The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1876-09-01
VOLUME |. NO. s.
The Death of Speaker Kerr.

al the setting Of the sun he
went quietly TO rest so quietly
indeed, that DR.. Pope, who wa
noting every change, had hardly
time TO summon his anXiou
watchers in the room to his bed
side.
Though it had long been evi
dent that the only relief from hi
suiferings would be death, hi
noble wife who, through tina
long illness had tended with un
firing love and devotion, coul(
not realize that the awful mo
ment Of parting had inevitably
come, but with streaming eyes
and breaking heart, besought
him not to leave her. The speak
er's son, young man Of some
twenty-one years, whose affection
for his father has always beer
marked with the most touching
devotion, clung to the cold hanC
Of the dying man with the silent
anguish Of despair.
THE DEATH SCENE.
The death scene was one Of pc
culiar pathos and solemnity. The
eyes OF the Speaker rested with a
look of yearning tenderness, in.
tinitely soft and inexpressibly
sweet upon his stricken family
and then wandered slowly around
the room as if with a last farewell
to those present. Hon. S. S. Cox
stood near the head of the bed
and was deeply affected. The
Speakers secretary, Mr.. White,
and Mr.. Scudder, his clerk, were
also with him.
At an early hour in the morn
it was thought by the physician
in attendance that death was
near, but the tenacity of life in
the emaciated body of the suffer
er excited the wonder Of all, and
set at defiance the experience OF
the medical world, Before 10a.
N. there was no perceptable pulse
in the wrists or arteries of the
arm, and yet the limbs seemed
under perfect control.
The condition Of ofemanciation to
which the Speaker was reduced
by the rayages Of his disease, can
only be expressed by saying that
his body presents the appearance
Of a skeleton. Every bone is dis
tinctly perciptible under the thin,
tightly drawn skin, while even
the line Of the spinal column is
visible through the collapsed
walls Of the abdomen. For more
than sixty hours before death he
took no nourishment. The disease
that batfled the medical skill of
the country was pAehesis intestiaalis,
or consumption of the bow els.
During the day the Speaker
lay in a semi-lethargic condition,
with eyes somewhat introverted,
and half-covered by the lids, occa-
sionally varied by sudden start,
as if from sleep, atwhich time the
intellect would be again thor
oughly aroused. He suffered
paroXysms Of intense pain, which
were rendered visible by the
knotted cords Of the muscles of
the neck and limbs and contrac-
ton Of the nerves Of the face and
eyes, though there was but little
audible indication Of his suffering
eXccptan occasional hollow groan
He seemed at times to make
painful attempts to express him
self audibly, without success, and
could only Indicate by gestures
or an occasional spasmadic whis-
per his wishes. His mind was
clear to the last. He recognized
the Hon. Montgomery Blair and
others who spoke to him, and
shortly before death indicated to
DR.. Harris, Of the Methodist
church, his readiness to die and
hopes Of a future life of ofhappiness
About noon his son read a tele-
gram from a friend in Indiana.
He listened intently, and his
mind evidently wandered for a
time to the past. He made a faint
gesture Of pleasure when allusion
was made to his vindication from
the cruel charge recently made
against his honor and the hand
some tribute paid to his sterling
in Mr.. Carpenters late
speech before the Senate.