, 1901-09-21
IN SOCIAL CIRCLES
THE WOMEN OF LARAMIE MOURN
FOR THE MURDERED
PRESIDENT.
While They Refuse to Be Comforted,
Nevertheless They Are Loyal to
President Roosevelt, Having Full
Confidence In the Mar and His
Methods-Heroic Words to a Lar
annie Mother.

WHICH, lie ueWo VI Tile ShootllS "
President Mckinley reached Laramie,
such a cry of grief and Indignation
went up from the souls of her women
as can never be forgotten by n who
heard it. Aged mothers with stream
ing eyes n t1atering lips ~rehearsed
to interested listeners the agonies of
the last INT greatest sacrifice of the
horrors of civil al Younger women
lived over again in memory the sorrow
and suspense OF those long summer
days, when the brave Garfield fought
for life, alas! in vain. When William
Mckinley died, there came to most of
us a sense of distinct personal loss. 1t
has been truly said, one clasp of the
great mans band was enough to con-
! vert an enemy into a friend. Many of
us, already his friends and ardent ad-
mirers, were privileged last May to
feel the magic of his personality, and
shake his hand. To these the gracious
- VI IL PiN1'iSNf IN
of his manners, and the tenderness
and strength of the touch of his fin
gers will remain a treasured memory
while life shall last. Some one once
asked Mr.. Mckinley if he did not feel
it too much of a strain to meet the
people in this way. The face of the
great man lighted up as he said:
Eyes, l do get tired; it is w%earying
in a physical sense, but | love it. |
want to look every one of them in the
| eye and feel that l am theirs and they
are mine" What manner Of man can
this be like who could go into the pres
eEce of such a character, under such
circumstances, and deliberately shoot
Il Czolgosz had remaining a single
spark of manhood, what were his feel
ings when he heard his victims falter-
irg voice raised in his defense?
do not hurt him." May the words
always ring in the ears of that fiend
i%ncarnate.
And she, so frail last May hat our
voices were mute in the presence of
the idolized president-she is left to
walk alone the path of life in all her
weakness, while he, the strong man,
her very life and dependence, has been
laid away out of her sight. The de-
votion he gave her has become histori-
| cal, vet many a woman in Laramie is
happy in being loved as well. Only a
great man can love like that, but ordi-
nary men are made truly great when
an unselfish devotion to one woman
takes possession of their minds and
souls. Such love is her twice blessed,
to him who gives, M she who takes,
and out of such unions grow the true
American homes upon which securely
rest this nations present and it's fu-
ture greatness. AS came sin into the
worry by Eve, SO came greater saliva
ton by Mary. If ome of the Gold
man stamp are teaching error, so
much the more faithfully must the
mother at these firesides inculcate the
virtues of truth and loyalty and purity.
Perhaps McKinley's greatest trait in
the eyes of Laramie women was his
moral purity. Too often men brilliant
and admirable in other ways fall be-
low the pure woman's standard and at
this point. We may admire such men,
even excuse and forgive them, but we
never forget.
There is n rift in the appalling
cloud of darkness which overhangs us.
If President Mckinley had lived, he
might have made mistakes, or perhaps
been misunderstood by those who love
him. Taken as he was at the Geiy
apex of his career, with that last wen
derful address indelibly impressed Up
on the minds and hearts of Americans,
his character and career will always
| stand among the grandest n great
est of earth, and the sublimity of his
death will remain IS a priceless heri.
tage in all the coming ages.
900
To Theodore Roosevelt, then, good
man and true, the women OF the Gem
City turn with grieving but loyal
hearts. He belongs to a different
type, It's true, from the calm, conser'
vative Mckinley, but is just as admir-.
able and worthy of commentator. In
him seems exemplified the spirit OF
true Americanism, that force and pow
er which has conquered a continent
while W. are yet young, wrestling the
treasures from its rugged hillsides and
subduing its arid plains. Columbia
| glories in her sons of the Roosevelt
type, and they have always been the
idols Of their c%ountrymen. All that
they ask of him in this grave emery
ency is to be true to himself, refusing
always to dabble in the foulness Of pc
litical intrigues. Let him hold himself
aloof from machines and cliQues, and
the army of American voters will not
forget San Juan.
Theodore Roosevelt wrote under date
Of August 9th to a.Laramie woman
in part, as follows:
Personally, I think that the mother
of a family Of healthy, right-minded
children, stands head and shoulders
above every other citizen. man or wo
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