Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-01-24
the British empire in their great af-
The First Time.

l ne First i ir1e.
The flag on the executive mansion
was placed half-mast this afternoon.
So far as any record goes this is the
first time in the history of this coun-
try that this mark of respect has
been paid to the memory of foreign
ruler.
President Receives News.
Washington, Jan. 22-The news an
nouncing the death of the queen was
conveyed to President Mckinley ST.
simultaneously with it's receipt by the
Altho he had been kept
constantly advised of her condition,
the news of her death was a great
shock to him. AS soon as word is re-
ceived from Ambassador Choate, the
president will send a message of con-
dolence to King Edward VII.
Her Last Illness.
The facts given place the illness of
the queen in a startling and pathetic
light. They show that her mind has
been failing for many months, even be-
fore her visit to Ireland She had been
mental wreck for months. When
ever it was officially announced that
she made felicitous responses to
speeches at public functions it is a
matter of cold fact that the poor old
queen was in such daze that all
she could say to her companions was:
Where am II"
Several times, when she has appear
ed in public during the past six or
eight months, she has fallen asleep.
Had it been anyone else but the
nI,n nf Er1uJanI il would howe hnnr,
plain long ago that the malady was
senile decay. And that truthfully is
what afflicted Victoria But for her
physical breaking up of the past week,
an attack of paralysis of the left sile,
lit would have been possible for the
court and the royal household to have
kept from the British people knowl-
edge of her mental decay for an in
definite period. For the queen had
lapses of intellectual vigor, but they
were more distressing to her than her
periods of mental density.
War Haunted Her.
When her brain was clear she i'm
mediately reverted to the horrors of
the war in South Africa. Again and
again she talked of the war. This
war, which she strove with all her
power to avert, made the last hours
of England's Queen, which reigned
happily longer than most men live,
most wretched and miserable. In her
lucid intervals it haunted her inces-
sanity.
Decay Began in November.
The Queens strong constitution
manifested the first symptoms of Sc
rious decay during the stay at the
court at Windsor in November and
December of 1899, when evil tidings
of the South African war, which be
gan the previous October, began tc
arrive in rapid succession. The Queen
did not look for any serious disaster
to her army. She expected nothing
but a series of quick, easy victories
Instead, disaster followed disaster ev
cry few days.
The Public Hoodwinked.
The public, however, was hoodwink
ed by the accounts of Her Majecty's
doings and utterances given to the
newspapers by her household. Unus
ual care was taken to have her alleg
/ ed replies to addresses and other evi
dences of mental activity set before
the public. In reality the ueen lived
as in a dream. For instance, she is re
ported to have made an animated re
ply to an address presented to her al
the Mount Anvil convent in Dublin
whereas all she said was the dazed in
4 quiry: where am II" This hap
/ pened not once, but several times
When she went to Balmoral, hel
Highland home, her spirits revived un
der the influence of General Roberts
brilliant achievements in the Soutl
African war, but the improvement wa:
short. 1t had always been source O.
wonder to her physicians that will
her great appetite and physique she
had escaped an apoplectic stroke, bu
about this time there was a falling
away of her left side, accompanied b,
a loss of power in her left arm ant
Eleft leg These symptoms caused ap
| prehension of approaching paralysis
SO alarming was her condition tina
the royal family abandoned all ide;
of making trip to the continent
which it had been hoped would reviv,
the queen mentally and physically.
Specialists Summoned.
1t was after the Roberts interview
that the queen, accompanied by tn,
Duchess of Edinburg, went for tn,
drive already mentioned. Two week
before the public knew it Sir Franci
Laking had been assisting Sir Jane
Reid at Osborne On Thursday las
Sir Douglas Powell, the famous hear
and lung specialist, was summoned t
Osborne because of two attacks o
: heart failure from which the queel
, suffered on Wednesday night.
Condition Grave.
At that time the queens condition
| had assumed the gravest complexion
but the Prince of Wales, in order t
: prevent public alarm or suspicion, al
, tended dinner given to Lord Rol
erts and subsequently appeared at tn
theatre on Thursday night On Thurs
day the queen had a stroke of paraly
sis. Since then she has been in
comatose condition.
Never Rose Again.
The queen drove about in her do,
key chaise within the grounds of O.
, borne house for the last time on Tue.
day. The Duchess of Edinburg, G
SaXe-Corburg-G otha, was her compai
ion. On her return to the castle til
, queen was asleep. In that conditio