The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-10-05

/ tically safe. thanks to police system
j not easily evaded by crank or criminal
and the cunning assassin waits for /;
better chance that will surely arrive
i somewhere. else. No harm has eve1
/ come to any of our chief magistrate e.
IN or about the executive mansion. Lin
1 coin was murdered at the. theater; Gar.
/ held received his fatal wound at a. rail
road station, and Mckinley was attack
/ ed at a reception in distant city. The
chosen weapon seems invariably to be
the bullet.
Mr. Mckinley though doubtless realiz
ing that, like all other potentates anG
monarchs, lie was more or less liable tt
| assassination. never had the slightest
/ fear of such a fate. During all the
! hurry and excitement of the war witt
spain, when ernissaries Of the enemy
We're supposed to be thick in Washing
l ton, ne used to go out walking, on Penn
sylvana avenue quite frequently Seem
/ lngly he had the feeling that. is common
1 among old soldiers, to the effect that hi
WoSld not die until the. appointed hour
arrived, ard that there was no use try
ing to dodge bullet, if he was destined
to be fired at. sZ -. I,.-.
! Apart from this quasi-fatalistic idea
| Mr.. Mckinley never worried about any.
| thing. All his life he had cultivated &
! tranquility Of mind which was one OF
his most remarkable traits He sneve,
permitted himself to be annoyed, hurried
or excited. When he was shot in Buff
falo the. other day, according to the ties.
] umony OF observers, he was decidedly
the coolest person present, and even re-
FUSED TO believe that he was seriously
| wounded: 80 III .s>j E. ,. - i :,
| His immediate predecessor, Mr. Cleve-
land, was, on the other hand, very much
afraid of assassination always. He ncv-
er walked abroad, and when he went
! driving he was invariably accompanied
| by guards. Usually couple Of dntec-
| tives followed at short distance IN a
second carriage, while a mounted police
| man rode close to his own vehicle. When
he came to Washington for his second
7 inauguration he was fairly surrounded
| Dy pla1n-clothes men, and at the White
| house extraordinary precautions were
taken for his personal safety. This tim
| zdlty seemed to grow upon him, and was
| much more marked during his second
! term than in his first administration
At the White house a perpetual watch
! is kept for cranks, who seem to make
! that establishment their Mecca when
they come to Washington. Many OF
them have unsatis1ied claims against the
government, or other grievances real or
imaginary, and are likely to be danger
| Gus. One of the tribe created quite a
| scare during Mr.. Cleveland's second ad-
m1nistration, but probably he meant no
| harm. Even the grounds of the execu-
| tive mansion arc covered by a network
J OF wires, with electric buttons in all
sorts Of odd places, and any alarm will
! bring a dozen policemen together inside
| of half a minute. 49,
| AS already stated, it is away from
home that the president is in danger.
! NotWit outstanding all precautions that car
fshe taken he must FREQ uentIy be exposed
! to attack by a deadly weapon Every
| minute while he is on journey, or when
| he is the guest at a banquet in a distant
|, city, or when he is shaking hands with
the multitude at a reception, he is anx-
iously watched, though usually without
! being conscious Of the fact by detectives
Of the secret service, who are ready at
any moment to seize anybody who may
show the slightest signs of hostile in
tention. But, unfortunately, pistol is
easily concealed and strikes instantane-
Ously. ..
On that fatal morning when James A.
Garfield went to his death he was en-
joying the very fullness OF life and
health. How could he know that a hui
man fiend with a pistol in his pocket
was lurking about, waiting for him, in
| the .neighborhood of the Pennsylvania
railroad station, a few blocks from the
White house? It was beautiful day
and the president was going to the sea-
shore with his two boys, Harry and
James, to see Mrs Garfield, who was
Just recovering at Eiberon from - sseri-
GUS illness. Little Mollie. the daughter,
whe was then only twelve years old,
was with her. mother. - RI
Stanley Brown, the presidents secre-
tary, and Col. Rockwell, Of the army,
came to breakfast, which was a particu-
larly jolly NEAL. Mr.. Garfield told sew
eral funny stories and was in the hap
piest of 1humors. After breakfast he
saw the boys turning handsprings on the
bed in their room, and he himself turned
one in like fashion, saying that he was
quite as. nimble as any boy in the world.
'Hurrah for papa!' cried the young
sters. Then they went down to the porti-
co of the White house and the president
entered an open carriage with Mr. Blaine,
the boys following in a second vehicle.
They drove to the Pennsylvania station,
through the waiting room when Guiteau
stepped from behind the open door and
shot point blank at his back. The as
sassin was nervous, and the bullet did
not strike its mark. What became Of it
nobody ever knew. Strange to say Mr..
Garfield took no notice Of the shot,
though It made a loud explosion in so
small a space, and then the assassin, TAX
ing careful aim. fired a second time. I'M
mediately the president dropped the
handbag that he was carrying, and, stag
gering for a moment, fell upon the floor,
while Mr., Blair. calling for help. ran
to his assistance. .l
Meanwhile, taking advantage Of the
confusion, Guiteau turned and ran out
Of the door through which the president
had entered. A cab which he had hired
previously, was waiting for him, but just
at that moment a stalwart policeman
came along and grabbed the murderer
The latter was promptly escorted to po-
lice headquarters, close by, and was
locked up before a mob could gather. He
was extremely cool, refused to say any
| thing as to the motive of his act, and ac.
cused the district attorney, Col Corkhill,
of designing to hand him over to the peo-
| pie for slaughter. Presently, however, a
van arrived with half a. dozen mounted
policemen, and the miscreant was walked
through the crowd and driven away. to
:ail. If the mob had had leader he
would have been lynched undoubtedly.
As it was, the jail had to be guarded
/ afterward by battalion of artillery and
another battalion of marines to prevent
/ violence @5
Guiteau had trial that was notably
i fair under the circumstances, and was
hanged by due process of law June 30
1882. His brain is now preserved In the
i Army Medical Museum at Washington in
/ q glass jar. Experts who examined II
/ found that it was diseased, but It would
/ be another matter to assume that the
4 assassin Was so far demented as to be
not responsible for his actions. That he
Knight have become insane later is not
unlikely, but the chief trouble that az
ficted him mentally seemed TO be q
morbid desire for notoriety. Like the
man who fired the Ephesian dome Gui
teau wished to attract the admiring at
tentiOn of the world, and this was the
4 quickest wsy to do It. 81 8 SIS SIS
DR.. Robert Reyburn. one Of Mr.. Gar.
fields physicians says: .ton my arriva
II at the depot j sl1a sterled I'm stairs am