The Evening critic., 1881-07-12
GARFIELD,s OLD HOME.
The Excitement There After the At
tempted Assassination.


President Hinsdale, of Hiram College,
who remains in Washington to be near his
wounded friend, has received letter from
his wife, who gives graphic description of
the effect produced in the quiet village of
Hiram by the attempt to assassinatc
the President. The President, it will be
remembered, formerly resided there The
village Is of the direct line of railroad and
telegraph communication, and that accounts
for the slowncss with which the news trav-
eled to them.
Mrs. Hinsdale writes Hiram has passed
through some eventful scenes since you left.
The reports that came during the afternoon
were full of despair. Mrs. Comst6ck, Of
Warren, sent a dispatch dated half past l.,
which said, Internal hcmorrhage has set
in and the worst results are feared Tho
hack brought the papers, but there were no
dispatches later than half-past IL.
Those were favorable. In the evening
Allie Turner drove down again. He came
at o'clock with this message: The Presi-
dent passed away at ten minutes passed a.
| asked whether it was official He could
not tell, but said men were crying and tear
ing their hair, women were wailing in the
streets, and the church bells were tolling
in Garrettsville. No such dark cloud ever
hung over Hiram Hill since it was inhab-
came running here. They got the flag,
draped it with bunting, and hoisted it half
mast over the tabernacle; others tolled the
college bell. They festooned tho church
with mourning. For myself, 1 could not
shed tear or hardly say word. i told
them | could take no part or interest in the
draping, but | told the children to get the
flag. 1t seemed to me the sun had been
blown out. Mrs. Patterson said to me
Will Mrs. Garfield preserve her wonderful
presence of mind now?' l replied: She
will in the presence of others, but the shock
will probably kill her.
~ passed the night with my mind filled
with the eventful things of the Bible and
history that reveal the Creators dealings
with the human race. / thought, Is this
Nation so corrupt that it deserves this ? and
then it came to me that for ten righteous
persons He was willing to save Sodom. /
could think of no comparison unless it was
the Disciples at the cruciixion. In the
morning Allie drove down again, and when
we saw him coming at u rapid pace, we
thought, He is going to tell us Mrs. Gar
field is dead We heard his voice before he
got inside the gate, Garfield is dlire and
better cried for the first time. Allie ran
with the ianitOr to the college building and
rang the bell. All the neighbors far and
near came on the run some had pals, De-
caused they supposed there was fire.
Sunday all day we were very hopeful,
but Monday morning Mr.. Dietz came from
Warren and said the President was evidently
worse, for the flying rumors were full OF
despair. Soon the paper came, and we
learned that some fever had set in, and at
least the case was very critical. In the af-
ternoon Mr.. Smith sent your dispatch. The
evening mail brought the second one that
gave me great cheer. The morning papers
say the temperature ran up again in the
night, and saw in your letter dispatched
to the Herald this: You may hope, but
must not hope too much. read also the
diagnosis of the New York doctor, and
conclude that the case is critical. You will
see that / began this yesterday and am fin.
ishing to-day, July s. Allie heard that the
official bulletin this morning was very IA
vorablc. For all this we thank God and
take courage"