The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-02-02
Mr.. Myer. of Fond Dn Lac

Mr.. Myer, of Fond Du Lac. In
1891, more than sixteen years after
wards. Mr.. Myer came here and
took him to call on Mr.. Blaine.
When within about forty feet of
him he walked quickly forward and
without any hesitation, said: Mr..
C. L. j. Mver, how do You do?' !"
A gentleman in the party with
Senator SAWYER said: 81 was with
Mr.. Blaine when he visited Lancas-
ter, Ohio, during a campaign. Mr..
Blaine had lived there, and he got
a great reception. He remembered
all the residents. Finally some
one brought in a man whom they
said he would not remember. Mr..
Blame replied: eyes l do, give me
time" Pretty soon he remarked to
the man: 81 never saw you but
once" and then he told his story:
"When a bov there was great ex-
element one day because a convict
had escaped from the Columbus
penitentiary, and had been tracked
to that neighborhood. Police ar
rested him and Mr.. Blaine said he
was one of the crowd around. The
man was taken to the blacksmith
bhop and had letters rivlted on HIM
by the blacksmith. You Cunning
skhe many and l walked home to
Lancaster together after that"
THE PROGRESS OF HIS ILLNESS.
Mr.. Blaine's friends at least a
year ago noticed that there were
times when it seemed hard for him
to keep his interest fixed for long
periods at time. For this reason
there were several times delays in
securing his signature to documents
which it was necessary that he
should sign officially as Secretary
of State. Mr.. Blaine would begin
the perusal of the document, and
becoming quickly fatigued would
give up the effort to master their
contents. and thus sometimes several
weeks elapsed. Diplomats and
others who called on him noticed
this inability to steadily concen-
trate his mind on the subject at
hand. Those who were long in the
service and knew Mr.. Blaine when
he was fully himself, recognized
the change very clearly. The bust
ness of diplomacy had been defined
to putting off until Tomorrow"
but there was nothing of that char
acter about Mr.. Blaine's diplomacy.
When the iron was hot he did not
let it cool.
Diplomats who had conference
with him, he brought right to the
point Of the matter in hand and
frequently scored telling points in
his own favor by his keen incentive
way of reaching speedy conclusion
and then practically compelling the
diplomats accustomed to tax ing
long intervals for consideration and
state their own position. The
charge from this course to one of
tentativeness and DELAY was very
marked. AS has been said Mr..
Blame was conscious of his poor
state of health. A prominent Re-
publican who called on him about
a year ago In speaking of this said:
81 wrote Mr.. Blaine the latter part
of last January and asked HIM if
he was gong to be candidate for
the Presidency. He replied "No
sir; | cannot entertain it for one
moment. 1t would kill me sure,
and | know 1t, and | do not believe
| have friend on earth who would
ask me to be a candidate If he
knew the state of my health. lam
going to write letter on the sub
ject."
After Mr.. Blame had written his
letter announcing that he would
not be a candidate for the RepubIi-
can nomination, he was waited on
by his friends and urged to recon
slider his action. 1t was represented
to him, who was then i'll, that the
campaign would be made so easy
as to involve no physical exertion,
and that the result would be his
triumphant election. With air of
dependency the sick man replied
that he was satisfied that he could
not live through heated political
campaign, or that if he should, the
harrassment of a Presidential office
would surely terminate his life
within six months after he took his
seat. He intended, and this state
ment is significant IN view of sub
sequent events to resign his office
as Secretary of State in the early
summer; retire TO bis Maine home,
and spend his remaining days in
quiet literary work.
Long argument failed to shake
his determination at that time, and
his subsequent action in allowing
his name to come before the con-
oco,,Ial H.. l.