D

CHAPTER XXI

Obsequies of the Martyred President

URING the day that followed the sad death of the martyred McKinley preparations were made for the last sad rites. These, as in the similar instances of Lincoln and Garfield, and of the more recently deceased Victoria, were to consist of public ceremonies and private obsequies. The people demanded the right to gaze upon the lifeless features of their beloved leader, and the request, dictated by respect and affection, could not be ignored. From Philadelphia came an earnest solicitation that the body of the dead President should lie in state for an interval in the Hall of Independence, the hallowed scene of the nation's birth, where the body of Abraham Lincoln had reposed thirty-six years before. But the request came too late, the plans for the funeral ceremonies had been made, and it was deemed best not to change them even for this added honor to the nation's martyr.

Before beginning the preparations for the funeral, it was deemed right and proper that an autopsy should be made to satisfy the family and friends as well as the pubiic that all had been done which could be done to save the President's life. The following is the report of the doctors who made the autopsy:

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WHAT THE AUTOPSY TOLD

The bullet which struck over the breast bone did not pass through the skin and did little harm.

"The other bullet passed through both walls of the stomach near its lower border. Both holes were found to be perfectly closed by the stitches, but the tissue around each hole had become gangrenous. After passing through the stomach the bullet passed

into the back walls of the abdomen, hitting and tearing the upper end of the kidney. This portion of the bullet track was also gangrenous, the gangrene involving the pancreas. The bullet has not yet been found.

There was no sign of peritonitis or disease of other organs. The heart walls were very thin. There was no evidence of any attempt at repair on the part of nature, and death resulted from the gangrene which affected the stomach around the bullet wounds. as well as the tissues around the further course of the bullet. Death was unavoidable by any surgical or medical treatment and was the direct result of the bullet wound."

This report of the autopsy upon President McKinley was made not only by the physicians and surgeons who attended him, but by a number of other medical experts. It shows he was beyond medical or surgical aid from the moment he was struck by the assassin's bullet. The surgeons did everything that could be done to help him when they operated upon him promptly and sewed up the two wounds in his stomach. In the ordinary course of events nature would have begun at once to repair the damage, but the autopsy disclosed that nature did nothing. Mr. McKinley was not in as good condition as he was supposed to be. Although not sick, he was "run down" by hard work and sedentary habits. The walls of his heart were unusually thin, and that organ, though sufficient to sustain his ordinarily quiet life, was not strong enough to bear the shock sustained by the assassin's attack. These things could not be known to the physicians and surgeons until the autopsy. They were working more or less blindly, and knew by the pulse that the heart was greatly affected, but there was relatively little fever; it seemed to be abating and the patient gave no sign until the fatal collapse that the parts surrounding the path of the bullet had become gangrenous.

It has been suggested that the bullet of the assassin was poisoned; but it is not necessary to assume this in order to explain the gangrenous condition, which is a not infrequent result of gun

shot wounds. In a healthy young person the gangrene would probably have been accompanied by very high fever; but in the President's case there was relatively little fever, and for this reason the attending physicians were misled into the belief that he was on the high road to recovery. Sad as was his death, it is a relief to know that it was due entirely to the assassin's bullet; that his physicians and surgeons did all that was possible to save him, and that they could not have prolonged his life after the collapse even though they had known exactly what had caused his heart failure.

PLANS FOR THE FUNERAL

The plans for the funeral provided for a private ceremony at the Milburn house on Sunday, September 15th, at II A.M., consisting of reading the Scripture, prayer and the singing of a hymn. Immediately after this service the remains of the late President were to be taken to the Buffalo City Hall, under escort of one company of regular troops, one company of marines, one company each of the Buffalo regiments of the National Guard.

At the City Hall the body to lie in state, affording the citizens of Buffalo an opportunity to pay their respects to their dead ruler. The body was then to remain under a guard of soldiers and sailors until Monday at 7.30 A.M., when it would be taken under the same escort to the funeral train at the Buffalo Union Station.

This train, as arranged by the authorities of the Pennsylvania Railroad, to consist of one private car for Mrs. McKinley, one combination car, one dining car, one compartment car, one double drawing room and sleeping car and one observation car, in which the body of the President would be placed.

The train to leave Buffalo at 8.30 Monday morning, and arrive in Washington the same evening, traveling by way of Williamsport, Harrisburg and Baltimore.

At Washington the body to be taken from the train to the Executive Mansion under escort of a squadron of cavalry; and at

9 o'clock on Tuesday morning to be removed to the rotunda of the Capitol, under the same escort of cavalry, when the funeral services were to take place immediately, and afterward the body was to lie in state until evening of Tuesday, when the body would be taken, under military escort, followed by the funeral procession, in accordance with the precedent in the case of President Garfield, to the Baltimore & Potomac Station, and placed upon the funeral train, which would leave for Canton.

The train to reach Canton at 11 o'clock Wednesday morning, where the final funeral services were to be committed to the charge of the citizens of Canton, under the direction of a committee to be selected by the Mayor of that city.

Simple and sincere in life, so was the funeral of William McKinley at the Milburn house in Buffalo on Sunday morning, September 15th. There was no pomp, no harsh stiffness of painful ceremony. It was a sincere tribute of respect to a great and a good man who had died with the words "God's will be done" upon his lips.

THE COFFIN AND ITS DRAPINGS

It

The coffin rested in the drawing-room on the first floor. was richly draped in black, with the upper part open, and bearing the simple inscription on a silver plate:

WILLIAM MCKINLEY,

BORN JANUARY 29, 1843.

DIED SEPTEMBER 14, 1901.

Across the foot of the coffin was a new silk American flag, which fell in graceful folds to the floor. All about were an abundance of flowers sent from all parts of the country, with a large wreath of roses resting on the mantel near the head of the bier. At every door into the drawing-room soldiers were stationed, and no one was permitted to enter,

Rev. Dr. Locke, of the Methodist Church, and a friend of the family, and the choir from the First Presbyterian Church, of Buffalo, took part in the funeral ceremonies at the house.

At a signal there rose from the hall the words of "Lead, Kindly Light," sung by the quartet. It was President McKinley's favorite hymn. Every one within sound of the music knew it, and, as the voices swelled through the house, half of those in the room put their faces in their hands to hide their tears.

When the singing ended Dr. Locke read from 1 Corinthians, XV. All had risen as he began and remained standing throughout the services. “O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?" repeated the minister. Again the voices rose with the words, "Nearer, My God, to Thee." Dr. Locke, who was dressed in the simple garb of a clergyman of the Methodist Church, then advanced to the head of the coffin. Bowing his head and folding his hands as he looked down into the face of the dead President, he invoked the divine help and comfort in the hour of affliction. The services closed with a simple benediction. Four sailors of the navy, two infantry sergeants and two artillery sergeants bore the coffin out of the house. The President, the Cabinet members and the others followed it. Mrs. McKinley and the members of the family remained.

A SOLEMN MOMENT

The trained nurses and the personal attendants of the President gathered on the side porch to see the body taken away. Through their tears from behind the screen of vines they saw it borne from the house, and as long as the hearse in which it was deposited remained in view they strained their dimmed eyes to see it. Those noble women who minister to the sick and who are inured to sorrow were prostrated with grief.

Three long rolls of a muffled drum told those outside the house that the funeral party was about to appear. All the morning a veil of mist had been hanging over the city, but just as the