The National tribune., 1901-09-26
CHAT OF THE CORRIDORS.

i The Presidents has surprised everybody
by his selection Of a church home in Wash
ington. Probably % out of every 100
people in the city shave never seen it, or
noticed it if they have seen it. 1t is less
than 1000 feet ofwhere 1 live, have lived
for Is years, and yet l cannot recall hay-
ing seen body going in or coming out,
or the least obtrusion of itself upon any
body's notice. l have always thought it
some unpretending httle mission, which was
doing its good work in the quietest manner
possible, and havenever taken the trouble
to think what denomination it belonged to.
| Now it appears to be called the Grace
Reformed Church." and it is situated at
the corner of Fifteenth and 0 streets. and
is small frame building, with a seating
capacity of about 600
/ Last March, when Col. Roosevelt was
here to attend the Inauguration ser
vices, he took pew at this church. and
during his short stay in Washington he
Il The pew is No. Z, at the left-hand side
of the center aisle. The pastor is Rev.
John NJ. Schck.
The Grace Reformed Church was es-
tablished in 1877, and has small congre-
cation, none of whom figures in the smart
set. Like the pastor, they are people
mostly of Dutch birth or extraction.
President Roosevelt has informed Mrs.
| Mckinley, through Secretary Cortelyou,
! that, in pursuance of the wishes of the
late President Mckinley, and in recogni
ton of devoted services, as well as because
of eminent fitness, Medical Inspector p.
NJ. RiXey will be appointed Surgeon-Gen-
eral of the Navy upon the expiration of
the term of Surgeon General Van Reypen.
The Secretary of the Navy has been re
quested by the President to instruct DIR.
| RiXey to make such arrangements as will
enable him to continue, if needed, his care
for Mrs. Mckinley between now and the
time of his appointment to his new posi-
ton. DIR. Presley Marion Rixey, who was
President Mckinley's physician, as well
as travelling companion and personal
| friend was born in Culpeper, Va, July
IA, 1852, and is a brother of Representa-
tive John f. Rixey, of that district. DR..
| Rixey graduated in medicine from the
| University of Virginia in 1878, and in the
following year was commissioned an AS
sistant Surgeon in the navy. He has been
in the navy over q years. He served on
various vessels of the navy, and did shore
| duty up to his assignment to Washington
in 1896, since which time he has been
located here. During three years of that
time he has been President McKinley's
! physician. He attended the President in
| u serious case of the grip last January,
and was with Mrs. Mckinley during her
nearly fatal illness in San Francisco in
May last. The Mckinley household al
ways had the greatest confidence in him,
and in the medical profession he is rated
high. He likewise stands high in surgery,
and in this city has done some unusually
fine work with the surgeons knife.
Capt. Ira B. Gardner and wife, of Pat
ten, Me-, were in the city last week, re-
| turning from visit to Winchester and
the battlefields around that war-swept
town. Capt. Gardner commanded Co. /,
18th Me-, and lost his arm at the battle
of the Opequan. He was taken back to
a field hospital, and finally to a private
| house, which had been converted into q
hospital. There his arm was amputated,
and he lay on thei floor in the hall all
night. The lady of the house was very
kind to him and repeatedly came to him
during the night to give him drink of
water and feel his pulse. Last Thursday,
Sept. 19-the 3Tth anniversary of the bat
tle-Capt. Gardner, with his wife, stood
| upon the battlefield for the first time since
the eyentfu day when Sheridan sent
Early whirling up the valley" He found
the same lady who had cared for him
still living i'll The house whittier he was
taken. She is now 81 years old. Her
home was virtually ruined by the battle.
! Her curtains, bedding, and clothing were
/ all taken LOT BdnUHetS ana uTpSSiiiSS. ENHe
| pointed out to the Captain the place where
he lazy. and where his blood still stained
the hardwood floor, in spite of 81 years
of rubbing and scrubbinG. Her husband
buried the arm in her garden. 1t was
an intensely interesting visit for the Cap
tain and his wife. Capt. Gardner is a
merchant and lumberman in Patten.
|
The funeral of President Mckinley in
| Washington was pageant of exceedingly
solemn grandeur. Everybody i'll the city
was as much n part Of it as the sad pro-
cession which moved along the sables-
hung avenue, for everybody mourned with
his neighbor. Not a face anywhere but
expressed grief that filled the heart to
ovcrfiowing.
The gathering in the rotunda of the
| Capitol, whittier the remains We're con-
| veyed to lie in state for { few hours, prior
| to being started for Canton, o., had al
| most as many notablcs us that at the
Inauguration last March. Very many OF
| the Supreme justices Senators and Rep
resentatiycs were present, the Diplomatic
| Corps was out in full force and its usual
astonishing array of brilliant uniforms,
and the army and navy officers numbered
hundreds.
| But what impressed me most was the
| beautiful Methodist simplicity of the serv-
| ice \ man sat ut little melodeon or
| cottage organ, such as one sees in the
country churches. or the Sunday school
rooms of the finer editices, and played
well, but simply and tOuchingly. A very
sweet soprano sang, purely, feelingly,
without any musical furbe.ows whatever,
| Lead, Kindly Light" ut the beginning.
Sometime We Shall Understand after
the prayer, and Nearer, My God, to
Thee mt the close. A very good choir
assisted her. The prayer and the sermon
were both plain, straightforward, Meth
Episcopal" striking straight at the
| heart and understanding and entirely free
from any fripperies of rhetoric or elocu-
| ton.
l watched the set. expressionless faces
OF the French, Italian. Spanish, Portu-
| guese, Chinese and Japanese diplomats,
and wondered how this forceful simplicity
and eloquent plainness impressed them,
but they gave no sign.
/ happened to be directly in front of ex-
| President Cleveland. and thought | had
never seen him looking so well. His com
| plexion was clear, his eyes and move
ments alert, and he seemed in better CON
dition every way than when in the White
| House.
Auditor Rfttman
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: | wish to
add few words of my own to the com
plimcntary notices Of the Hon. Au-