The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-29
WALKER BLAINE DEAD.
The Secretary Of States Ed.
est Son Suddenly Expires.
Acute Pneumonia Developed From
La Grippe the Cause.

Walker Blaine, son of Secretary James u.
Blaine and Solicitor of the State Depart
ment, has died from pneumonia following
an attack of Ia grippe.
He had been i'll only five days, and although
it was apparent that he wasin q very critical
condition, death finally came to him almost
without moments warning. President Har-
rison had called at the house at 7:3O O'Clock,
and had been told that Mr.. Blaine was then
in a profuse perspiration, which was regarded
as a very favorable symptom, and had gone
away assured that the patient was not in
immediate danger. Three-quarterS OF an
hour later the President was notified by
telephone that Walker Blaine was dead and
within ten minutes he had return ID to the
house to render any service he could to the
suddenly afflicted household.
The news of the death spread through the
city like wildire, and very soon callers be-
gan to reach the house to offer condolences
Nearly every member Of the Cabinet, all or
the Senators and Representatives from
Maine, and scores of other persons reachei
there before II o'clock. Many of them were
in full evening dress, having hastened there
from receptions and dinner parties.
" Young Mr. Blaine first felt the symptoms
of la grippe four days previous when he was
attacked with chills, followed by nigh fever.
During the night both lungs gave evidence
of catarrhal trouble, and the family physi-
clan, DR.. G. Lloyd Magruder, was summoned.
He was able to give his patient some relief,
but the catarrhal affection continued. Two
days before his death there was some I'M
provement in the condition of the left lung,
but the doctor detected the presence of
pneumonia congestion in the right lung.
No remedies seemed to help the case, and
all the bad symptoms became greatly aggra-
waited. Dr. Joseph Tabor johnson was called
in to act with DR.. Magruder, but they were
powerless to overcome the disease,
and pneumonia became we'll de-
veloped. Mr.. Blaine became delirious
early in the day, and he remained in that
condition until he died, at 500 O'clock. A
few moments before his death he was thought
to have shown some slight Improvement, and
when the end came it was almost as sudden
as if it had been caused by heart disease.
All of Mr.. Blaine's immediate relatives
were present except one sister and one
brother Mrs. Coppinger, his sister, was in
New York with Ia grippe, and James 6.
Blaine, Jr., his brother, had left for Maine,
not supposing the patients condition was
dangerous. kilograms were sent to him and
to Colonel Coppinger at o'clock in the at.
ternoon, telling them Of Walkers critical
condition.
, Mr.. Blaine was not in good physical CON
dition to withstand a severe sickness he
had never entirely recovered from the fall
by which his leg was broken last spring, nor
had he fully overcome the effects of mala-
rial fever from which he suffered last
autumn.
Walker Blaine was born in Augusta, May
8. 1856. He finished his collegiate studies at
Yale College in 1885, and then pursued his
legal studies at the Columbia Law School
in New York. After being graduated
there Mr.. Blaine entered the law Of
fee of Senator Davis at st Paul, Mimi,
where he remained until President Gar
field made him Third Assistant Secretary Of
State, his father being the Secretary. A few
weeks later he and William Henry Trescott
were sent, by Secretary Blaine, on special
mission to South America.
After the death of General Garfield and
the retirement of James G. Blaine from the
Cabinet, President Arthur appointed Walker
Blaine Assistant Counsel for the United
States before the Court of Commissioners o.
Alabama Claims. He retained that office
until the court ceased to exist, January L.
1856, when he went to Chicago to practice
law. A few days after his father entered
President Harrison's Cabinet Mr.. Blaine was
nominated to be Solicitor Of the State De-
partment, and the nomination was con-
fSrmpd