Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-12
HOURS OF LINCOLN
R~ecOllsctOnS Of a Physician Present
in the Death Chamber.
HISTORICAL PICTURE RECALLED
one OF I've MeAber. OF the Group az
he Bee.ia% Vow Livins-Many
HeHcs 81 the Great
Trseedy.

81 thar historic group o. Erief-stricken
watchers who stood silently waiting about
the death bed OF Abraham Lincoln when
the spirit OF the great emancipation took
its flight on the morning OF April Is. 1856.
only two are living today to take part in
the exercises commemorating the one hun
dredth Anniversary OF the birth OF the
martyr president.
In that SAD faced group. made familiar
by the painters and the e~ngrsverts art
we're = score or more OF persons-members
OF the dying Presidents personal and Off
ciai families. army officers and medical
men. The sole survivors now. after hte
lapse OF more than forty years. are Robert
T. Lincoln, son OF the war president, and
since then himself a distinguished sec
rotary Of war in a later cabinet.
and DR.. Charles A. Leale, q physi-
clan OF New York City, living at No. 0s
Madison avenue. The late John Hay was
a member OF that group, too. He was then
the privats secretary TO the president.
Later he became one OF his biographers.
and later stlu the gifted cabinet premier
whose name has been affixed 10 some OF
the most important treaties and state
documents in his country's history. The
death Of John Hay reduced the number Of
survivors TO the two named.
ON that fateful hieht 10 Ford's thester,
when comedy ceased its mimiory on the
stage while tragedy wrought out its treaeh-
erous crime in the Tag draped presidential
box. 81 vas the rand Of DR.. LeaIe that
first brought 10 the aid Of the stricken
president TIE touch of surgery. II was due
largely to Or Lars prompt attention
that Abraham Lincoln did not expire i'm
medistely and that the PRONUNCIATION Of
the presidents life for a period Of nine
HaNva nr~r,ff4na h4u, a.. --z,.a.a -
family and friends and enabled the national
government 20 adjust itself somewhat to
the situation. caused by the tragedy.
The Hurt a. Mortal.
mr.. I.cale. when he made his first exam
nation. said SO those others who had
crowded in 10 hear the tidings OF the chief
tain whom they loved;-"The hurt is NOR
tai He cannot recover" The grim dag
nos:s, destined to be verified before the
next noontide. was telgraphed and cabled
wherever existing facilities would permit.
There wac no Atlantic cable in those DAYS.
DR.. Leale directed the removal OF the
wounded president. when he was carried
across thes street and laid upon a bed on
the second floor OF a strangers house.
The young surgeon stood to his post
throughout the nine. hours OF suspense by
the deathbed and when the final hour had
cou'e heh gently in his grasp the limp
right hand OF the. dying president. his
forefnser pressed to the niekering pulse
until-it AT last ceased ito beat.
DR. Leale is only ss years old and looks
YOUNGER When he sat in Ford's theater
watching the performance OF 'ous Ameri-
cen Cousin on-the night of April II. 1865,
and heard the crack Of John Wilkes Booths
pistol. the doctor was an athletic young
man OF -. But young as he was. he had
beeen detailed in charge of the commits
stoned officers OF the army hospital. in
Washington. DC. a post which he had
fled until the ebd OF the war. after hsvs
ing served his term as q medical cadet and
earned his commission as a surgeon in
the United States army.
On the night OF the assassination. DR..
Lesle had gone 10 the theater less for the
purpose OF seeing the play than in tho
hope OF obtaining a close view OF Presi-
dent Lincoln. DR. Beale had laid aside his
uniform and attired himself in c~itisen's
sarb cr-the occasion, Prompted by the
wish 70 watch fthe president at close
range. he had boughttaetieket for a seat
close enough to the presidential box to
permit him TO command a view OF its dis
ungulshed. occupants.
Heard Crack of Pistol.
At the moment when Booth leveled his
weapon and fired at the back of the presi-
dents head IL CHANGED that DIR. Lesle'a
eyes were tGTned toward the stage and