Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-05-28
Entered al the Newport aows Va. Postoflce
"a uecond-ulsu matter
TUESDAY, MAY %, 1907.
IDA sAxToN M'klNLEY.

* When Mrs. Ida SaXton Mckinley
died the world was deprived of as
sweet and patient soul as 1t Is posi-.
bio to implant iii tho human body.
More brilliant minds havo stirred tho
/ world and more striking personalities
have loft their Impressions behind
hut for sweetness and purity none
can surpass the character OF tho wife
of the martyrcd President. The coun
try loved her, ana 1t was II tender ro-
nance that attached her TO the poo
pie, and the peculiar pathos which
did attract the people to Mrs. McKin.
ley had It's root in love story that
will take It's place among the class
les. On the part of President Nc.
, ISinlcy. II was singlo-minded de-
votedness, that gathered an ever In
crcasing tenderness from tho dclicacy
$nf tho wife, whose hopes of mother
J hood were buried and whose mind. as
II arrested on the threshold of that
deepest experience of her womanhood
wasistlll held on tho thrall of youth.
On her part 1t was II love of absolute
dependence and childliko trust.
Through all of hor life her eyes re-
taSned the clear unshudowcd softncss
OF the girl: the charming pink of her
check was that unusually known TO
l the dawn of maturity. Her gentle
smile, tho ingenuousnoss of manner,
the inoduintod voice, all gave Prcsi
dent Mckinley the sweetheart of his
boyhood, who, II she could not share tho
cares of tho state and must be pro.
tected from every alien look or word,
could vet win him from all other con-
sideratlon to make her happy.
3 In the hour of her affliction tho
beroaved wife voiced tho whole crav-
ing of her nature in that one pathetic
sentence: II want to see the major"
= But when she had seen the major for
the last time, when they had placed
him In the vault at Canton, where
now, as she Is dead, the national
memorial to her husband is nearing
Z completion, she turned her thought
to what she might do for him.
Next to children Mrs Mckinley al
ways loved her flowers She used to
3 mingle the two fondnesscs by giving
n her blossoms from the White House
Conservatives in splendid largcsse to
& the little ones, and she had proteges
OF all kinds In the hospitals and other
institutions, and among her personal
friends. Denied much effort, she
buried herself about little things. She
1 made purses OF netted silk and fash.
Toned slippers of wool by the hun
dreds. They went for Christmas gifts,
as souvenirs They brought large
prices at charitable fairs and they
gave their manufacturer the keencst
delight. She said once during the
White House days that she had made
over 1000 pairs of slippers "for some.
body to wear" Tho Christmas after
. her loss she did not forget her friends
in the cabinet circle, but the remeIn-
7Sbrances fashioned by her delicate
fingers were all of black and gray.
The women who had chung SO persist
emily to beautiful colors could find re-
lief only in the somber shades.
She became the wife of Mr.. McIlin,
Hey brilliant with health and ambition.
When she had laid her two babes to
rest inAhe Canton cemetery she was
wrecked her former self-the spirit
4 of her yoinh and her love alone re,
manned unto1ched. Ever afterwards
with her life meant to do something