The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-11-16
ASSASSINATED RULERS.
Every Country of the World Has Had
Its Experience.

| Assassination has always been one
| OF the dangers to which personages
prominent in the political world, have
been particularly exposed, and hardly
any country can boast itself free from
that crime.
Abraham Lincoln, the first of the
three American presidents to be muir
dered. was assassinated as he was ceIe-
brating the triumphant close of the
Civil war. On Good Friday, April IA.
1868, just as the norti. was rejoicing
at the end of the long struggle with
the South, he attended Ford's theater
in Washington to see a performance
OF Our American Cousin" An actor,
John Wilkes Booth, crept to the back
| of his box after the curtain had ris-
en- and shot him from behind. Then,
leaplng on the stage, he brandished
a dagger, shouted "Sic semper tyran-
MIS-" and escaped through the stage
door. Lincoln was carried across the
street to small house and died
|
At the same time an attempt was
made to assassinate Secretary Seward
in his own house.
The next president to be slain was
James A. Garfield. On July 2, 1881, a
few months after his inauguration,
Charles j. Guiteau, a disappointed Of
flee seeker, shot him down in the
Baltimore and Potomac railway sta
ton in Washington. The avowed
purpose Of the assassin was to secure
the succession of Vice President Ar
thur, who, he believed, would be
more favorably disposed to the "Stal-
wart" wing of the Republican party.
Garfield fingered for more than two
months. He was taken from Wash
ington to Elberon. n. j. and died
there on September 10.
| William Mckinley fell victim to
the doctrines Of anarchy. Like Lin
coin he had been reelected and seem
ed to be about to inaugurate a new
and important policy in regard to for
eign commercial relations. He went
to Buffalo to speak at the Pan-Ameri.
can exposition, and there, as he was
holding a reception, he was shot
down by Czolgosz. The man ap-
| preached him in the line Of citizens.
| holding a revolver concealed by a
handkerchief AS he reached the
president, apparently intending to
shake his hand, he fired with fatal
| effect. Mckinley was carried to q.
] nearby house, and lived for eight
| days after his wound.
Foreign countries have had their
full share of such assassinations as
| these, and in many cases death has
Overtaken a ruler on a State occas-
| ion. when he was making a public
progress to perform an important
| function.
So, on March 81, 1881, the Car
Alexander ii of Russia, was blown
| to pieces by bomb as he was on his
way to the winter palace. He had
| been distinguished by his liberal views
and his desire to ameliorate condi-
tions in his empire, but he was struck
down through a conspiracy Of Nihilist.
So, too, a few years ago, a plot in
the army caused an artillery salute
in honor of the present czar to take
no 0c a.
pieces directly in the direction Of the
imperial household.
President Carnot of France was the
only head Of a foreign republic beside
President Borda Idiarte Of Uruguay,
to be assassinated Of late years. He
met his death in Lyons at the hands
OF an Italian anarchist. Caserio, who
killed him on June "a, 1894. He had
gone to the exhibition Of arts and
sciences and had been enthusiastical-
ly greeted on the way. Just as he
stepped into his carriage on his de-
parture from the building, Caserio
sprang upon the step, waving a paper
as fhough 1T were petition. The
guards permitted him to approach the
president, and he drew a dagger and
stabbed him in the body. The wound
was mortal. and Carnot died the next
day.
One of the most terrible Of politi-
cal assassinations was that of King
Alexander and Queen Draga Of Ser
via on June II, 1903. That little
Kingdom had been torn with internal
strife, and King Milan had been fore
ed to abdicate in favor Of his son.
Alexander believed in drastic meas