The National tribune., 1901-02-14
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DEATH OF A PAST COMMANDER-IN-
CHIEE

The veterans and the people of Wash
ington were inexpressibly startled last
Sunday morning by the announcement
that Past Commander-in-C Chief and Rep.
resentative Albert ID. Shaw, of New York,
had been found dead in his room at the
Riggs House. Comrade Shaw had appar-
emily been in the best of health ever since
he came on to take his seat at the open
ing of Congress. Recently he had been
deeply interested in the Court of Pension
Appeals Bill, which had been prepared
and presented under his administration,
and as a member of the House Commit
tee on Invalid Pensions he had done he
roic work for it. The Chairman of the
Committee, Mr.. Sulloway, was opposed to
the bill, and none-too-nice in his methods
of opposition, and Comrade Shaw had
struggled with him at every step. Satur-
day evening he was one of the guests of
the Department of the Potomac at the
banquet given at the Ebbitt House to
Commander-in-C Chief Rassieur, and ap-
peared in excellent health and spirits.
Many comrades thought the speech he
made was the very best they had ever
heard from him. He went to his hotel
about midnight, and shortly after rang
for a bell-boy, and asked for hot water,
complaining of indigestion. His secre
tary had an appointment with him for 10
o'clock Sunday morning, but was sur
prised not to find him up. A bell-boy was
the transom, and discovered the sad fact
A physician and the Coroner were sum-
moned. The physician decided that the
death was due to apOplexy, and had come
suddenly and painlesSly. Speaker Hen
derson was notified, and he directed the
Sergeant-at-Arms TO take charge of the
remains. Commander-in-Chief Rassieur
directed a detail of G. A. Il. comrades to
accompany them to New York.
A. d. Shaw was born in Jefferson Co..
N Y, 50 years ago last December, and
in June, 1861, enlisted in the Both n. Y,
Il two-years regiment, in which he served
his full term, and was then connected with
the army in various capacities until the
close of the war. He was elected to the
New York Senate shortly after the close
of the war, and was also Colonel of the
Both n. Y. n. G. He resigned to become
Consul to Toronto, and was subsequently,
for efficiency, promoted to the important
Consulship Of Manchester England, and
remained there until removed by Cleve-
land, as an offensive partisan. He re-
turned to his home in Watertown. n. Y,
and was elected Commander of the De-
partment OF New York, G. a. r., and at
the Philadelphia National Encampment
was elected Commander-in-Ch Chief. After
his retirement from this Office he was
elected Representative from the oath Dis
trict of New York-Jefferson, Lewis and
0swego Counties-by the largest Republi-
can vote ever cast for a candidate. He
was serving out the unexpired term of
Representative Chickering, who was
found dead in a New York hotel Feb. 13
OF last year. The full term for which
he was elected would have begun March
>. His dearly-beloved wife died Feb. 9,
1900, or within a few hours of year be-
fore. Comrade Shaw was a warm-heart-
ed, jealous comrade, cultivated, genial
man, of imposing personal appearance,
and very eloquent, forceful speaker.