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| Grant family at Mt. McGregor, N.Y. |
The Cortland
News, Friday, July 24, 1885.
GRANT DEAD!
The Hero of Appomattox at Last Surrenders.
A World Mourns.
His Last Hours Watched With Breathless Anxiety.
Friends and Family Weeping.
Dr. Newman at the Bedside Gives Consolation to the
Sufferer and to Those Who Mourn.
The Closing Scene.
MT.
MCGREGOR, July 22.—As the sun went down to-night a cool breeze sprang up and the people
on the mountain endeavored to persuade themselves that the cool night would
bring strength again to the illustrious patient whose every breath a nation
watched, and help him to rally through the night, but the doctors gave no hope
to the anxious inquirers, and were prepared to go to the General's death bed at
a minute’s notice, or to wait through the hours of the night for the end. At
seven o'clock, however, as the three physicians were at dinner, Harrison came
to the hotel and called Doctor Douglas who went at once and alone to the cottage.
Soon afterward another messenger from the cottage summoned Drs. Shrady and
Sands, and they repaired to the cottage closely followed by Dr.Newman.
THE
EXITS OF THE DOCTORS
and clergyman from the hotel were, however, so
quietly effected that few knew that they had been summoned to the cottage. Arriving
there they found the General again evidently sinking. The General seemed
restless. "Would you like to lie down, father?" asked Col. Fred
Grant, who noticed his father's restlessness. The General nodded and at the
same time essayed to rise unassisted, but the effort was too great and he sank
back into the chair, and the Colonel and nurse assisted him to arise. They supported
him to the bed where he was carefully lowered to a reclining position and partly
on his face. Dr. Douglas then rolled the chairs back and one of the physicians has
since remarked that the General has left his chair tor the last time.
The
family were all gathered at the side of the sick man and again Dr. Newman, at
about the same hour as last night, and at the patient’s request, knelt beside
the General and prayed.
HEADS WERE BOWED
and silent tears were on the cheeks of men as
well as of women. The doctors stood somewhat apart and the family was near its
fast sinking head. After an hour death seemed a little less rapidly gaining on
the man it has been pursuing for the last nine months, for it is just nine
months ago to-day that General Grant walked into Dr. Douglas' to seek his
professional aid for the cancer that has done what foes and war could not.
Then the
doctors and clergyman strolled out upon the piazza and sat near the parlor window,
and Jessie Grant joined them at times, but the other members of the family
remained in the sick room and watched and waited while the General answered
"yes" and "no" to several questions.
A
waiter was sent from the hotel to tell Col. Grant that his dinner awaited his
coming, but the man was sent back with the word that Col. Grant would not dine
that evening. The little wants of the body in health sank into insignificance beside
the infirmities that disease had wrought upon the man who lay dying before the
group of friends in the cottage parlor.
Time
then passed slowly indeed, and at length at 8:15 o'clock Dr. Douglas left the
cottage. “How is it doctor?" was asked him. "HE IS DYING," said
the gray haired physician. "Will he live an hour?" was asked again.
"Oh yes, and possibly more, but he is passing away," was the
response, and after a little time at the hotel Dr. Douglas returned to the
cottage.
At 9
o'clock the General's pulse was up to the point of 165 beats to the minute and
was fluttering.
After
his rally and about 9 o'clock he sank into a sleep that was described by a witness
as the peaceful and beautiful sleep of a child. His condition, however, is not one
to command confidence for the pulse beats are still rapidly fluttering, and the
respiration, which nominally is fourteen beats to the minute, is now
forty-tour.
At
10:30 o'clock, however, it was stated by reliable authority that the General
was in slightly better condition than two hours before and quiet, but as
against any hopeful inference that might be drawn from this fact, is the other
fact that from the present condition which borders upon a lethargic state the
patient may quietly drift into final unconsciousness.
During
the evening the extremities of the sick man have been cold, and in the visible
symptoms are the signs that nature puts out when death is chilling the powers.
The General, as the night passes, seems suffering no pain, though the lines on
his face are tensely drawn, and the furrows of the brow are knitted as he lies upon
the cot, beside which the family are constantly watching,
At midnight
Gen. Grant remained yet quiet, though not asleep. The coming hour was
anticipated with great anxiety. Bottles of hot water were placed at the General's
feet to induce warmth, and mustard draughts applied upon the stomach and breast
to preserve the flagging circulation. Dr. Sands is resting at the hotel, and
Drs. Douglas and Shrady are at the cottage.
The
General remained in the same quiet condition. The pulse and respiration were
unchanged and there was a feeling that he might tide over the midnight season
of weakness, and until 4 a. m. hypodermics of brandy were being used.
At
12:30 a.m. this morning Doctor Shrady left the cottage with "Buck" Grant
for a walk. The doctor said that there had been no change in the General's condition
in the last half hour. He was still dozing. Harrison, the General's valet,
walked over to the hotel, and when asked how the General was, replied that he
would probably live through the night. No one else, however, is so sanguine.
The General aroused shortly before 2 o'clock
and Col. Fred Grant went to doctor Sand's room and called him. Warm flannels were
applied to the neck and back to relieve neuralgic pains, and hypodermic injections
were also given at frequent intervals. This brought temporary relief. There is
no improvement nor was any expected. The family were still awake. The sick room
was still lighted up.
The
General was unable to speak at 3 a. m. He could not cough to clear his throat.
Respiration 50, pulse too weak to count. The lower extremities were growing
cold. The patient was in a comatose condition a large part of the time.
MT.
MCGREGOR, July 23.—General Grant died at 8:08 this morning surrounded by all his family.
The end was peaceful and without apparent pain. So far as is known the last
words uttered by General Grant were a request for a glass of water at 3
o'clock.
