The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1907-10-05
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ExTOLS
THE VIRTUE OF THE
DEAD CHIEF.
PEOPLES GIFT IS UNVEILED
Citizens and Soldiers Join in Silent
Loving Testimonial at Canton
Tomb of Martyred President
and His Wife.

| tiful day could have dawned for the
Mckinley memorial exercises and I'M
Yelling than that which broke in this
| city. where lies under its imposing
| monument, the gift of popular graft
tude. the body of the late president
| and his consort, Mrs. Mckinley, whose
| spirit so recently took its flight TO
Join that of its mate.
Arrangements for the days events
and the imposing pageantry which
characterizes every feature OF it could
not have been more perfect or COM
| pIete. The thousands who were thrOng-
ing all the principal streets and over
flowing into the side streets and alleys
were here to do honor no less to the
dead than to the living. They were
here to pay tribute to the man of the
| simple life, the Mckinley, who stood
| for peace and concord throughout the
world, and the present president,
Roosevelt, strenuous, self asSertive, az
~eressive and forceful. The one whose
! body lies under the majestic vault OF
| the tomb overlooking West Lawn
cemetery is no less revered than the
one who m from the seat of the
| national government to bow his head
at the Mckinley bier and to sound the
praises that all men of all nations
around the globe delight to utter in
these memorial hours when, for the
last time. the martyred chief executive
| :. 4L0 0fGa;ol -nxarnnnn nf
the nation.
While the parade marched out
| through the monument grounds Presi-
| dent Roosevelt and 800 others, guests
Of honor, were served luncheon in
the auditorium downtown, after which
| the president was driven to the mOnu-
ment. The parade was kept marching
while the dedication ceremonies were
in progress, to keep the crowds away
from the monument while the presi-
dent was speaking. His address fol
lows:
President R~ooseveit's Speech.
The president said:
We have gathered together today 20
pay our need of respect and affection
to the memory of William Mckinley,
who as President won a place in the
hearts of the American people such as
but three or four of all the Presidents
of this country have ever Won He
was of s. lgular uprightness and purity
of chara ter, alike in public and in pri-
vate life, a citizen who loved peace, he
did his duty faithfully and we'll for
four years of war when the honor OF
the nation called him to arms. AS
congressman, as governor of his state,
and finally as president. he rose to the
foremost place among our statesmen,
reaching a position which would sat
isfy the keenest ambition; but he new
er lost that simple and thoughtful
kindness toward every human being,
great or small, lofty or humble, with
Whom he was brought in contact,
which so endeared him to our people.
He had to grapple with more serious
and complex problems than any Pres
ident since Lincoln, and yet, while
meeting every demand Of statesman
ship. he continued to live a beautiful
and touching family life, a life very
healthy for this nation to see in it's
foremost citizen; and now the woman
who walked in the shadow ever after
his death, the wife to whom his loss
was a calamity more crushing than
it could be to Any other human being,
lies beside him here in the same sepul-
cher.
There Is a singular appropriateness
in the inscription OF his monument.
Mr.. Cortelyou, whose relations with
him were of such close intimacy, gives
me the following information about it:
On the Presidents trip to the Pacific
slope in the spring of 1901 President
Wheeler, of the University of Califor-
MIA, conferred the degree of LII. D.
upon him in words SO we'll chosen that
they struck the fastidious taste OF
John Hay, then Secretary of State,
who wrote and asked for a copy of
them from President Wheeler. On the
receipt of this copy he tent the follow
ing letter to President Mckinley. a let
ter which now seems filled with a
strange and unconscious presence:
sDear Mr.. President.