1843-Born at Niles, Trumbull county, O., January 29. 1861-Enlisted in Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry at the age of eighteen. 1865-Mustered out of service with rank of Captain and Brevet Major. 1869 to 1871-Prosecuting Attorney of Stark county. 1879-Elected to Fifty-fifth Congress. 1888-Refused to allow his name to be presented for the Presidency, and held Ohio delegation for Senator John Sherman. 1889-Became Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives and drafted McKinley tariff bill. 1890-Defeated for re-election to Congress. 1891-Retired from Congress March 4. 1891-Elected Governor of Ohio. 1893-Re-elected Governor of Ohio. 1896-Nominated for President and elected by a plurality of 814,831. 1897-Inaugurated President March 4. 1900-Re-nominated and re-elected President by a plurality of 832,280. 1901-Inaugurated President for second term March 4. 1901-Shot down by an assassin at Buffalo, September 6. 1901-Died at Buffalo, September 14. 1901-Obsequies at Buffalo, at Washington and Canton, September 15, 17 and 19. The pathetic circumstances of the death of President McKinley, the simple manliness with which he faced "the doom we dread," the infinite cruelty and appalling injustice of his assassination and the profound sympathy felt for his invalid wife make it difficult if not impossible to speak of the career of the dead ruler with the moderation of the careful historian. critical spirit is dumb in the presence of the dead who die for the nation, as McKinley died. In the hours of dire foreboding and of physical pain, as when he became conscious of the inevitable end, he was the patient, uncomplaining and brave man who meets The the worst without bravado but also without fear, and who accepts the decree of death as the will of Heaven. At no time in his varied and successful career had his character seemed so admirable as in the last trying hours. THE THREE MARTYRED PRESIDENTS. The careers of no public men better represent the possibilities of American life than those of the three Presidents who have fallen at the hands of assassins. All were poor boys with no other aids to ambition than their own qualities of character. In his amiable frailties as a public man not less that in his strongest attributes the President whose death we mourn was a representative American. Born in Ohio where the streams of transallegheny migration from North and South met and commingled and political agitation was ceaseless, at a time when the overshadowing sectional question pressed for final settlement, and having been educated chiefly in the public schools, where all the influence was democratic, it was natural and almost inevitable that the first ambition of the young man William McKinley shoul be political. He demonstrated the depth and sincerity of his youthful patriotism by enlisting as a private soldier in the volunteer army for the preservation of the Union. In that service he revealed an amiability of temperament which easily won the votes of his fellows in favor of his promotion and assured the popularity of his later years. He was a friendly man, and he loved his fellow men. At the time when as a young lawyer William McKinley entered actively into politics party lines were strongly drawn. Not to be a Republican was almost to be a traitor in the eyes of the leaders of "Ben" Wade's type. It would have been peculiar if young McKinley had been less devoted to his party or less. submissive to its decrees. The spirit of that time continued to influence his political actions throughout his lifetime, and it will account for the degree to which the President was willing to recede from his own opinion whenever it was opposed by the aggressive leaders of his party. CHAPTER IX. Story of the Assassination of President McKinley-Graphic Picture of the Tragic Act--The Assassin Caught and Roughly Handled-Public Indignation and Horror. FIVE minutes before the appalling tragedy that ended the life of the President, the dense crowd was in the most cheerful humor, in the Temple of Music, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. The police had experienced no trouble of any kind, and when the President's carriage, containing besides the Chief Executive, President Milburn of the Pan-American Exposition, and Private Secretary Cortelyou drove up to the side entrance of the Temple, it was met by a mighty salute of cheers and applause. The three gentlemen alighted, and were escorted to the door of the building. Immediately the carriage containing Secret Service Operatives, George Foster and S. R. Ireland, drove up and these detectives, with several other Secret Service men, entered the building together. Inside they were met by Director General Buchanan, who had arrived but a moment before, and he directed them as to where to stand. In passing to the place, the President took off his hat and smiled pleasantly to a little group of newspaper men and to the guards which had been stationed in the place. To one of the reporters he spoke, smilingly, saying: "It is much cooler in here isn't it?" The interior of the building had been arranged for the purpose. From the main entrance, which opens to the southeast from the Temple on the wide esplanade, where the thousands had gathered, an aisle had been made through the rows of seats in the building to near the centre. This aisle was about eight feet wide, and turned near the centre to the southwest door of the temple, so that there was a passage dividing the south part of the structure into a right angle. It was so arranged that the people, who would shake hands with the President would enter at the southeast door, meet the President in the centre and then pass on out the southwest door. From the southeast door, and extending on up to and around the curve, was a line of soldiers from the Seventy-third Sea Coast Artillery on either side, and these were interspersed with neatly uniformed guards from the Exposition police, under the command of Captain Damer. When the Presidential party was within the building, the soldiers were ordered to come to "attention," and all took their places. WAITING FOR THE CROWD. The President was escorted to the centre of the palm bower, and Mr. Milburn took a position on his left so as to introduce the people as they came in. Secretary Cortelyou stood by the President to the right, Secret Service Operator Foster, who has traveled everywhere with the President, took a position not more than two feet in front of Mr. Miburn, and Secret Service Operator Ireland stood by his left, so that he was the same distance in front of the President as was Foster in front of the Exposition President. Through this narrow two-foot passage the people, who would meet the President, must pass, and when all was ready, with detectives scattered throughout the aisle, the President smiled to Mr. Buchanan, who was standing near the corporal in charge of the artillerymen, and said that he was ready to meet the people. He was very pleasant and, as he waited for the doors to open, he rubbed his hands together, adjusted his long Prince Albert coat, and laughingly chatted with Mr. Milburn, while Secretary Cortelyou gave a last few instructions to the officers as to the manner in which the crowds were to be hurried on through, so that as many as possible could meet the Executive. Mr. Milburn ordered the door open and immediately a wavering line of people, who had been squeezed against the outside of the door for hours, began to wend its way up through the line of soldiers and police to the place where the President stood. An |