Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 July 1885 — ULYSSES S. GRANT. [ARTICLE]

ULYSSES S. GRANT.

The Earthly Career of the Nation’s Hero Brought to a Close. Scenes and Incidents Attending the Closing Moments of the Old Soldier. Hundreds of Telegrams of Inquiry Beceived from All Sections of the Country.

A decided chance for the worse took plaoe 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 kmg-snffering patient was surely sinking. Shortly after one o’clock on the morning of the 220, 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 es 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 wart ranted by the little remaining strength. He •poke at intervals, but hts 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 pnlse was 130. At 6:50 p. m. the bulletin was •enkout that the General was sinking. At 7:4(t C. S. Grant, Jr., and Drs. Shrady and Sands reached Mount MacGregor by special train, and Dri Douglas said that Gen. Grant could live but • few hours. Dr, Newman also said that the General had almost reached the end. Telegrams came from all parts of the country inquiring about the dying chieftain's condition. At 9:03 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 thought he was sleeping he was fully aware of all that was taking place abont him. His faithful servants were with him near.y 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 ot Thursday, the 23d, the General remained in the same quiet condition. Hypcdennies of brandy were being used. At two o’clock in the morning the family were astir, and the whole house was lighted np with the exception of the re-ception-room. Ilere 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 •nddenly and beckoned to him, when the Doctor ascended the piazza and entered the sickroom. 4 A moment later the whole household wore grouped about the General. Day was dawning over the eastern hills, and it was feared that the rising of the snu would mark the close of the long struggle. At 4a. m. the respirations were 50, the pulse so rapid as not to be oounted, and hypodermics, which had been quite freely administered through the night, had no longer any marked effect. At 4:80 a. m. Dr. Donglas said: “Gen. Grant is just alive, and, is liable to" pass away at any moment," At 4:so’O*clock the breathing was quickened and reached so to the minute. At 5 o’clock Dr. Donglas 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 filing of the lungs and throat with mucus, was plainly heard by the loving and devoted ones at his bed- ' side. He then recognized his friends by opening his eyes. At a few minutes before 8 o’clock Gen. 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 ovferan hour before the General’s death he had diawn nte breath only with the utmost difficulty, the respirations coming in long, gurgling gasps, the throat * being clogged with mneus. At the last moment the General was, it seemed, conscious, and for a brief spare 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 by no selfish motives andby 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 ccnt£mporary, 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 •gainst the practices of the trickster. Ali 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 • 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 ns 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, • Kit h in saving common sense, And, as the greatest only are. In his simplicity sublime.