Evening star., 1897-04-03
In His Last Illness.

| CdIn6.
In His Last Illness.
What kind of man was Grant at home
during those last days?" I asked.
Gen. Grant was always the soul of SIM
plicity." replied Mr.. Dawson. You would
never imagine that he thought himself
great general or a noted man. doubt
whether he felt that he was so. There was
no self-assertiveness about him. He put
every one on. the same standing with him
self. and he never acted as though he
thought he was better than others He
was KIND TO every one. During his last
days he was in the greatest of pain but
he kept his agony as far as possible to nirn-
self. l remember during our dictation
looking up suddenly at times and finding
his face contorted with pain AS soon as
he saw that l was looking he would force
himself into composure and he would not
permit his family to know how he was feel
ing. He loved his family much as any
man have ever known, and they all loved
him. He was proud of his boys He liked
TO have his family about him. and it was
the greatest comfort of his last days that
they were with him. l have a photograph
which taken of Gen Grant and the
family at this time. Copies Of it were
made for the family, and when the general
gave me mine nearly all the family
present, and l had them all write their
autographs upon it. This was during the
very last days of Grants life. and others
seeing my photograph We're anxious that
SUOulu WT1te SlITllIar autOgraDnS for
them. He was too weak, however, to do
SO, and so l have the only autograph copy
IN existence.
How did General Grant work.,
His work was varied" replied Mr. Daw-
son. when first came he dictated quite
great deal and wrote somewhat on Slips
! cf paper which he gave to me to copy. AS
he grew weaker he had to do his dictation
early in the morning. 1t was at that time
! that he felt stronger. At the last he seldom
dictated more than an hour at a sitting.
This was enough to tire him out. AS the
days went on and death came nearer his
throat grew weaker and weaker. l had to
move closer and closer to him until at the
! last the dictation was given in a whisper
In my ear, and 1 had to listen intently to
make the shorthand notes of his conversa-
| ton. After the dictation he would rest a
whiley then from time to- time during the re-
mainder Of the day his daughter and
daughters-in-law would read to him the
different accounts of the battles about
which he proposed to write on the morrow
He did this to refresh his memory and to
fit him for the work"
Did he revise the manuscript of the
book?'
He hoped to be able to do so all along.
but concluded to wait until the book was
done. He longed for the time when IL
would be completed, and was so anxious
about 1t that told him one day that 1t was
ready for him. and that he could have 1t
the next day. 1t was not quite finished, but
l could see that 1T could be given to him
along from time to time fast enough to
make him think that 1t was so. My state
n-ent that the book was done delighted him,
and he called in Mrs. Grant and told her
that he had finished the book and that he
would have 1t all there the next day. But
v hen the morrow came he was not SO well.
He grew worse and the result was that the
notes OF the last volume were hardly re-
vised by him at all. l wrote them out and
Col. Fred. Grant and went over them before
they were published. The first volume the
general revised and also a part of the sec
ond."
Was Grant an easy writer?'
Yes, replied Mr.. Dawson. He thought
clearly and wrote easily He dictated well.
He could say what he thought in the sim
plest language and still round out his ideas
in complete form. His military orders were
SO worded you know, that no one could
misconstrue them
HIS Method of Work.
"Did General Grant have many letters
and private papers about him while he
was working at his book"
He had military papers, but no
private letters. He did not keep letters. 1t
was his custom to read his letters and then
direct me to say so and SO in reply not
fully debating the answer. After the let
tiers were answered they were burned. He
was very careless as to his private mat
ters 1t was different. however as to pub
lie papers. Everything coriIected with the
army was carefully kept. His orders will
be found 10 be perfect. and his clerical
force had to keep them just So
Did he have the satisfaction of seeing
any part of his book in print before he
died ?"
NO; he saw only the proof of the Cen
tury article He did not see the book him
self, nor did he realize what a wonderful
success 1t was to be. The manuscript was
copied entirely by hand before going to the
printer. Colonel Grant saved everything
general wrote was carefully preserved
Had he any idea of the enormous
amount of money it would bring to his fam
ily?"
Il think not. He saw before he died that
1t would net them fortune. but i don't
believe he ever supposed that II would pay
them more than $4,000 or 100000 al the
most.
Did Grant care much for money!
No. / don't think he did, replied Mr.
Dawson. He certainly did not, at the
expense of his conscience. / told you once
before, you may remember, how. during
our trip through Mexico. he refused an
offer of sl0O0.000 to accept the presidency
of a gold mining company, where his name
would be used to boom the stock Still he
admired money makers, and 1t is strange
how much he thought of good business
men. / really believe that during his lat
ter days he would have priced the reputa-
tlon OF having been good business man
higher than that of having been a great
soldier AS to money, he spent 1t very
freely. When he became President he re-
sarded the salary not personal mat
ter for him to save what he could of it,
but as money given to him to uphold the
dignity of the office He devoted his salary
to that end. and. upon figuring up at the
close OF his first term. found that he had
spent $4,000 more than he received. This
made him more cautious during his second
term. and ] believe when he left the White
House he found that he had saved a little
bit His trip around the world was made
by the Grant fund, collected by his friends
This amounted to something like 500, 600 or
more. This he used
Tell me, Mr. Dawson, did Mrs Grant
realize what great man Grant was before
he died? You know it is said that MANY
men are never great to their wives nor
their Wallets"
Mrs. Grants Appreciation.
"Yes. she did" replied Mr. Dawson II
believe the general was always a great
man to her. She told me once, for instance.
how during Lieutenant Grants courtship a
party Of officers were calling at her Mis-
souri, home very warm political discus
sion was going on among them, but General
Grant sat quietly and said nothing. When
the discussion could come to no conclusion
one of the men turned and appealed to
Lieutenant Grant for h{s opin{op ua .rax,o