The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1901-09-21
soLlclTuDE FOR HIS WIFE | I;
WORDS Of COMFORT AND EN-.
coURAaEMENT LAST ACT OF
CONSCIOUSNESS.
PASSED AWAY PEACEFULLY I
END CAME WITHOUT 4 sTRuo'
GLE, As rHouett he HAD
FALLEN ASLEEP.


ley, 25th president Of the United
States, died at 2:l5 o'clock Saturday
morning from the effect Of an assas-
sins bullet. d
The death of President Mckinley
came in the small hours of the morn
ing, under circumstances Of peculiar
weirdness. For hours he had lain un.
conscious, with all hope of his survi'
val abandoned. AS early as 6 O'Clock
Friday night the doctors had pro
nounced him dying man, and soon
thereafter the rigors Of approaching
death began to creep upon him. The The
administration of powerful stimulants
was maintained until z o'clock, but
with no effect. It was seen that the
end was near at hand and those near
est and dearest to the stricken presi.
dent were summoned for the Offices OF
the last farewell. He came out of a
stupor about o'clock and while his
mind was partially clear there oc'
Cured the last endearments, the last
submission of the sufferer to the will
Of the Almighty, the last murmured
expressions from his dying lips and
the last goodbyes. In this interval OF
consciousness Mrs. Mckinley was
brought into the death chamber. The
president had asked to see her. She
came and sat beside him, held his
hand, and heard from him his last
words of encouragement and comfort.
Then she was led away and not again
during his living hours did she see
him.
Realized the End Was Near.
The president himself fully real
lied that his hour had come and his
mind turned to his Maker. He whis-
pered feebly, Nearer My God to
Thee" the words Of the hymn al
ways dear to- his heart. Then, In
faint accents, he murmured. Goodbye
all, goodbye. It is Gods way. His
will be done, not ours"
With this sublime display of Chris.
tian fortitude the president soon after
lapsed into unconsciousness.
The members of the cabinet, grief
stricken, were gathered in the large
drawingroom Of the Milburn house.
The time had come when they, too,
were to look, upon, the president for
the last time in life. They ascended
the stairway, noiselessly approaching
the threshold of the chamber where
the dying man lay, and gazed within.
Those who came first turned back ap-
palled and overwhelmed and did not
pass .within+the chamber. Secretary
Wilson remained below unwilling to
have imprinted on his memory the
picture Of his expiring chief. Secre-
stary Long, who arrived on a late train,
went at once to the chamber and
passed directly to the bedside of the
president, grasping the hand that was
already clammy with approaching
death.
Meantime the president had lapsed
into state of complete unconscious
ness and 1t was only question Of
hours, perhaps minutes, when the end
would come. BY 10 o'clock there was
no perceptible pulse. The extremities
had grown cold and the rigidity of
death was fast falling upon the suffer
er. The physicians who remained at
his side detected only the faintest
heartbeats. Some Of them, knowing
that all was over, departed, while 9th.
ers remained not because there was
any further need for their ministra-
tions, but because OF respect for the
expiring president. Midnight came
and still the tremendous vitality of
the president was battling against dis
solution. Another hour passed 90 AID
still another. ,
aar. Mo,<inisy's Last Moments.
at 2 o'clock DR.. Rixey was the only
physician in the death chamber. The
others were in an adjoining room.
while relatives, cabinet officers and
nearest friends were gathered in 81.
groups in the apartments below.
As he watched and. waited Dr. Rixey
observed q slight. convulsiEe tremor.
The president had entered the valley
OF the shadow of death. Word was at
once taken to the immediate rela.
tives, who were not present, to hasten
for the last look upon the president in
life. They came In groups. the women
weeping and the men bowed and sob
bing in their intense grief.
Grouped about the bedside at this
final moment were the only brother
of the president, Abner Mckinley, and
l1fa wife. Miss Helen Mckinley and