Connecticut western news., 1891-12-24
DEATH OF A STATESMAN.
SENATOR PLUMB SUCCUMBS T
 APOPLEXY.

l The Strain Upon His Nerves and Mind Was Too Great-Warned by Physicians | to Abstain from Active Work Lest Brain Trouble Might Set In.
 | WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.-Senator Preston | B. Plumb, of Kansas, died suddenly of apo | plexy shortly before noon Sunday. His | death occurred in the unpretentious three story boarding house, 6l0 Fourteenth street. | in which convenient location he had for the last five or six seasons taken up his quarters
 during the sessions of congress. In very | short space of time the news spread o~ar the | city, and the expressions of regret were uni versal and not confined to any political | party.
 Vice President Morton's Visit. | Vice President Norton accompanied by
 Mrs. Cameron, wife of Senator Don Gamer | on, of Pennsylvania, was one of the earliest | callers and placed hls services at the dis | posal of the friends of the dead senator | Senator Peffer, MT. Plumb's Alliance col 1 league, remained in attendance several | hours, answering questions and rendering 1 any assistance in his power During the I afternoon nearly every senator in town | either called in person or sent a message of | condolence, and some of the most earnestly | expressed of the latter came from senators l on the Democratic side by all of whom the Kansas statesman was respected. MT. Charles B. Reade, assistant sergeant at arms of the senate, took charge of the remains | and caused telegrams to be sent to the ab- sent wife and children of the dead senator. Campaigning Ruined His Health. l MT. Plumb has been ailing more or less | ever since the close of his herculean labors
 in the last campaign in his state, which re-
 suited so satisfactorily to himself and his party. He was at all times an indefatigable
 worker, but in this campaign he outdid 1 himself. On his return to Washington he | attempted to throw into his senatorial duties | his accustomed ardor, but complained that | he could not concentrate his faculties with | his accustomed readiness. He felt dazed
 and uncertain both mentally and physically. Preliminary symptoms of the disease which
 finally carried him off with such startling | rapidity were not wanting. For weeks l past, when he had occasion to write let
 ter personally, the lines wandered up and
 down the page in the most irregular man.
 ner, greatly differing from his usual precise | bankers chirography, and he found diff
 culty even in signing with regularity those
 letters which his secretary prepared for him. His Mind Failing Also.
 | On the street he occasionally lost himself | Several days ago, just after the opening of | the senate, walking with Colonel E. C.
 Manning, his frequent companion, he stop
 ped as MT. Manning was about to leave
 him, and said, Don't go, Manning; I want you to stay by me; I don't know exactly
 where I am." He thought the trouble
 might arise from some impairment of his | vision, and after the adjournment of the | senate on Thursday last went to Philadel- phia, where his eldest son is under treat
 ment for defective eyesight, to take advice 1 in his own case. The eminent medical man
 he consulted told him frankly that unless he | gave himself an immediate rest and exer~ | cised the greatest care, softening of the | brain might result. With this warning ringing in his ears he returned to Washing | ton with determination that after the sen- ate adjourned for the holidays he would re- | turn to Philadelphia and place himself un- l der the care of Dr. Pepper for a prolonged | course of treatment. He even mentioned | to friends that he might return to Ph;la- 1 delphia without waiting for the adjourn | ment of the senate. He came back by the 6 | o'clock train and went to Chamberlin's res | taurant for dinner. He took his seat at one | of the small tables in the rear of the public dining room alone.
 Feared the Grip.
 | Senator Plumb was remarkably abstemi- | ous man in his habits, and he did not depart from his usual custom on this occasion. He 1 partook of no wine or other stimulant. Ex-
 Senator Malone, of Virginia; Mr. Frank
 Hatton, of the Washington Post; Senator l Squire and his private secretary were at the | adjoining table. They all entered into con- l ;/l,&
 of it the Kansas senator stopped and drew
 out bottle of medicine, which he shook up
 and took dose of, remarking, with an apol-
 ogy for his doing so, that he was feeling | quite sick and feared he was going to be laid | up with the grip. He would not even vet
 admit the grave brain trouble of which he
 had been warned.
 A Doctor Summoned.
 From Chamberlin's he went home to his
 somewhat dismal rooms and went to bed. About o'clock in the morning he aroused
 his landlord, MT. Jennings, saying he felt
 really ill, and asked him to send for doctor
 Dr. Philip $. Wales, ex-surgeon general of
 the navy, was summoned and remained in
 charge of the case until the end. Hypoder-
 mic injections were administered and about
 7 o'clock in the morning the senator became
 unconscious and continued in state of coma
 with scarcely any intermission until his
 death. Just before he dozed off he raised his
 hand to the back of his head, where he had
 all along complained of feeling intense pain,
 and exclaimed, ''Oh, God my head.' The End Came Suddenly. | Shortly after II D. m. he commenced to
 breathe stentoriously and Mr. Jennings, who
 was watching by his bedside with the sen
 ator's secretary, became alarmed. When
 Dr. Wales arrived the senator's face had
 turned purple, and it was apparent that
 apoplexy had supervened. The surgeon
 called for stimulants, and MT. Jennings ran | to a neighboring drug store and seized some
 spirits, with which he immediately re- i turned.
 'It is too late," said Surgeon Wales, and
 almost immediately afterward the senator
 expired.
 There were round his bedside at the time of his death besides his physician, ex-Sur-
 geon General Wales Mr. B. F. Flenniken,
 who for many years has been clerk of the
 committee public lands, of which Sen ! ator Plumb was chairman, and has acted as
 his private secretary, his landlord and other ! attendants.
 1 Dr. Wales says the immediate cause of the
 senator's death was apoplexy, brought on
 by fatty degeneration of the brain from
 overwork and fatigue.
 Born in Ohio in 1887, he was ffty-four 1 years of age. Before he became lawyer
 and banker he worked at the case as a i practical printer. He moved to Kansas in I 1856 and participated in much of the early
 exciting history of that state Unlike most
 senators of long service, he did not undergo
 a previous apprenticeship in the lower house 1 of congress, but came straight to the senate
 in 1877. He had previously, however, served
 in many important positions in the Kansas 1 legislature, closing his local career there as