Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-03-13
!. P. ALTCElD DEAD
Former Governor Of Illinois
Stricken Down While De-
Tending the Beers.
He 0YER.EXERTED HIMSELF
Carried from Theatre to Hotel at Joliet
Where the end Came . Few Hours
After-Had Best Of Medical
Attendance Without
Avail.

Joliet, ILL.,, March 12.-Former Gov. John
=. Altgeld died in room IS. Hotel Munroe,
this morning at 1903 o'clock. He had been
unconscious since midnight.
Mr. Altgeld was the principal speaker at
a pro-Boer mass meeting last night in the
Joliet theatre.
Just at the close of his speech, a sudden
dizziness seized him and he was assisted
from the stage. rhe meeting proceeded,
the audience not realizing what mad nap
pened. Mr.. Altgeld was taken to the door
f the theatre where several vomiting spells
seized HIM. This continued Tor nearly an
hour and was so pronounced he could not
be removed to his hotel.
Physicians were hastily summoned ana
Mr.. Altgeld was carried to the hotel across
the street. He retained consciousness and
urged the newspaper men to Keep the anar
quiet for fear of alarming his wife. Short
ly before midnight he became unconscious
He remained in this condition until
death At 3:41 this morning it was thought
he had died, but he revived and from that
time until shortly before the end showed
wonderful vitality, although he made 10
move.
The medical men here had banquet last
night at which DIR. }. h. IIerriCk of the
Rush Medical College of Chicago, delivered
a lecture on heart disease. He ana other
physicians were called from the ban Iuet
him the balance of the night. When The
end came they worked his arms vigorously
to revive respiration, but all to no purp' Sc.
The cause of death is given as cereb. al
hemorrhages, there having been an apo
plectic seizure of the brain
The vomiting at first was taken to in
dicatc ptomaine poisoning, but it was de-
tcrmined this was due to different mani
festatons of the brain troubles. The ply 81
clans desire to hold post mortem. if rela-
tives will agree.
Mr.. Altgeld came to Joliet yesterday af-
tcrnoon. He confessed that he was not in
the best of health, having been troubled
with some apparently simple stomach all
ment
He was not willing. however, to allow
that to interfere with his speech, the inter-
est in the South African struggle having
been heightened by the announcement OF
the Boer success in capturing General Me-
thuen.
it was noted during the address that the
ex-governor threw an unusual amount OF
energy and feeling into his words and the
collapse, the physicians think, resulted
from oVerstraning his already weakened
physical powers.
Ever since the failure of the Globe Saw
ings bank in 1896 in which he was in
volved. Mr. Altgeld has not been a well
man and for some months after the Spald-
only a question of a short time Even wher
serving his last year as governor his
health was none too good.
When it was learned that he was a vic
tim of locomotor ataXia his friends gave
| MIN up. He rallied. however. although he
was never again his old vigorous self
| Lately however, the disease marked
| him strongly and quite recently his ap
pearance caused grave forebodinss anC
| anxiety.
HIS LAST SPEECH.
Mr.. AltgelG, in the speech which was fatet
to be his last declared that all friends o.
humanity owed u debt of gratitude to Gov
ernor Yates for issuing d proclamation
soliciting assistance for the Boer womeI
and children in their concentration camp,
which the British are maintaining IL
South Africa.
The speaker said that the people of Am
erica had raised n large sum of mon,
with which to relieve the distress of tn
Boer women and children, but We're un
able to send it to them because Lore
Pauncefote, the British ambassador a
Washington, objected to it. He furthe
charged that LORD PAuncefote had 70
years meddled in American affairs.
There were eighteen counts and specific
charges in Governor Altgeld's indictment
| He said in substance:
| just before lne beginning or TN
Spanish war, Lord Pauncetote, repres, Mt
ing the aristocracy. meddled in our affair
and tried TO unite the governments o
| Europe in making IA joint protest agains
Americas interference on behalf OF Cuba
Imt when the American people asserte
themselves and our government was com
PEELED to go to the rescue of Cuba, thu
England issued a strong neutrality proc
i lamation forbidding all of her subject
| here from "a
or doing anything that would in any wa,
lie a violation of the stricteSt neutrality.
John Peter Altgeld was born in Germany
December, lS49 lie was brought to tn
United States when three months old, hi
parents settling near Mansfield. Ohio. II
was educated i'll the public schools and On
tered the army as a private when 16 re
naming until the close of the war lie AT
terward taught school and studied law II
Missouri. He was admitted to the bar Il
1868, He was elected states attorney O
Andrew county, Mo, in 1874. He resigne
in 1919 and removed to Chicago. He wa
an unsuccessful candidate for Congress il
1854 and was elected judge of the Suprem
Court of Chicago in 1886, holding the otlc
till 1891.
lie was governor of Illinois 1885,. Hi
pardon in June. 1898 of Fieldcn Schwa
and Neebe known as "the anarchists *
cited wide comment. The anarchists par
ticipated In the memorable Hayma rl,e
massacre in Chicago on the night of Ma
4, 1856.
!, He was democrat In politics and
prominent advocate of the free coinage c
silver He was defeated for Mayor of Chi
cago in 1899 on an independent tick"
Among his publish books are. "Our Pc
Machinery and Its Victims" and "Liv
| Questions"
THE OLD VERMONT NOT SOLD.