Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1892 — DEATH COMES AT LAST. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEATH COMES AT LAST.

END OP MRS. HARRISON’SSTRUGGLE FOR LIFE. The Family at the Bedside When the Sommoai Came—sConscloua to the Last,, and Passed Peacefully Away—Her Home Life. A Noble Woman Gone. Mrs. Harrison is no more. At 1:40 a. m., Tuesday, came the end. For thesecond time in the history of the White House a President’s wife has died within, its. walls. Mrs. Harrison met death, with the patience and resignation of -a devout Christian, and her last days were comparatively free from pain. It could hardly be said lhat the patient was unconscious during the eveninghours, for she betrayed some signs of understanding the attempts made to relieve her last moments by partially" opening her [parehed lips to receive the stimulating fluid' applied to them, from time to time. But not a drop could she swallow, and the power ot speech had apparently left her fram& forever. In addition the physician’s experienced eye noted as the evening wore on an increase in the difficulty of. breathing, which was regarded as an ominous sign. At last the end came, and surrounding the bedside of the loved one were aJI the members of the* family in Washington. For a few moments the silent watchers were overwhelmed with grief. When they emerged from the room, the President retired to* his own chamber, and was alone with, his great bereavement. fra. Hai-i-i.-ion’h Home Life. Incidents innumerable are told of Mrs. Harrison’s home life. Mrs. Harrison directed her own household after the most approved housewifely ex-

amples. Like the Empress of Germany, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, she was reared and educated in the oldfashioned way. The housekeeping in the White House was not a promotion to Mrs. Harrison in a practical sense, as she never before had a house with so few bed chambers in it as has the Executive Mansion. The Empross of Germany has the minutest details of her imperial housekeeping at her royal’fingers’ ends; so had Mrs. Harrison ail the domestic affairs of the President’s house within her knowing. She was the head of tho housekeeping and she managed it with all the care and discretion that she ever exercised in her own house. Housemaids, housekeeper, and steward were all under Mrs. Harrison’s supervising direction, whose first care was for the comfort of her husband. Mrs. Harrison was a model hostess, with a long experience in entertaining, both in Indianapolis and in Washington, in both of which places her name is a synonym socially for all that is graceful and agreeable. When in Washington during the Senatorial terms of her hpsband she never assumed the cares of a house of her own. but her quiet receptions once or twice each week, held in her parlors, were frequented by the best people of the city. Artistically she had what was almost a hobby for painting on china, in which she long indulged, and was very proficient. Delicate, fragile bits of china, plaques, and vases paintec. by her bear traces of an aln ost professional touch. This work, the result of an original taste, coupled with constant practice, is really charming. In making her designs Mrs. Harrison wus accustomed to gather buds aud blossoms fresh from the flower beds, and make her studies directly from nature. Mrs. Harrison was also fond of artistic needlework and embroidery. As a needlewoman she marked with her monogram each piece of linen in the house at Indianapolis from bedclothing to napkins. Among the social graces for which Mrs. Harrison was known, and one fully tested in the White House, was her practice of seeing each visitor who called. She was never known to show irritation or annoyance, and it must be a flagrant case indeed when she refused to receive a caller. In youth she was known as petite, and daguerreotypes show a slight, girlish figure, with a face so bewitching as to have almost the appearance of a fanciful ideal. In later years She grew stouter, but her features were still regular and retailed much of the charm for whioh the owner was once noted, while there was always a mirthful turn to the corners of her mouth, which gave her face an inviting and pleasant expression. The passage of years destroyed iorever the youthful outline of her ligure and brought a little gray into the black hair, at one time very dark. The greatest charm in Mrs. Harrison’s disposition w&s her strong common sense, her evenness of temper, her willingness to oblige, and the kindly thought for everybody else which dominated every act. She cultivated the faculty of saying a happy thing of everybody, and repressed the strong inclination to say witty th'ngs which always came so easy to her, for fear she might unwittingly offend a sensitive person. Her high position did not change her in the slightest degree, unless it were to make her feel more than ever willing to give up her private inclinations to do that which was expected from her by the public. The people who knew Mrs. Harrison when her husband was in the Senate could find no change in her when she came lo the White House, save that the passage of years had silvered her soft brown hair. Mrs. Harrison was just the same—kind and thoughtful for everybody, great and small —and the friends of her early days in Washington were her friends to the last. She was probably one of the most industrious mistresses the White House has ever had. Her own method of life was so simple that it gave her more time than ordinarily comes to persons in high places to devote to things she liked best. She was a constant reader of the best literature and devoted to her brush. She had been a diligent pupil for several years in the study of china painting, and her talent was often displayed in the gifts she made her friends at the holiday period. In carrying out the hospitality of the White House she has never been excelled. She presided with easy dignity and grace upon all occasions, and omitted bo detail that would add to the pleasure of those attending them. She carried out to the letter the written and unwritten laws of the house, and did as much more as it was possible to dp within the limits of each season.

MRS. PRESI(?)T HARRISON.