Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-12-21
DEATH OF Mr.. PLUMB
The Kansas Senator Stricken
With Apoplexy.
EMBA1MED SHORTLY AFTER,
This Action Now Severely Blamed by
Many of His Colleagues.

the Senator Might be In q Trance, as
lie Had Had Cataleptic Fits Before
The Funeral Arrangements-specul
ton as to the succession-Sketcho of the
Dead statssman's Life.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.-At 10 o'clock
this morning the body of Senator
Preston B. Plumb, who died of apoplexy
yesterday shortly before noon, was
taken from his apartments, under escort
of the Capitol police, to the Marble
Room of the Senate.
Shortly before 2 o'c ock the body will
be removed to the Senate Cham Der,
where the funeral services will be con-
Quoted by Rev. J. G. Butler, Chaplain
of the Senate. At 2:30 the body will be
taken to the Baltimore & Potomac Rail
road depot, accompanied by the Con-
gressional committee, the President,
the Cabinet, the Chief Justice and just
ices of the Supreme Court, members of
the House, members of the Diplomatic
Corps, and the friends of the late Sena-
tor invited to the Senate gallery.
The body, accompanied by the Con-
gressional Committee, will be taken by
the Pennsylvania and Atchison, Topeka
G. Santa Fe Railroads to Emporia, Kan
sas. The car in which the remains will
be conveyed will be attached to the
columbian Express which leaves
Washington at $3.50 and will reach En-
poria on the evening of the 23d, where
the interment will take place at O. clock
on the gath.
Mr. Plumb had been ailing more or less
ever since the close of his herculean la
bors in the last campaign in this State,
which resulted so satisfactorily to him
self and his party. He was at all times
an indefatigable worker, but in this
campaign he outdid himself. On his
return to WashingtonIhe attempted to
throw into his Senatorial duties his &C
customed ardor, but complained that he
could tot concentrate his faculties with
his accustomed readiness. He felt dazed
and uncertain both mentally and ply
sically.
The eminent medical man he consult
ed told him frankly that unless he
gave himself long rest and exer cised
the greatest care, softening of the brain
might result. With this warning
ringing in his ears, he returned to
Washington with the intention that af =
ter the Senate adjourned for the holi
days he would return to Philadelphia
and put himself under the care of DR..
! Pepper for prolonged course OF treat
ment.
About 2 o'clock yesterday morning he
rroused his landlord, Mr.. jennings say
| ing he felt really ill, and asked him to
send for doctor. DIR. Philip S. Wales,
ex-Surgeon-G General of the Navy, was
summoned and remained in charge of
the case until the end. Hypodermic in
iections were administered and about Z
| O'Clock in the mornin g the Senator be-
| came unconscious and continued in q
| ate of coma with scarcely any inter-
| mission until his death.
Several colleagues of Senator Plumb
are saying a great deal about the hur-
| ried way in which Mr.. Plumb's body
was placed in the hands of the under
| taker.
Al the order of Sergeant-at-Arms
| Valentine of the Senate an undertaken
| was summoned half an hour after the
Senator's death was announced. With
in half an hour the body was embalmed.
1t raises a doubt in the minds of many
as to whether the Senator was really
| dead at the time he was embalmed.
The work had hardly been completed
when a dispatch from Mrs. Plumb was
received saying not to embalm her hus-
bands body. Inside of another half
hour another dispatch was received from
Mrs Plumb, stating that year ago
her husband hadi an attack, during
which animation was suspended, and
for nearly an hour he was believed to be
|
ion that it might only be another case
of suspended animation. Some Of his
colleagues express doubt about his hav-
ing been dead when embalmed.
Preston B. Plumb was born in Ohio
and was "a years of age. Before he be-
came a lawyer and banker he worked
at the case as a practical printer. He
moved to Kansas in 1855, and partici-
pated in much Of the early exciting his
tory of that State. Unlike most Soma
tors, he did not undergo a previous ap-
premiership in the lower House of
Congress, but came straight to the Sen :
ate in 1877. He had previously, how
ever, held many important positions in
the Kansas Legislature, closing his
career there as Speaker. During the
war he fought his way up from a sec
ond -lieuuenancy to the lieutenant
colonelship of the 18th Ka nsas Infantry.
The Senator leaves two unmarried
! daughters, who are now living will
. their widowed mother at their lat
l home in Emporia, Kansas; son, 2;
v years of age, now under treatment fol-
n his eysight in Philadelphia, and a boy
of II and girl of IA at school in Penn
sylvania.
Senator Plumb had served fourteen
years in the Senate, and two years ag
was reelected for a term which would
have expired in 1895. He was one of tn
best known men in Congress bis tai
athletic form, his swinging Western
gait, his breezy method OF speaking
= and his rugged Independence and orig
inal:ty of thought and action, mad
him a notable man in the Senate, ant
he was a power on all questions T.
which he gave his mind. He was al
Omnivorous reader and an untirinl
worker. In the few days that the pres
emit Congress has been in session he hat
submitted more than thirty bills of
more or less public character, embrac
ing almost everything of interest to hi
constituents from free silver coinag
: upwards and down.
A reporter asked Senator PETER thi
morning what would be the probable
!. course as to filling the vacancy created
by Mr. Plumb's untimely death
3 whethe it would be filled by the sam
!. Legislature which elected him. MI
l. PETER replied that the term of the ex
listing Legislature had expired, but tina
L g.. I1N| %hAs~ nr~S