The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-04-04
BY ELMO SCOTT WATSON

IN EZ<E<A Mn lIdStuiSS III
N.Y. G<4T history. For it was on
IN a, NJ that date just Go years
~ ago that the bullet of
.~S. John Wilkes Booth
~ struck down Abraham
Lincoln and plunged a whole nation,
rejoicing that four years of war was
at last ended, into the deepest sorrow.
Ever since that day there has been
endless speculation as TO what might
have BEEN if he had been spared.
Would the North have been a more
generous victor and the South have
been spared the ruin and despair Of
the Reconstruction era? Would the
wounds of the most terrible civil war
in history have been more quickly
healed during those next four mo-
mentOus years If there had been at the
head of the nation the man who had
said with malice toward none; with
charity for all; with firmness in the
right, as God gives us to see the
right, let US strive on TO finish the
work we are in." No one can answer
those questions positively, but there
can be but little doubt in anyone's
mind that the answer in each case is
"Yes."
Useless though such speculation
may be, ii suggests another interest
ing possibility. Suppose John Wilkes
Booth had been baked in trying to
carry out his mad scheme and the
tragedy of that terrible night in Ford's
theater had been averted Might not
death in some other guise than the
assasSin'S bullet have prevented
Abraham Lincoln from realizing his
ambition ito finish the work we are
in? For such a possibility is not so
improbable as it may seem at first
thought.
1t has become almost automatic that
the Presidency of the United States is
a "man-killing job" For ex-Presidents
the average length of life after turn
ing over the reins to their successors
has been a little over IL years. But
when there is added to the heavy du-
ties Of the Presidency, the crushing
burden of leading the nation in a
great war even that span of years is
greatly reduced. Woodrow Wilson, the
World war President, left the White
House in 1921, a broken, prematurely-
aged man who was in his grave three
years later. So with this recent tragic
example before us, it is not beyond
the realm of belief that a similar fate
might have awaited Abraham Lincoln,
who was called upon to bear the most
crushing load of responsibility and
sorrow ever placed upon the shoulders
of any American, not even excepting
those of George Washington in the
darkest days Of the Revolution.
Some interesting evidence of the
heartbreaking task which was Lin
coins and of the fact that not even
his great strength could have much
longer endured it is presented in the
reproduction of photographs which
illustrate Emil Ludwig's Lincoln"
published recently by Little, Brown
and company. Five of these are shown
above and they, more wildly than
words, tell that story.
Although it is familiar story
which the distinguished German
writer tells in his biography of Lin
coin, 1t has a particular interest at
this time when the anniversary of the
Great Emancipator's death recalls to
Americans the tragedy of his whole
life "Lincoln's career, more than that
of any other man in history, is so
grandly conceived by Fate that the
first act is illuminated by the last, and
every scene is bound together by dra
matte intensity" writes Ludwig.
In one of the word pictures of Lin
coin which Ludwig presents. he is
comedy figure" albeit a tragic-comic
one The scene is the Inauguration
on March A, 1860, on a platform in
front of the east portico of the Cap
itol. what do the audience see?
They look up at the speaker, but his
friends are little pleased by his as
pect," writes Ludwig, who then quotes
the words of one who witnessed that
scene and wrote as follows:
His newly grown beard was short
and stubby like shoe brush: grizzled,
stiff, and hideous; diSfguring a face
that without it expressed power and
deep feeling. He wore a brand-new
suit. with a swallow-tail instead of the
customary frock coat; he had a very
shiny stovepipe hat, evidently just
taken out of the bandbox, and huge
ebony stick, with a gold head as large
as an egg. In this unusual rig-out, he
looked so uncomfortable that it was
quite pathetic. Matters were even
worse when he reached the platform
for he did not know what on earth to
do with his hat and his stick. There
he stood, target for thousands Of
eyes, holding these two encumbrances.
the image of hopeless perplexity.
After a little hesitation. he leaned his
stick against the rail. but could not
find any place except the floor for his
hat, and, as saw, he did not wish to
put II there. Douglas. who noted bis
embarrassment. came 10 the help of
his old rival. relieved him of the hat,
and held il until the owner wanted it,"