Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 November 1886 — CHESTER A. ARTHUR. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

The Ex-President Passes Away at His Residence in New York City. A Stroke of Cerebral Apoplexythe Immediate Cause of Death. (New York special.] Chester Alan Arthur, ex-President of theUnited States, died suddenly at his residence, 123 Lexington avenue, at 5 a. m. Thursday, Nov. 18. The immediate cause of his death was a stroke of cerebral apoplexy which came in his sleep between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the result of the bursting of a blood vessel. His death was painless. It was like the slow going-out of a burned-down candle, and for hours before the end came the dving man was unconscious. His son and daughter, his sisters, and Sherman W. Knevals, his former law partner and intimate friend, were at his side when the summons of death came. For many months uen. Arthur had been a very sick man, and although immediately priorto the fatal shock he was apparently brighter'

and more cheerful than usual, his death was not unexpected by his more intimate friends. Fortwo years he had been suffering from a complication of Bright’s disease of the kidnevs and an enfeebled and enlarged heart. It was this latter disorder that weakened his robust constitution and prepared the way for the rupture of the blood-vessel in his brain which caused his death, The beginning of Gen. Arthur's illness dates back to the latter part of his administration at Washington. On leaving the national capital he at once placod himself in the care of Dr. George A. Deters, his old family physician, and every effort within the reach of medical skill was employed to rebuild his disordered system. The treatment did him no apparent good, and it was thought last spring that he had only a few days to live. With the warm summer weather, however, the patient seemed to rally. F.arly in Juno he was removed to a cottage at New London, Conn., and there his health and sjiirits gained perceptibly. On Oct. 1, Gen Arthur returned to this city much benefited by his stay at New London, but it was not long before Dr. Peters saw that his patient was failing, and soon tho President found himself too weak to leave his house. He had his bed moved into the frent room on the second story, and so arranged, with the footboard toward toe windows, that lie could look out and watch the clouds when he did not feel strong enough to move about tho house. Tuesday Gen. Arthur had an encouraging day. His mind was clear and his spirits hopeful. He sat up chatting with friends, and in the evening wrote a number of letters and signed some legal papers. At midnight the nurse looked into his room and found him sleeping quietly. Wednesday morning when the attendant entered the sick man's room he was breathing heavily and was unconscious. Dr. Peters and Dr. Valentino were at once callod, and a hasty examination satisfied them that General Arthur was near his end. He had suffered a, stroke of apoplexy which ruptured a bloodvessel in the brain, causing paralysis, and this in turn produced unconsciousness. Restoratives were applied, and after some hours the dying man regained his mind. He was unable to speak, but when the doctor called his name he pressed his hand faintly, and later he putout his tongue when asked to do so by his physician. The family was then told that the sick man could not live more than a few days at the most, and ihe same messago was sent to General Arthur’s friends. Mrs. McElroy and Mrs. Caw, the ex-President's sisters, and his son, Chester Alan Arthur, Jr., with the daughter Nellie, wore constant in their attendance. At 4 o’clock Wednesday afternoon it became evident that death was very near. As Dr. Dr. Peters and Mr. Knevals at this hour entered the apartment of the dying man he seemed to recognize his old friends. He followed them with his eyes and took the doctor’s hand, but his speech failed him. Most of the family gathered in the dying man’s room and sadly watched through the long hours of the night. At midnight Dr. Peters observed that the patient was no longer conscious, and listening for a moment at the sick man’s breast he detected the unmistakable signs of tho approaching end. This he made known to the watchers, and feeling that his friend was beyond the reach of his skill ho left the house and went to his home. From midnight on the dying man lay quiet upon his bed, broathing slowly, but apparently in little pain. Toward early dawn the curtains in tho room were lifted, but tho patient gave few signs of life save the severe and now somewhat painful breathing. Surrogate Rollinscalled the daughter Nellie, and tho son, who bears Gen. Arthur’s own name, ana his two sisters, Mrs. McElroy and Mrs. Caw, with his nephew, Mr. Hasten, to tee bedside of the dying man, and then left the aparttnent overcome with grief. The ex-President continued to sink rapidly, and at 5 o’clock Thursday morning he died. The young daughter of the dead man was overwhelmed with grief. When she was led tothe death couch of her father she wept bitterly, and was led away inconsolable. The Bon, who had been a companion to the father, broke into tears. Chester Alan Arthur, the son of an Irishman named William Arthur, was bom iu Fairfield, Vt., on the sth of October, 1830. After the customary New England schooling he entered Union College in Schenectady in 1856, and was graduated high up on the list four years later. Mr. Arthur supported himself while in college, and served his apprenticeship in tho humble inclosure of a schoolhouse. After two years in a law school, and a brief service as principal of tho North Pownal Academy, in Vermont, Mr. Arthur came to New' York and entered the law firm of Culver, Paisten & Arthur, after which, and until 1805, he was associated with Mr. Henry D. Gardner. The law career of Mr. Arthur includes some notable ■ cases. One of his first cases was the celebrated Lemmon suit. In 1852 Jonathan and Juliet Lemmon, Virginia slaveholders, intending to emigrate to Texas, came to New York to await tho Bailing of a steamer, bringing eight slaves with them. A writ of habeas corpus was obtained from Judge Paine to test the question whether the provisions of the fugitive-slave law were in force in this State. Judge Paine rendered a decision holding that they were not, aud ordered that the Lemmon slaves bo liberated. Henry L. Clinton was one of the counsel for the slaveholders. A howl of rag© went up from the South, and the Virginia Legislature authorized the Attorney General of that State to assist in taking an appeal. William M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed to represent the people, and they won their case, which then went to the Sufireme Court of the United States. Charles O’Conor here espoused the cause of the slaveholders, but he, too, was beaten by Messrs. Evarts and Arthur, and along step was taken toward the emancipation of the black race. Appearances are deceiving in this world* The nicest man you ever met was a buncosteerer.—Life.