Evening journal., 1911-10-03
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
Mckinley in the Hour Of
Great Personal Mis-
fortune
BY Holland.

william S. Hawk, president OF the
Ohio Society Of New York city, one
Of the largest of the state organiza-
tions of the metropolis, was for many
years as intimate a personal friend as
William Mckinley had. The intimacy
began in Canton, Ohio, which was the
boyhood and early manhood home ot
Mr.. Hawk. How close that intimacy
was may be judged from the fact that
Mr.. and Mrs Mckinley invited Mr..
Hawk and his family to become their
personal guests at the White House
at the time of McKinkeiys inaugura-
ton as president Probably no one now
living had better opportunities for OBJ
serving Mckinley in the privacy and
the charm OF his domestic life, or Of
learning what McKinleys real per-
sonal character was, than did Mr..
Hawk
II always knew that Mckinley had
strength enough of character to meet
scourageously, without hinching. any
emergency, however serious; ! was
perfectly prepared for the fortitude
and the beautiful resignation which
he displayed after he was laid low by
the assassins bullet His conduct at
that time was exactly what | would
have predicted" said Mr.. Hawk re-
Gently.
But l think, after looking back
over my years of close intimacy with
him, that possibly the finest example
Of his courage, of his ability to stand
up against most grieyous emergency
and embarrassment, occurred at a
time when he was guest at my home
in New York city.
"Mr Mckinley was then governor Of
Ohio He looked forward to the future
with confidence; he felt assured that
the setback he had received through
his defeat for Congress was only tenn
porary. He was i'm the best of health
and spirits. He was never more bouy-
ant And then, suddenly, there came a
dispatch from Ohio informing him Of
the disastrous failure of a business
associate.
81 was with him when the message
came He did not finch when he READ
il. Yet l knew from his attitude tho
thought that was dominating mis-
mind; this failure would make It
necessary for him to give up his cher
ished public career-he would have to
begin life all over again-he would
have to make determined efforts 20
meet the obligations which his asso-
ciate had assumed for, whatever the
law might say about some OF them,
nevertheless, there was moral re-
sponsibility attached to all Of them.
"It was at this moment that Mrs.
Mckinley, to whom Mckinley had
shown the dispatch, declared that ne
must take all Of her personal fortune,
or so much Of It as was necessary, IN
order TO met these obligations immedi-
ately McKinley's only reply was that
IL was incumbent on them to pack up
their things Immediately and take the
first train for Ohio And he said it
smilingly and as calmly, Outwardly,
as though no great shadow had set
tied down upon him, as though his
cherished political ambitions had been
realized instead of shattered.
AN hour or two later he bade me
/ goodbye ! knew that he was going
/ back to Ohio confident that his public
career was ended and With the full
knowledge that he must begin all over
again-that he had actually TO go 80
work to earn an income sufficient 70
support Mrs. Mckinley and himself
| Yet in his countenance | could not de-
tect the slightest hint OF resentment
the slightest trace of sorrow, or any
indication whatsoever of the crushing
sense Of disappointment that he must
inwardly have felt in his belief that
all his high hopes of a public career
head been shattered. There we're
traces of the severe mental strain un-
der which he was laboring, and there
was on his countenance a certain SET,
/ determined expression which made II
clear to me that he had resolved 10
make a determined fight to clear on
all the obligations suddenly thrust
upon him. But nothing else. And so
say / have never known of a case
where "a man, who was suddenly faced
with what somed like crushing de-
feat and pecuniary ruin, met the blow
with such courage and such instant
determination 70 survive as did Nc
Kinley in the crisis of bis private at
fairs
Fortunately and happily, as is well
known. there were friends who were
able to finance Mckinley out of his
difficulty; and how great was Mckin-
ley's happiness when he found that II
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