Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-09-01

tation of finding a flag at half mast.
Such was the general situation outside
and throughout the city. But there was
a far different condition in the quiet
rooms about the President and around
his bedside. There the cool surgeons
and the brave and steady attendants
were still working manfully with all
their faculties about them to save life.
The President was not receiving the
treatment of a dying man, but of one
who, though low, might live, and he was
not dying. At / o'clock not a single
symptom had set in that belongs to the
dying stage as distinguished from his
general exhaustion. There was no change
in the color of the face or lips; no dull
ness of the eye on the one hand, or un-
due brilliancy on the other. There was
no coldness of the skin or extremities
no tiuctuating of the pulse, though the
pulse was weak, and no sign of waver-
ing in the clearness of the mind. In
short, in spite of the almost universal
hOpelessneSs which was reflected in the
kilograms which crowded the wires, this
central and reassuring fact remained
that the President had not, in the medi-
cal sense, begun to die. Further,it is true
that at LIS the President had said to
Gen. Swain in very decided tones that
he felt
CONFIDENT HE WAS BETTER
than at the same hour on Friday. 1t
was true, also, that he had strength
enough to take the glass which held his
liquid food and drink it without assist
ance. 1t was true, All hour later, that
the surgeons had not given him up
They did believe it probable that he
would die unless he rallied during the
afternoon. Tuey never got step be.
y0nd that, and they had this to comfort
them rs the hours went by, that the
dying stage, though expected had not
set in. To these faithful men and de.
voted friends and heroic wife there
came about o'clock such marked
change lis TO affold them the long, long
waited for relief. Mrs. Garfield waslal-
most The first to notice it. She felt SURE
that his pulse was improving, and thai
it was firmer than it had been in three
days. The President himself declared
he felt better, and DR.. BoyntOn, who haG
been greatly depressed for several days
made everybody happy by stating em
phaticaliy that change for the better
was in progress. Soon after O'Clock
these facts began to make Il little head
way against the increasing glOominess
on the outside. Here the rapid race to-
ward utter hopelessness h.h been run
and the goal of despair reached. But in
that quiet sick chamber, while the cOun-
try was sitting without hope, and wait
ing only for the announcement of death
it seems as If the saving power of the
Lord, working through strong wills and
wise means, was turning new forces OF
life through that wasted frame. At
o'clock the President was asking for
solid food, and soon after ate a portion
of it with relish, the first in about two
weeks. Said DIR. Hamilton, as he stood
by remarking the manifestation of
AN UNMIsTAKABLY FAVORABLE TURN
Gentlemen, this encouraging sign
should inspire and incite us to renewed
confidence and effort" The report that
the President had asked for and eaten
a moderate slice of milk toast fell OH the
hearts of the hopeless crowds as mat
ter beyond belief-aS a story of the Op-
timiSts. But when it was confirmed the
effect was almost us if voice from
heaven had announced in mid air that
there was once more solid ground for
hope.
The evening bulletin was awaited
iaf hat nf of
the struggle had aroused. When it came,
announcing decided improvement, men
read it again and g Tin in the midst of a
great silence, rs if no one dared trust his
senses, and AS it was a blessing that
might fade as they read. The surgeons,
who had entered the White House at
intervals during the day with grave
faces, and able to give only the encOur-
agement that living was possible, but
not probable, emerged after sending out
the evening bulletin, with radi-
ant faces, saying that change
for the better was certainly apparent to
all, and that they believed the morning
would bring still more favorable report.
Those who had access to the courageous
men who, through that depressing and
lemOraliZing day, had stood cOOlly
about the President, continuing every
means for his restoration, and yielding
no atom Of effoIt because the flame of
life was burning low, found them with
alsense of a great load lifting, and the
radiant light of renewed hope shining
in their faces. Outside the effect was
wonderful to note. The reaction was
the greatest here, for there was an al
most universal conviction that the Pres
ident had lain all day dying. The re-
joicing inside was that he had been
turned backward as he stood upon the
brink of the dying stage. The city was
moved from center to circumference
with the emotion of deep, reverent
The crowds remained in
all the public places long enough to hear
the good news confirmed at the hour the
Cabinet left the White House, and hav-
ing received this assurance to carry
with them into the night, the streets
early became quiet in most grateful con-
trast to the scenes of the night before,
and those of the weary and terrible day.
Special to the Cincinnati
Gazette.
COUNTY TEACHERS.