The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-11-10

~ NOElu VIII L4lIIe uOle hui long EeLleLu-
Der what we say here" thereby proving
himself a poor prophet indeed. no matter how
great he was in nearly every other respect.
So much has been said about Lincoln's Gettys-
burg address and so much has been written
about it (including 254page book about 2T2-
word speech y it would seem that Americans
who are proud TO claim this masterpiece OF mod
ern English eloquence as the product OF one of
our own kind. would know everything about it
even down to the minutest detail. But it is prob
able that most of US know little more about II
than the fact that Lincoln did deliver an i'm
mortal speech at Gettysburg few months after
the battle, and we have a more or less clear re-
membrance of some OF the phraseology of the
speech, beginning with the sonOrous -Four score
and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
upon this continent new nation. conceived in
Liberty. and dedicated TO the proposition that
all men are created equal" and continuing TO the
magnificent climax of that government of the
people, by the people. for the people, shall not
perish from the earth" But beyond those things
the average American knows very little about
some Of the facts connected with the speech
which make il one of the most amazing para
doxes in history.
For instance. how generally is it known that
Lincoln had the smallpox at the time he deliv-
cred the address? Yet the late DR.. William E.
Barton, one of the leading Lincoln scholars, is
the authority for this statement:
Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg speech on
November 49, When he returned to Washington
he Ill with smallpox, probably in the pre-
lminary or fever stage. He probably did not
know that he had smallpox on that date On the
next cabinet meeting day. November %, the erup-
ton had appeared and an entry in Welles diary
stated that diagnosis of smallpox had been
made He had a light attack and was up and
around by December s. During this two or three
weeks he worked on the amnesty proclamation
and the message TO congress. and also prepared
copies of the Gettysburg speech. but he did little
else. He did not see the members OF his cabinet,
but had them submit communications TO him in
writing.
1.-The disease did not keep Office seekers away.
Come on in, Lincoln said encouragingly; have
something now 1 can give TO everybody"
Commenting upon Doctor Bartons statement,
Dr. Arthur Evans. writing in the Chicago Trib-
une. says:
1T is not probable that the cabinet members
and other officials were excluded from the sick
room and all others were allowed in. However
we wonder how il happened that so few people
were infected. II is generally known that at least
one OF the Lincoln boys had smallpox while in
the White House. But why one infected
ar Gettysburg?
.It is recorded that Lincoln while at Gettys-
burg stayed in a private home. He stayed in his
room presumably working much OF the time.
But during the exercises he must have exposed
many people. Smallpox is supposed TO be highly
infective during the fever stage which precedes
the eruption and for day or two prior thereto.
weIles wrote that though his doctor diagnosed
the case as smallpox he attended ar least one
meeting of the cabinet Thereafter, the PROBABLE
Ity is that he was about as much isolated as he
would have been in hospital
Most Americans know that Lincoln was some
thing OF an "also ram so far as the choice OF the
committee in charge Of the celebration AT Get
tysburg that day was concerned They remem-
Der that the honor Of being the Orator OF the
day" fell TO Edward Everett and that his one
hour-and- ffty-minute speech has been forgotten.
while the three-minute speech OF Lincoln seems
destined TO Immortality. But even though Ever
etts speech has been forgotten. how many Of his
fellow-countrymen know that the man himself
was important enough In American history TO de-
serve escaping the oblivion that has engulfed his