General
Grant's remains will be removed to New York after being embalmed and when the
body reaches that city the family will decide as to whether a post mortem shall
be made. The family have been desirous that the funeral shall take place in
Washington, but the place has not yet been decided upon. The General, before his
death, named three places, at any one of which he said that he would like to be
buried. He, however, concluded to leave the choice of a burial spot entirely to
Col. Fred Grant.
A BRIEF SKETCH.
NEW
YORK, July
23 —With Grant's death there passes away one of the greatest Captains of modern
times. Military critics may differ as to his character and rank as a military
commander, but in the face of his achievements any attempt to belittle his
military capacity is idle. Judged by the standard, he held a place in the
affections of the people of this country which was equaled by no one except Lincoln,
and his record as the leader of the Union army which crushed the rebellion will
leave him an undying name in the proudest chapter of our history.
Ulysses
S. Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Clemont county, Ohio, on April 27, 1822.
He entered West Point on July 1, 1839, being then seventeen years of age. Among
his classmates were Franklin, Ingalls. Sherman, and W. F. Smith.
Thomas
and Meade were in West Point at the same time Grant was there, but they were in
classes ahead of his. Grant was graduated on July 1st, 1843, and was appointed a
brevet second lieutenant with orders to report to the Fourth Infantry. In the summer
of 1845 the regiment was ordered to join General Taylor's forces at Corpus Christi,
which were protecting the frontier from the Mexican army. He took part in every
battle of the Mexican war with the exception of the battle of Buena Vista and
was conspicuous for bravery.
Grant,
in 1848, married Miss Julia Dent, the daughter of Frederick Dent, a well-known
merchant of St. Louis. He resigned from the army on the 31st of July, 1854,
with the rank of Captain and returned to St. Louis, where his wife and children
were residing.
When
Lincoln's first call for 75,000 men was made Grant was living at Galena, Ill.
Four days after the call a company was enrolled in that town and Grant was put
in command.
Four days later he reported with his company to
the Governor at Springfield. When the twenty-first Illinois regiment arrived at
Springfield, the Governor put Grant in its command, and in August 1861,
President Lincoln appointed him a Brigadier-General.
General
Grant's army and political career is too well known to need specific mention here.
After retiring from the Presidency, Grant set out on a tour around the world,
occupying nearly three years. His tour was one of the most remarkable chapters
in his wonderful history. He was paid royal honors from the beginning to the
close of his journey. Probably at the close of his journey there was no one man
whose name was better known around the entire world than his.
One
of the pleasant events in his closing career was the act of Congress, passed in
the very last hours of the Forty-eight Congress without a single objection,
restoring him to his rank as General of the army and placing him on the retired
list.
Bronze Miss Liberty.
Work Temporarily Stopped—The Estimated Amount
Insufficient to Erect the Pedestal.
NEW YORK, July 20.—Work on the pedestal for the Statue
of Liberty has been stopped several days on account of the delay in getting the
steel anchors and girders, which are to be built into the masonry. Gen. Stone
is preparing a memoranda of expenditures up to the present time. The $100,000
which the World is
raising will not be sufficient to complete the pedestal and an extra amount
will be necessary to place the statue in position. The steel anchors and girders
will cost $14,000; $4,000 was spent in unloading the statue from the Isere; $350 was cost of transporting the
statue to the fort, and it required $600 to build a shed to protect it from the
weather. The steel anchors are to be placed at the bottom of the masonry and
will be connected with the girders at the top by long steel rods. This will be
done to give the requisite elasticity to overcome the force of the wind. No
estimate has yet been made of the cost of putting the statue on the pedestal.
CORTLAND AND VICINITY.
It took nineteen men, five boys and three dogs
to place the stone in position to receive the drinking fountain corner of Court
and Main streets on Wednesday.
We should be pleased to learn
if there is any law that compels that gang of loafers to hold down Randall's
wall [by the Standard Block and Post Office—CC editor] every night. It there is none they
ought to be informed of the fact as their duties seem to be most arduous.
The heavy thunder shower which
struck Cortland yesterday afternoon must have spent its fury before it reached
us, as about two miles south of here the wind leveled fences and out houses and
twisted large trees off as if they had been pipe stems.
A brilliant meteor was seen
here at about nine o'clock last Friday evening, it taking a direction of
northeast to northwest. Its flight was rapid and there were apparently two
explosions, the last one sending showers of fire in every direction. It was as
brilliant as an electric light and the face of the earth for a moment was as
light as day.
The drinking fountain has been
placed in position, corner of Court and Maim streets, and furnishes a vast
amount of amusement to the gamins. It is of a handsome design the castings
being made by Fisk, of New York, and the painting by Hamill. This one only has
capacity for men and dogs. Those to be placed at the Messenger and Cortland house,
will also have accommodation for horses.
Mager & Walrad, with
commendable enterprise have draped their large show windows in mourning to do
reverence to the memory of General Grant. The South window is draped with black
and white bunting with a large picture of the deceased General in the
background, while the North one has a ground work composed of the national
colors, a background of solid black, sides of black and white bunting and a
stand of arms, reversed, in the center under a portrait of the illustrious
dead, the whole making a neat and fitting tribute to the memory of General
Grant, our dead hero.
GRANT’S
DEATH IN CORTLAND.
The Western Union Bulletin in
this place was hung out yesterday morning about 8:30 announcing: the death of
the "Hero of an Hundred Battles." Passers-by would glance at and then
stop and read it over more carefully, as if the sad news was beyond their
comprehension. The National Colors on Firemen's Hall were placed at half mast,
and public and private buildings were appropriately draped.
U. S. Grant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U._S._Grant
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