Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1885 — GRANT DEAD. [ARTICLE]

GRANT DEAD.

The Old Hero of Appomattox, After Life’s Fitful Fever, Sleeps Well Surrounded by His Family, the Grim Old Soldier Passed Peacefully Away. His Life Prolonged Many Hours by Hypodermic Injections of Brandy. A decided change for the worse took place In -the condition of Gen. Grant on the afternoon of "Tuesday, July 21. and it dawned upon the physician and family that the illustrious and long-sulfering patient was surely sinking. Shortly after one o’clock on the morning of the •22a, a hypodermic injection of brandy was administered, which had the effect of brightening him up. The weakness continued throughout ■Wednesday, the sufferer’s nourishment consisting wholy of two glasses of milk. The hypodermic injections of brandy were repeated at intervals. Once during the morning the General attempted to write, but succeeded only in writing the date, the effort being greater than warranted by the little remaining strength. He spoke at intervals, but his voice was very feeble. At 2:15 the members of the family and Dr. Newman were grouped in the darkened room near Gen. Grant. Observing their evidence of feeling the General said: “I do not want anybody to be distressed on my account.” At sp. m. the pulse was 130. At 6:50 p.m. the bulletin was sent out that the General was sinking. At 7:40 U. S. Grant, Jr., and Drs. Shrady and Sands reached Mount MacGregor by special train, and Dr. Douglas said that Gen. Grant could live but ■ a few hours. Dr. Newman also said that the General had almost reached the end. Telegrams -came from all p. rts of the country inquiring about the dying chieftain’s condition. At 9:0.5 p. m. he was unconscious, and fruitless efforts were made to arouse him. It was then believed that the beginning of the end was at hand. At 10 o’clock his respiration was 45. His arms were cold up to his elbows. The General could • only speak in a faint, husky whisper. The General was fully aware of his condition. At times he lay with his eyes closed, and while everybody around him tnaught he was sleeping he was fully aware of all that was taking place about him. His faithful servants were with him nearly all the time. At midnight bottles -of hot water were placed at Gen. Grant’s feet to induce warmth, and mustard draughts were applied upon the stomach and breast to preserve the flagging circulation. At one o’clock on the morning of Thursday, the 23d, the General remained in the same quiet condition. Hypodermics of brandy were being used. At two o'clock in the morning the family were astir, and the whole house was lighted up with the exception of the re-ception-room. Here the General lay in bed, and a dim light was burning on a table near the window. The physicians were still near him, as was also Col. Grant, while the ladies were in an adjoining room. His condition remained com’ aratively unchanged. At 3 o’clock Gen. Grant was in a somnolent -condition. The respirations had grown shallow and the General was no longer able to expectorate because of the weakness, which was increasing. At 3:35 a. m. Dr. Shrady was walking in front of the cottage for the purpose of obtaining some fresh air. Col. Grant appeared suddenly and beckoned to him, when the Doctor ascended the piazza and entered the sickroom. A moment later the whole household were grouped about the General. Day was •dawning over the eastern hills, and it was feared that the rising of the sun would mark the close of the long struggle. At 4a. m. the respirations were 50, the pulse so rapid as not to be counted, and hypodermics, which had been quite freely administered through the night, had no longer any marked effect. At 4:30 a. m. Dr. Douglas said: “Gen. Grant is just alive, and is liable to pass away at any moment.” At 4:50 o’clock the breathing was quickened and reached 50 to the minute. At 5 o’clock Dr. Douglas remarked that the General’s brain, heart, and lungs were alive, and that was about all he could say. At 5:25 the respirations had increased to sixty, and the death-rattle, occasioned by the filling of the lungs and throat with mucus, was plainly heard by the loving and devoted ones at his bedside. He then recognized his friends by opening his eyes. At a few minutes before 8 o’clock Gem Grant breathed his last. The end was peaceful and without evident pain. He was surrounded by all the members of his family, and all were prepared for the final moment when it arrived. For over an hour before the General s death he had drawn his breath only with the utmost difficulty, the respirations coming in long, gurgling ’ gasps, the throat being clogged with mucus. At the last moment the General was, it seemed, conscious, and for a brief space it seemed that the group of watchers could not realize that the General was at last beyond their -care. —And thus passes from earth the most illustrious soldier of his time. The insidious disease to which he at last succumbed has long been in progress, and he has faced the end which he knew was near with the same quiet •courage that has faced every disaster with which he has been confronted. The life of the old hero has had few more impressive scenes than this last one of struggle against the common enemy of mankind—a struggle prompted bv no selfish motives and by no trace of fear, but solely that •he might perform yet one more service for his country, and complete with the pen the task that was begun with the sword. The end of his hard-working life found him still at work -with untiring purpose and with energies unabated save by physical weakness. When he could no longer maintain the strife he surrendered with the dignity of those alone who have never given in to anything less than the inevitable, and passed “out of reach of time, out of sight of love, out of hearing of hatred,” from the circle of friends and relatives who mourned him, from the country of which he had deserved so well, from the world of which his is one of the foremost names. Now that the record of this man’s life is completed, remarks a contemporary, it is surely best that we forget whatever there may have been of the inglorious about his later years, in sight of the glorious years which won for him a high place forever in the hearts of the American people. Nor is it any real discredit to the man who has once done so much for his country that he was at last caught in the world’s great snare, but rather a sign to set more sharply in relief that simplicity and straightforwardness of character which met and triumphed over all open dangers and difficulties, and was only found unfit to be pitted against the practices of the trickster. All great men cannot be Napoleons or Caesars, and history emphasizes no fact more strongly than that the qualities which led to victory on the battlefield are not those most needed in the larger field of life. For the services of Grant as a military leader we may be profoundly, reverently thankful. That as a statesman and a private citizen he was at times misled or at fault should not make us for one moment forget how great those services were. On this day of sorrow our one thought should be of those deeds which have made their doer one of the great historic Americans. The English hero whose name is one with that of Waterloo lived to make his after years one great mistake, but men no longer remember this against him, and the words which the laureate sang in his praise we may with peculiar fitness apply to our own lost hero: Our greatest, yet with least pretense, Great in council and great in war. Foremost captain of his time. Rich in saving common sense, And, as the greatest only are, In his simplicity sublime.