The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1923-08-09
End Came Unexpectedly Thursday
Night at San Francisco When
He Was Thought to Be Re-
covering from Illness

rem G. Harding with shocking sud-
deness at 1880 p. m. Thursday at
San Francisco. In the midst of ap-
parent recovery he was stricken with
apoplexy while Mrs. Harding was
reading to him. The end came quick
ly.
President Harding died of a stroke
of apoplexy at 1880 o'clock Thursday
night (10:30 p. M, New York time)
His exact age was fifty-seven years
and nine months.
The end came suddenly while Mrs.
Harding was reading to him from a
magazine and after what had been
called the best day he had had since
the beginning of his illness exactly
one week before.
Suddenly it was noticed that the
President was shuddering and gasp
ing. Mrs. Harding ran to him, but
| he was unable to respond to her in
quiries. She then ran to the door of
the sick room and called TO the secret
service man there to summon the
Presidents physicians.
When General Sawyer reached the
room the President was still alive, but
he died almost at once.
! In greater detail the facts of the
death are related. With Mrs. Harding
in the sickroom were nurses. Due
to the seeming Improvement in the
Presidents condition, members of his
party, including the physicians who
had remained in constant call, were
confident they could leave the hotel
,, for a few hours relaxation. Many of
them were at dinner
Mrs. Harding, however, refusing to
desert the post, was seated by the
bedside reading to her husband, when
at 7:10 o'clock the President suddenly
collapsed. His breathing, whi,:ll had
been quick ever since the illness over
/ took him, suddenly became spasmodic.
Mrs. Harding leaving the nurse to
take whatever steps they could III the
emergency, ran to the door OF the
presidential suite.
"Get the DOCTORS" she called. as she
ran part way into the almost deserted
corridor. A secret service operative
was seated about twenty feet down
the hall. She hurriedly told the secret
service man that the President had
! had a sudden and seemingly severe
relapse and begged the detective to
try to locate Doctor Boone or any
of the other physicians.
The secret service. man took up the
search for the physicians, while Mrs.
Harding returned to TIE bedside. They
located Doctor Sawyer at once.
Hoover Arrives Quickly
! Word of the Presidents sudden
turn for the worse spread through the
hotel and efforts were launched at
once TORY to locate the members
Of his official party.
Herbert Hoover, secretary OF COM
merce and one of the closest cabinet
members to the President, was the
J first of the cabinet members to reach
the bedside. : He hurried into the
corridor, already aware that the
Presidents life was ebbing fast, and
the door to the suite closed behind
him. A short time after he came
out He was completely broken up
and could not speak to the news
paper men as they gathered around
him on his way down to his own
quarters. Tears were running down
his checks and he seemed to be
stunned by grief as he made his way
to the elevator.
Mayor James Rolph of San Fran
cisco was the next to arrive, and he,
too, after a visit to the death room,
was inarticulate.
A Shocking Surprise
Nothing could have been a more
shocking surprise. But an hour ear
lier General Sawyer had been telling
newspaper men that Mr.. Harding had
had the best day since he became Sc
rously ill the proceeding Saturday. He
said that the President had definitely
entered upon the stage of GONZALES
ence and that everything went ia
/ show that Mr.. Harding was on the
road to ultimate recovery.
The members of the official party
those who had accompanied the
President and Mrs. Harding-ha
no warning that the President was in
danger. They, like the newspaper
men, had been assured that fatal
termination of the Presidents illness
was thing not to be expected, in
view of his apparent Improvement
the evident lessening of serious symp-
toms-in the last 48 hours.