Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-13

wish you would take this desk and keep
It fer me. l prize g., because It was the
one l used when ] began bus ness for
myself. but Mrs. Lincoln in one Of her
passions threw 1t out Of doors because
spilled some ink"
Family Relics.
The heavy, cumbersome, b~ed-shaped era
do with high sides and high curved head
and footboards-blg enough for twlns-in
which the Lincoln children were rocked
TO sleep land often by the father, is also
among the collection OF home treasures.
Verify, the hand that rocked that cradle
ruled the world
The wooden office armchair in which
Mr.. Lincoln sat to write his first 1naugu-
raj address is also shown.
An old mahogany round table, used In
the White House during the Lincoln ad-
ministration and sold by auction after his
death, occupies a corner In this room, and,
like most of these valuable relics, is
fenced in beyond the reach of vandal fin
gers. Safeguarded in a glass case Is the
flag that draped the presidents box at
the theater when Booth fired the fatal
shot, and in 1t is shown the rent made
when the assasein's spur caught in its
folds, causing him to break HIS leg as he
leaped to the stage. The spur Itself, said
to rave been cut from Booths boot when
he was captured twelve days later, eighty
miles away: the key to the old arsenal
prison, which held the ten c~onspirators,
and pieces OF the gruesome rope which
hanged the latter are displayed in the
front parlor of this historic. old home.
A complete collection of original photo
graphs Of these conspirators is here seen,
hanging one above the other, some in man
acles. and all with an aspect Of grim de-
fiance.
The Lincoln death mask by Mills and
the life mask by Volk. cast In 1850, are to
be seen in the red parlor.
Literary Treasures.
In one OF the rooms are displayed 1000
biographies of Lincoln, ESQ sermons touch
ins upon the assassination, 500 magazines,
from 1s4S to 1865, containing articles rela-
tive to the great war president; 5000 news
paper clippings, numerous pamphlets and
many burlesques and political carlcatures
circulated during his campaigns-one of
the cartoons showing Mr.. Lincoln wear
ing a crown and entitled abraham Afrl-
canus l."
The candle used BIZ the physicians in
heating the plasters applied to the dying
man, wreaths from the casket, the sheet
music Of ninety different funeral marches
dedicated to the dead president and bits
of funeral paraphernalia taken from the
catafalque are all treasured within these
walls.
Many of the original theater bills an
%nouncing the play, Our American Cousin, -
on that fateful night, are hanging by the
fireplace in the front parlor, while the
picture of Lincoln signing the martyred
McKinley's brevet as major, attracts the
attention of all visitors. .
The only object in all this vast memo
rial collection that would provoke a smile
is a crude, highly colored print represent
ing the murdered president rising on very
substantial looking clouds into the upper
realms, robed in long. loose garments, deco
rated with along, blue scarf, and being
met by angels CARRIED in equally gaudy
and gorgeous greens and reds-some bald,
others with flowing hair, and wearing
enormous wings that would almost seem
to solve the problem of aerial navigation.
Where Death Came.
The visitor to the museum ascends al
outer flight Of steps and is admitted to the
hallway, upon which opens the parlor where
Mrs. Lincoln spent the hours of that tragic
night in which the president battled with
the unseen foe. At the end of the hall Il
the small, narrow room to which wa.
carried the dying Lincoln, and where, sur
rounded by the eminent men Of that day
he breathed his last.
This death room is now a gallery OF pic
lures representing the deathbed scene II
twelve sketches. the lying in state at tn,
capitol. and the many different stages o.
the funeral between Washington and tn,
burial at Springfield, Ill.
The bed upon which Lincoln died is a
present owned by a Chicago man, who will
give 1t its rightful place in the museum
when the government completes the prom
ised flreproof building as the permanent
home of this collection, now owned by o
H.. Oldroyd, a native of Ohio.
A feeling almost of reverence for tn
noble man whose great human heart wa
so soon to be forever stilled comes owe
one who pauses to read his pathetic fare
well to his neighbors in the old Springfield
home on the eve of his first departure 70
Washington, February II. 1861. The spiri
Of friendliness toward the friends of
quarter century, his sense Of the grea
responsibility resting upon him, create
perhaps than that devolving upon any ma
since Washington and above all, his en-
tire dependence upon that divine aid with
out which no success could come TO him
show in a marked degree the lofty spirit
kindly character and childlike faith in hi
Creator.