Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-13
No Perceptible Improvement in the
Condition of Judge Miller.
GROWING WEAKER EVERY HOUR.
A Career Of Remarkable Activity Slowly
Drawing to Close.
THE JURISTS POLITICAL FRIENDS
SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE p,srArcH..

| his wonderful vitality is the Cneme {
general conversation. Everybody is sui
prised at it, and the doctors as much so a
the unprofessional public.
There was no improvement, however, il
the condition Of the invalid during thes
long hours of waiting between life an
death. He lay unconscious all the time
breathing heavily and with difficulty an,
gradually growing weaker. The large
massive frame has been absolutely motion
less and the pulsations of the heart hav
been fainter with each beat. His old friend
Prof. Wilson, of the Smithsonian Institu
ton, and his wife wait by his bedside il
momentary expectation OF the end. Hi
throat is filling fast with the accumulation
of mucus which he is powerless to get rid OF
and his breath comes in short gasps.
| ANXIOUS FRIENDS AND RELATIVES.
Callers and kilograms continued to arriv
at the house throughout the day. No wort
has yet been received from the Justice
daughter, Mrs. Stocking, III Vienna, and i
is not known whether the cablegram an
nouncing to her the condition of her fathe
had been received by her. His othe
daughter and his granddaughter, Mrs
Touzalin and Miss Lucy Corkhill, will ar
rive from Colorado about o'clock on Tues
day.
All the members of the Supreme Cour
and the Cabinet, who are in town, have beer
among those personally inquiring about the
Justices condition, and Chief Justice Full
Ter has spent the greater part of the day al
the side of his friend and associate. He will
remain at the house until the end. DR..
Lincoln called to see the sick man tonight
at 8 O'Clock, but seeing that there was
nothing to be done. remained but few mo-
| ments. As be was leaving the house he
said to your correspondent:
st is nearly over He cannot live more
than an hour or two longer. The end is
very near. Only his remarkable vitality
has kept him alive until now. A weaker
man would have succumbed long ago."
Mrs. Miller is bearing up well, and can
not be induced to leave the side of her dying
husband.
HIS REMARKABLE DILIGENCE
The paralytic stroke of Justice Miller
was a surprise to every one in Washington.
His constitution has, apparently, been one
OF iron, and he has for years worked more
than II hours out of the "a. 1t was his
habit to go into his Office, at his home on
Massachusetts, avenue, as soon as he had
finished bis breakfast IN the morning, and to
work there upon his cases until the Supreme
Court met at noon. During his whole career
as a Supreme Court Justice he missed
scarcely day in attendance upon the Su-
preme Court when it was sitting, and he
worked far into the night writing his opin-
nd off
from the Capitol. He said once that he did
not believe that there was set of men in
Washington so hard worked as the Judges
of the Supreme Court, and he believed that
a set of subordinate courts should be insti-
tuted to relieve it. @'-
There has been no Judge on the bench for
years who has done more work than ustice
Miller, and he was one of the best equipped
men OF the corps of Justices. He was a
seif-educated man, and he never had the ad-
vantage of college training. Like Justice
Bradley, he was very fond of mathematics,
and he kept up his mathematical studies
during his latter years.
EDUCATED IN LAW AND MEDICINE.
He started life as drug clerk and spent
three years in making up prescriptions. He
then went to medical school in Kentucky
and practiced medicine after he had gotten
his diploma, for eight years. He found it
impossible for young doctor to get along
without wife, and he had two children be-
fore he decided to give up medicine for law.
When he began to study law he took up the
study of Latin and acquired thorough
knowledge OF the language. He has, how
ever, always decried the study of dead Ian
guages. and he said not long ago that be did
not think there was any necessity for man
10 Sto IF y; fo -, ,l,o
dead languages. Said he: 81 think that
the dead languages are unnecessary and i'm
practical for the average man. They NAV
do for rich peoples sons who will have an
independent income aud who are training
themselves for purely literary life. AS to
boys who have 10 make their way in the
world, l think they are useless, and that
the scientific studies are far more important.
Justice Miller has always been strong
Republican. He made his first political
speeches when he began to study law, and
he was an ardent follower of Henry Clay.
CLAY AND BLAINE COMPARED.
He knew Henry Clay personally, and at
one time, in speaking of him in mparison
with Blaine said: Blaine and CLAY are
very much alike. Mr.. Blaine has the same
courage, the same magnetic influence and the
same power over men that Clay had. Their
careers have been much similar. Both
have been Senators, both have been beaten
for the Presidency, both have been Speak
ers OF the House, and both have held much
the same ideas as TO political matter. Blaine
has great executive ability, and so had
Clay. 1 doubt, however, whether Clay
would have made a good President, and
still l would have liked to see him elected.
II would like fer once to see great polit-
ical leader in tie White House, and L am
tired to death Of taking characterless men
simply because the politicians hate the
leaders aud cannot consent to see them win
the great prize of politics. I would like to
say good by for time to negative Presi-
dents, and to see how the country would get
along under a positive one. Clay might
have made great President. lie had that
iron will which was characteristic of the
public men of his time, and which
came out so prominently in John
c. Calhoun, Andrew jackson and Tom
Benton.
ONE OF OUR GREATEST MEN.
''He was, I believe, an honest man, and
he was one of the most fascinating orators
have ever heard. He was the great pub
lie speaker his day, though Daniel Web
ster's speeches read much better than his.
He was far better politician than Web
ster, and he evcelled him as party leader.
He was the author of the protective tariff |
system. and he was, in my opinion, one Of |
the greatest men we have ever had"
Justice Miller was appointed by Presi- |
dent Lincoln when the Supreme Court was |
In 1862. He had never asked |
for any Office nor had he been q candidate |
for anything before he received bis appoint
ment His nomination was sent in at 9 |
o'clock on the evening of the adjournment