Daily Republican., 1881-09-24
GRANDMOTHER 6ARFIELD.
The Sad Hours OF tho Dead Presi
dents Mother,

A special despatch from Cleveland,
o., says: .'The mother Of the late Pre-
sident is by nature far from demon
strative, and the many distorted utter
ances OF hers which appeared in the
newspapers during the campaign. and
especially since the assassination, do
her great injustice. That she should
have a mothers pride in her son would
be natural, but OF his achievements she
is not free to speak. She loves dearly
to converse about him, even since the
great calamity, but always prefers to
listen. A correspondent called at the
house this afternoon. Hearing OF his
presence, she entered the room as soon
as she was at liberty, and made timid
inquiry about the funeral preparations.
She listened eagerly TO everything that
WAS said, and the effort did not seem
to tire her. Occasionally mention OF
some little act or delicate courtesy Oh
the part of the people would touch her
heart and a tear would gliaten IN her
eye, and reveal the feelings with which
her mothers heart is rent. She will
sit guitely by the window and re4d the
paper for an hour at q time. Then un-
able longer to choke down the swelling
sorrow, as some incident touches her
heart, she will lay aside the paper and
sit alone in silence, her thoughts bu-
sled with the dead past. She sits thtre
accomplishing, meek, patient, living
over the past and seeking t. compre-
hend the meaning of her own atfiiction.
Then the members of the family ad-
dress her and seek to divert her mind,
and, with weary smile that is more
eloqu. mt than the tears she seeks to re-
strain, she turns and tries to hide from
others the suffering which she knows
must be contagious,
"rhe sisters are made weak and ner-
vous by the terrible news, following in
the wake Of four other family deaths. II
would seem that this must be the last
blow, but even after the Nation & chief,
death il not satisfied, but hovers once
again above this stricken family. AL.
most prostrateu by her own grief, Mrs.
owDridge now has the mournful task
OF watching the bedside OF a dying
granddaughter. Mrs. Mary McConner
and her little girl, about seven years OF
age, are stopping at the cottage, aud
consumption in its quickest form is
! oDIctulukt tUS uCtLtl Hllil oNCA UlC Oy co VI
the glrl. The case il absolutely hope
less, and tie death of the little one is
expected at any moment Every ything
is Ill such u state OF uncertainty that it
is very doubtful if Mrs. Trowbridge st.
tends the Presidents funeral, even
should she herself be considered strong
enough.
MRS Sheldon, wife of Gen. Sheldon,
of New Mexico, called at the Larabee
residence to cOnsummate arrangements
for the attendance Of the relatives at the
funeral in Cleveland. The plans were
not revealed, and it was very earnestly
urged that all arrangements he suppress.
ed from the papers in order to secure
the safety and promote the comfort OF
the nged mother in the highest degree
1t II safe 10 say, however, that the de-
partuiewill be delaycdas long as possible
so all may rest much more comfortably
at the Soon home. tits so restful there,
General Garfield used to say. Mrs
CARRIED studied with the greatest inter
est this morning the diagram published
illustrating tue direction of the bullet
She is most eager to learn every detail.
Referring to the newspaper accounts OF
the di,colored appearance OF the dead
Presidents face, the reporter inquired,
: Would you have any desire to view the
!, remains? 1t may be that you would
prefer to remember him as he was?
oh, mo-, replied Mrs. Larabee, l don't
want to look at his tace. l only want
! to think how he used to look But the
little, pale-taced mother said, in falter-
ing accents, 'Oh, | must see him,
must see him once more. He was my
own boy you know"