLOProFA1cleathethetutinunoh*HtuithebyEfflthemacfor»lt;of tandthe.-saidresitenttheboa• *i ai ln.sutiouwereor x* i c*tornAicongen.theomj bee i nun NeV pitaaroiMor of tKtrctononwouail i per? swelt;MCon lack 11 os forh ea.due prlt; f andtheshaitionT)powmorof !jecttenclugStitt«lt;t he tionatwhoforehadConticuwasby t the stre Ugc itain it vthementiiellily ineotrsscHupilcmvestOf ti hewlti to lt;of tvatcbauCcinvtlnsfperifrorthedetrHndtionflat* of twilttliei 1«•wonmish ndStatouthunwheofIrhiiir,aier,instSupof cBoastarevertriationClt;tiietie ■v et(Peaf=ubjlt; iOVhismorJngsionpro)the
Newspaper Details
New York Times
New York, New York, US
Sun, May 10, 1914
Page 24
Full Page
Clipped by
Nick N.
NA, 09 Apr 2023
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