Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-01-23
ON ELECTION NIGHT.
SECRET HISTORY OF THE FoRMA-
 TON OF LlNCOLN'S CABINET.
The President-eIect Reading the Election
 Dispatches in the Telegraph Office at Springfield. Ills.-How He Received the


 Dispatches in the Telegraph Office at
 Springfield, Ills.-How He Received the
 Tidings of Victory.
 There is distinguished authority for the statement that the work of framing the new cabinet was mainly performed on the even- ing of the presidential election. After the polls were closed on Nov. (so MT. Lincoln related a year or two later), the superntend- ent of the telegraph at Springfield invited him to come and remain in his office and read the dispatches as they should come in. He accepted the offer; and, reporting himself in due time at the telegraph office, from which all other visitors were excluded at 9 o'clock, awaited the result of the eventful day.
 Soon the telegrams came thick and fast, first from the neighboring precincts and counties; then from the great western cities, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and finally from the capitals of the doubtful states, In- diana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the empire state of New York. Here in this little room, 1 ill the company of two or three silent opera tors moving about their mysteriously click ing instruments, and recording with imper- turbable gravity the swift throbbing mes sages from near and far, MT. Lincoln read the reports as they came in, first in vague and fragmentary driblets, and later ill the rising and swelling stream of cheering news There was never a nicer or closer calculator of political probabilities than himself He was emphatically at home among election figures All his political life he had scanned tables of returns with as much care and ac- curacy as he analysed and scrutinized max inns of government or platforms of parties. Now, as formerly, he was familiar with all f,,,., 'close" districts, and knew by heart the value of each and every local loss or gain and it's relation to the grand result In past years, at the close of many hot campaign he had searched out the comforts of} victory from discouraging and adverse looking col umn of figures, or correctly read. the fatal | omen of defeat in some fragmentary an- | nouncement from precinct or county TIDINGS OF VICTORY
 Silently, as they were transcribed, the op- orators handed him the messages, which he laid on his knee while he adjusted his epec- tacles, and then read and re-read several times with deliberation. He had not long to wait for indications. From scattering be- ginning, made up of encouraging local frag- ments the hopeful news rose 10 almost unin- terrupted tidings of victory. fSoon a shower of congratulatory telegrams fell from the wires, and while his partisans and friends from all parts of the corntry were thus shaking hands with himS ''by lightning over the result, he could hetar the shouts and speeches of his Springfield followers, gath cred ill the great hall hof the state house across the street, and fairly making that building shake with their rejoicings. 1 Of course his first emotions were those of kindling pleasure and pride at the sweep ing completeness of his success. But this was only a momentary glow. He was in- deed president elect; but with that conscious ness there fellupon him the appalling shadow of his mighty task and responsibility. It seemed as if he suddenly bore the whole world upon his shoulders, and could not shake it off; and sitting there in the yet early watches of the night, he read the still coming telegrams ill sort of absent minded mechanical routine, while his ''inner man'' took up the crushing burden of his country s troubles and traced out the laborious path of coming duties. ''When I finally bade my friends good night and left that room," sad Lincoln, II had substantially completed tho framework of my cabinet as it now exists ''
 If the grouping and combining of the new presidents intended councillors occurred at this time, it is no less true that some of them | were selected at much earlier date. In the meantime no one was informed of his inten- tions in this regard. For full month after the election he gave no intimation whatever of his purpose.-The Century.