The Devil

February 22nd, 2006General0 comments

Chicago Columbian Exposition, 1893.

I got back into the habit of listening to audio books while I run. I just finished “The Devil in the White City” — a non-fiction about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer named H.H. Holmes who ran amuck during the the festivities.

(Yes, he named himself after Sherlock Holmes.)

I noticed that I absorb the audio book more easily if I look down ahead of me at the pavement while I’m running. This completely eliminates distracting visuals (like the blinders on a horse). I also like to picture the words actually printed in front of me. It’s kind of comforting for me to visualize them.

I seem to take in the information fairly well, although my mind sometimes starts wandering and the audio book mixes in with my thoughts. Strange items start appearing on my mental To-Do List — things like “replace gaskets on steam-powered locomotive”, “make donation to Work-House”, “buy moustache wax”.

So the reason H.H. Holmes was able to kill so many people (mostly young women) and get away with it was because 1) He was a wealthy “doctor”, perceived by many to be of too high in community standing to be culpable, and 2) Because it was so darned difficult in 1893 to find someone that was missing.

These days people get mad at you if you don’t have a cell phone. They want to be able to call you and bug you any time they want.

But back then, someone would move to another city and you’d get letters from them every couple of weeks. If the letters stopped coming, then you’d start worrying. Of course, once you started looking for them it might be too late.

Also, with no forensic technology, barely any record keeping, and a Victorian society that couldn’t comprehend the idea of a person murdering someone for no-good-reason, it was fairly easy to make people disappear.