The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-11-05

The devotion Of father and sons to her was
most affecting. I don't think ] ever saw her
enter a room that all three did not spring up
to offer her n chair; to arrange her footstool;
to caress and pet her.
Before the close of the Tyler admin
istration occurred a terrible tragedy ia
which the White House bore part. A
big gun on the warship Princeton ex-
ploded while a party of dignitaries were
being entertained on board by Commo-
dore Stockton, and Secretaries Upshur
and Gilmer, of the Tyler cabinet. and
Mr.. Gardner, of New York, were in
stantly killed, along with three or four
sailors. In a somewhat romantic way
President Tyler escaped their fate. He
was then much in love with Mr.. Gard
ner's daughter, and was with others lis
tening to the young lady sing in the
cabin. The president had just started
to join his cabinet ministers on deck
when Miss Gardner began another song,
whereupon Tyler returned to her side.
At that moment the explosion occurred.
The two cabinet ministers and Mr..
Gardner were buried from the East
room, and five months later Miss Gard
ner became Mrs. Tyler and mistress of
the White House.
In 1850 President Taylor died in the
White House. Of all the deaths in the
mansion this was one of the saddest,
viewed from the standpoint Of the be-
reaved partner. Mrs. Taylor had de-
plored her husbands nomination for the
presidency. She had followed General
Taylor through all his wars, sharing his
tent and his privations, and during the
remainder of her life she wanted him to
herself. His nomination she denounced
as ssa plot to deprive me of his society;
to shorten his life by unnecessary care
and responsibility. Her words proved
prophetic, for he sacrificed his life in the
dedication of the Washington monu-
ment. The weather was extremely hot,
and the president drank large quantities
of ice water and partook freely of fruit,
bringing on the fatal illness. On his
death Mrs. Taylor became inseisible,
and the agonized cries of the family
were heard out on Pennsylvania avenue.
Mrs. Taylor's heart was broken, and
she survived her husband only two
wears. She never mentioned the White
House except in its relation to his death.
After he became president General Tay-
lor said his wife had prayed every day
for two months that Henry Clay might
be elected instead of himself.
In May, 1861, Colonel Ellsworth, one
of the first victims of the war, was bur-
led from the East room, the simple but
impressive military service doing more
than any battle to fire the northern
heart.
Willie Lincoln, second son of the pres
ident, died in the White House in 1869.
Mr.. Lincoln said this blow was the sad
dest of his life; the most difficult to
bear. The guests room, in which he
died, Mrs. Lincoln never entered again.
President Lincoln did not die in the
White House, but his body lay in state
in the East room, and there women scat
tered flowers upon his breast, rugged
soldiers bent down to kiss his face, and
great crowds of people-rich and poor,
black and white-came to weep.
Mrs. Grants father, Frederick Dent,
died in the White House in 1878. To
the same room in which Mrs. Harrison
died General Carried was tenderly car
ried, and there he lay and suffered for
several weeks. During the Arthur adj
ministration, and while New Years
reception was being held at the White
House, Elisha Allen, minister from Ha
wall, fell fatally stricken within few
feet of the president and his gay party,
thus bringing the reception to sudden
end.
These are the notable tragedies of the
White House. How many other TRACE
dies of life and death, death warrants
signed and pardons refused, hearts
broken and lives ruined, have occurred
within it's wallss
WALTER WELLMAN.