Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1915-04-01

Mobs sprang from the ground and
shouted for vengeance in unthinking
fury, but always some voice quieted
them with command and question,
"Hushi What would Mr.. Lincoln say
if he could hear you?" Cavalry patrols
trotted through the streets with what
seemed deadened clatter, their only
command the raised arm of an officer.
Men stood and whispered brokenIy.
Dread was upon the city. RumOr had
ten thousand tongues and news met
news more terrible. That Secretary
Seward had been attacked and wound
ed was soon known. Secretary Stan
tons life had been attempted, it was
said Grant was reported killed on
his way North. Conspiracy is among
us. =. What man is safe?" wrote
the editor of a morning paper at two
o'clock. Upon every mans lips was
the question, In Gods name. what
next?"
A Wife's Sore Agony.
In Tenth street it was quiet The
men who had shouted Burn the thea
ter" had been silenced; the streets
around the Peterson house had been
cleared of the crowd and cavalry
guarded every entrance to them. No
one was allowed within the lines who
had not urgent business there.
A front and back parlor and Clark's
bedroom at the end of a long, narrow
hall made up the first floor of the
house. Mrs. Lincoln sat in the front
room, supported in her grief by her
son, Captain Robert Lincoln, who left
her from time to time to go to his
fathers bedside Several times the
wife went to her husband, but was
unable to stay for more than a few
minutes without breaking down COM
pletely.
stanton's the Master Mind.
Secretary Stanton had not been
wounded as reported. He was among
the first to reach the house and sat
in the back parlor at a table where
he could see everyone who came near
the presidents room. His was the di-
recting and controlling mind through
that long night. No man knew better
than he the worth of the dying man
but he was calm and energetic, and
in the intervals of giving orders and
debating dispatches wrote the best
story of that nights national calamity
that remains today.
His family physician and several
friends and officials we're with the
president Not a flicker of conscious
ness came to him after the bullet shot
through his head from back to front.
One moment he was here. rejoicing
in full knowledge Of his cOuntry's
new-found peace, in another he had
passed beyond human knowledge to
peace everlasting.
But the long, gaunt body died hard.
The stertorous breathing and painful
moaning sounded through the house
hour after hour over the low voices
of Stanton and Dana above the sob
bling of the wife. Gradually the moan
ing ceased, the long, restless arms
grew still. Failing fast" said the
bulletin at six o'clock; Symptoms of
immediate dissolution" read another
at seven.
at Is Finished"
At twenty-five minutes past seven
his son Robert, Secretaries Stanton,
Wells and Usher, Private Secretary
Hay and several others gathered
around the bed saw the last breath
futter the parted lips. Abraham Lin
coin was dead in the hour of his tri-
umph and Stanton's solemn voice broke
the awed silence in the truest and most
beautiful benediction ever pronounced
upon passing soul: Nov he belongs
to the ages"
An Anguish-5tricken Nation.
A man in rumpled frock coat ap-
peared at the front door and looked
around. On the steps cavalry cap
tain stiffened to salute, his eyes
searching the others face. The man
in the frock coat nodded silently. AS
he mounted and rode away the cap
tain's face wore the same pallid, set
mask under the tan that had reused
his wife to frightened questioning the
night before.
Within the next half hour, ahead
of the fast rising sun, sped mes
sage that struck the nation to dumb
anguish:
president Lincoln died at 7:22."
It Can't Be Done.