The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-17
The Crisis G)M Come 5onight."

HSSo AoQ O06H given. thousands had
already arrived and other thousands had
| started when the belief was general that
| Mckinley would recover. An attendance
was expected ranging from one hundred
| to one hundred and fifty thousand Not
| withstanding this there was not the
| slightest hesitation on the part of the
| exposition managers as to the proprieties
| and the order for the closing, already
| described, was decided upon some hours
| before the presidents death actually oc-
| CURED. While the calamity was nation
| al and common to all, the exposition
! management and the citizens as well.
| treated 1t more as a personal bereave-
| ment. Public and business buildings
! were promptly decorated with habili-
ments of mourning and but little lnsi
| ness other than that which pertained TO
| the necessities of life, was transacted
only one thought seemed uppermost, ana
that was to atone by sincere sorrow tor
| the foul crime which had been committed
| in their midst
| A RETROSPECT.
| Amidst all this my mind revert ID to
| that darkest day in American history,
| April Is, 1865, when Abraham Lincoln Iay
! dead at Washington the victim of an
| assassin's bullet. I recalled the memoir
able speech of Gen. Garfield Chimself
| the victim of an assassin sixteen years
later, in New York, when the very heay-
| ems seemed hung in black 1.-The gov
eminent at Washington still lives'' were
his ringing words, which apply today as
we'll as then. The murderous assassins
who have thrice robbed us of beloved
rulers have only strengthened the d est
| government the world has ever seen.
| which under the Providence of God will
continue until time shall be no more.
McKinley's speech the day before the
assassination will rank with Washing
| TONS farewell address, as an incentive
ana inspiration TO maintain this govern
| ment in spite Of all calamities or machi-
| nations which mortal man can devise or
execute. The sun rose en- Saturday
morning upon dead and greatly beloved
president. 1t set Saturday night upon
living and greatly respected president
Ihe transformation was an intense and
| painful shock to 75,0G0,0OO people, but
The government at Washington still
| liVeS.'
THE EFFECT ON THE EXPOSITION.
l am frequently asked ''Will not this
Calamity damage the exposition?" and |
answer yes and no. The great world
cannot pause, If it would 1t will affect
the exposition by the postponement of
great days. Railroad day, scheduled for
last Saturday, has been postponed until
sept. 20. Illinois day was scheduled for
yesterday, and an immense outpouring,
especially from Chicago, was expected.
New York day was listed for the 18th
tomorrow, and an attendance of 2O0GO
was confidently predicted These post
poned events will not, probably, when
tney take place, command the same at
tendance they would if no calamity had
befallen the country. On the other hand.
as time passes on, the brutal crime will
have made, in my Judgment, the EXPOSE
ton h1Stoeic and hallowed spot which
thousands who T11ichf ho1
Will wish to visit before the Rainbow
city is obl1terated by Wreckers in No
Vember. FordS theater in Washington
where Lincoln was murdered, though
closed as place of amusement, has been
visited by hundreds of thousands as a
museum The railroad station in Wash
lngton where Garfield received his fatal
wound was for years an object of inter
est Tor thousands upon thousands of Wis
ltorS Who came to see and read the tab
let placed upon the stone floor, marking
the spot where Garfield stood when Gui-
teau consigned him to death.
The place where Mckinley stood in the
Temple of Music to receive his country
men has been marked and it will be rev.
erently and sorrowfuuy visited by hun
dreds OF thousands of people before the
lSt of November You may call it NOR
! bid curiosity or sympathetic human ma
ture q term it the latter, but the result
Will be the same.
THE BUFFALO PAPERS.
The demand Of the public for the-news
from the death chamber was spIendidly
met by the Buffalo newspapers Their
reports were in the best of taste, prompt
and absolutely complete and not in the
least sensational.
When the end came their tributes to
the dead president were touching and
eloquent. The Associated t'ress and the
special correspondents drew largely from
the Buffalo papers, and the whole coun-
try during the week of painful suspense
was thus kept by these admirable news,
papers as completely advised of the
situation as If in the Milburn house in
person.
The Express of Saturday morning per-
formed most remarkable feat The
president died at 2:15 a. M, and the
morning issue, which must have gone to
press within two hours thereafter. con.
tanned on the first page a five-column
article which followed in every detail
the scenes at the MiIburn house from the
time the president was stricken with
death in the afternoon until he breathad
his last. While the work was neces-
sarily hasty, it gave no evidence of it in
print, and was as fine piece of newspa-
per writing as I have ever seen. 1t
brought tears of sorrow from the reader
mingled with love and admiration for
the great man who had so braveIy and
uncomplainingly met his fate
MRS. M'KINLEY.
Perhaps the saddest feature of all is
that the bullet which robbed the nation
of a great ruler was doubly fatal as no
one expects that Mrs. Mckinley can now
long survive The presidents visit to
the exposition was originally fixed to
follow his trip to California over two
months ago, but the illness. supposedly
fatal, of Mrs. Mckinley caused the post
ponement. Tenderly the president
buoyed her back to life and but for his
care, added to the best of medical aid
she would have returned from San Fran
cisco, as he leaves Buffalo, in a funeral
train. No one at that time imagined
she would survive her husband and no
enc now expects that she will long do
so. The best of medical skill will stin
be attainable and loving friends will still
watch over her in her desolate Canton
home, but no one can take his place
She will plead in vain in her desolation
for ''the touch of a vanished hand, the
sound of a voice that is STILL" and the
tragedy of the past ten days will ulti-
mately, and probably speedily, be re-
corded as the foulest of double muir
ders.
THE WORLD GOES ON.
The inexorable necessities of govern
ment and of human life fortunately.
prevents any halt in the march of
events. Alnactions come, both national
and personal, in the order of nature, but
it is the infamy of this dastardly deed
at Buffalo which intensif1es this aff1ic-
ton.
Men may come and men may go but