Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-05-31
Death Of an Eminent Nav


Inc death OF Walter O. GRESHAM
the leading member of pr,.i.,.,,
'I'v"lan1'- oahinet was shock To the
'on'nNnHA. although his health ina.
not been 81 the best for some finn.
past 1t was stated several months
ago tAat he would probably he com
l"li"o 10 retire from public life, on ac-
connt of iAiling health. but this re.
i"rt was vigorously denied hv hi.
trends and 10y apparent sanction OF
HI, family.
The death occurred at IL Tuesday
morning. y premonition Of this re-
silt "as given the previous evening.
a. 30 when he began sinking 50
rapidly that all hope of recovery WAS
abandoned. At $50 O'Clock he was
conNnlsed hy severe chill. He sank
fast, but the chill passed away and
he revived slightly, under hypodermic
injections made by his physicians.
At 10 20 he suffered another ricor.
but half an hour latter he became
conscious and talked nationally. At
ii his Vitality began to ebb, and at T.
he had ceased talking and the doctors
retired tor consultation. For the last
hour the Secretary gave no indications
OF pulse or heartbeat. Mrs. Gresham
sat by his side with her hands clasped
in his, and his daughter held his head
IN her hands. When death came.
they and his son-in.law, Andrews, were
the only ones in his room.
Mr.. Gresham as a lawyer, Judge and
soldier has left a good record, and it
would have been better far had he left
his fame to the lines made before he
accepted the portfolio Of State. AS
statesman he has been a conspicuous
failure, and this will detract from the
honorable record made when the i'm
partial historian writes the chapter of
his life-history.
Mr.. Greshman filled the office Of
Postmaster General under President
Arthur very satisfactorily, but it was
position that called for little more
than a review Of clerical duty. His
course as U. S. Circuit Judge was &C
ceptible, for it indicated that he was
not biased by corporate influences.
His bolt OF Harrison's nomination
for the Presidency in 1880, brought
him into i'll repute with his party. 1t
was more the result OF personal feel
ing than adherence to any difference
OF opinion in party matters. Harri.
son had defeated him for the Indiana
Senatorship, and the preference of his
successful rival for the nomination on
the Presidential ticket. impelled him
to support of Mr.. Harrison's oppo-
nent in 1892. AS a reward for this
service, doubtless, Mr.. Cleveland
placed him at the head of his cabinet.
Here his policy has been wholly want
ing in that decision, judgment and
firmness, which is q requisite for the
premier of great government.
Mr.. Gresham was born in Harrison
county, Indiana, March II, 1888. He
attended the State University at
Bloomington, in his native State, but
did not graduate. Studied law and
was admitted to the bar in 1855, and
engaged in practice at Coryden, Indi-
ana. At the beginning of the war, in
1861, he entered the Union army as
Lieutenant-Colonel. He was soon
afterwards promoted to a Colonelcy
and was made Brigadier- General after
the fall OF Vicksburg. He was wound.
ed in July, 1864, while in command of
a division before Atlanta, and was
breveted a Major.General from that
date. In 1869 he was appointed U. S.
District Judge for the district of Indi-
ans, serving in that capacity till 1883,
when he received the appointment OF
Postmaster General from President
Arthur, and in 1884, was appointed by
him U. S. Circuit Judge for the Sew
enth Judicial Circuit.
The remains of the dead Secretary
were removed to the White House
Wednesday, and were placed in the
East room, where funeral services
were conducted At 10 A. NJ, by Bishop
Hurst, OF the NJ. E. Church. At P.
N. the body was placed on a special
train for Chicago, the President and
cabinet accompanying it to its last
resting place.
SOME of the Republican papers try
to make a point against "Coin's"
statement that the current value OF
silver will equal that of commodities,
by citing the rise in the price of wheat,
which has not been attended with that
result. They fail to admit, however,
that the present appreciation in the
price of the cereal is owing to a "cor-
ner," and is not the result OF healthy
trade conditions. 1t is by the same
combination that the value of gold
has been made to double the ratio
formerly accorded to silver, after the
latter metal was deprived Of the legis-
lation which made it the unit Of value
up to 1873. It was to enable the gold
bugs to do just what the wheat specu-
lators are now doing, that the law was
secretly changed.
A TRIUMPH FOR LEwIs-Col. J.
Hamilton Lewis, at Seattle, last Tues
day, quashed the entire panel of jur-
ors, by motion in Judge .Humes'
court, in the case of State vs.. Paul E.
Page, charged with murder. He ar
gued that the existing law, passed by
the late Legislature wholly repealed
the previous law, and that when the
old law went out of existence, all
juries drawn under its provisions also
went out of existence. The motion,