Evening Star Newspaper, June 29, 1930, Page 80

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JUNE 29, 1990, Gartield Assassination Tragic to All- Washington Was Deeply Stirred by Death of President Whose Ability Gave Promise of Successful Administration—Penalty Paid by Guiteau—Old Church Where Executive - Worshiped and Old Railroad Station. " BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. - ORTY-NINE years ago this coming B Wednesday one of the greatest trage- / dies that ever occurred within the 5 United States took place in Wash- " ington. It was the assassination of : James Abram Garfield, and because he was - one of our dearest and most beloved Presi- dents the crime was regarded if possible as being even the more revolting and shocking. And the Jong weary days and anxious moments that elapsed from the day of the shooting to .the day of his death, on September 19, 1881, * fixes more vividly the dastardly crime in the minds of -those old enough at the time to " recall now this great outrage against free gov- " emmment and republican institutions. Inaugurated two days short of four months ° before, with all the pomp and splendor possible for such an event, concluding at night with ‘ the inaugural ball in what is now commonly " known as the Old Building of the National ° Museum, just then being completed, Gen. Gar- field had hardly adjusted himself to the duties of the presidency when, all of a sudden and without warning, the fiendish crime was com- mitted. President Garfield was unquestionably one of our most notable Chief Magistrates—intel- lectually, morally and politically. Friend and foe alike had nothing but praise for the man who by his own efforts and determination had elevated himself from the driver of mules on the canal to the loftiest office in the United States, only to be stricken down at the pin- nacle of his fame by a fanatical assassin with an imaginary grievance. The writer remembers well the morming he was shot. He recalls the excitement through- out the city; the pall thrown over everybody and everything. Business was brought almost to a standstill, while every one anxiously awaited the bulletins from the White House, telling the people of the President’s condition, while prayers for his recovery were on the lips of the public generally. THE crime occurred on the morning of Sat- i urday, July 2, 1881, in the Baltimore & * Potomac Railroad Depot, which then stood at the southwest corner of Sixth and B streets northwest, where today can be seen the founda- tion of the proposed George Washington Me- morial Building. . The President had left the White House and had arrived at the depot about 9:20 am. He ° lingered there a few minutes in his carriage, talking to Secretary Blaine, before entering the depot by way of the ladies’ entrance, which . was on the B street side of the building, the two men passing through the ladies’ waiting room arm in arm. However, they had not proceeded far when two shots rang out in - quick succession, the shooting having been done by Charles J. Guiteau, who had ap- proached the President from the rear. " The weapon used by the assassin was of the British bulldog revolver type, with a short . barrel, and noted for its inaccuracy, which accounted for the first bullet passing through the right coat sleeve of the President and doing no injury. The second shot, however, was more true and entered the body above the third rib. where the .44-caliber bullet lodged under the pancreas and stomach, about two « and one-half inches to the front and left of - the spinal column. Perhaps there are people still living who are familiar with the details of the assassination of Garfield, but very few, if any, who could ' speak with greater authority than Dr. William Tindall, whose service with the local govern- * ment runs back to the days when the District - of Columbia was governed to an extent by a . mayor, a board of aldermen and a common council. Dr. Tindall is still active and alert and on the job early and late at the District Building, and it is hoped that Congress and the Commissioners will find a way to keep him there, especially for his valuable knowledge of District affairs < THE doctor at this time was secretary to the 3 Board of Commissioners, and his story eof " the sad event, as delivered before the Columbia ~ Historical Society some years ago, is interest- " ing enough to repeat. In part, he said: “While busy at my desk in the office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, which was then housed in the Morrison Build- - ing on the west side of Four-and-a-half street, now John Marshall place, a few minutes before ‘ 10 o'clock on the morning of July 2, 1881, I - was startied by the abrupt entrance of the - office messenger and his excited exclamation ° that ‘Vice President Arthur has just been killed 8t the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Station.’ . “I immediately left the building to go to - the station, but, upon reaching the northwest ¢orner of Four-and-a-half street and Penn- - sylvania avenue, where the police headquarters was then situated, was atiracted by two de- - tectives leading a man up the outside steps - on the Four-and-a-half street side of the building, by means of which access was had to the second story, where the office of the superintendent of police was quartered. 3 “I inVlowed them up the steps, and when I reached the top the.man in custody of the - officers turned his face toward me and smiled . 8t me with a silly sort of leer. , Some years before, when the territorial form of govern- ment for the District of Columbia was in foree, one of the prominent participants in the local _ political gatherings in the voting district in which I then resided was a highly nervous, Opening of the Garfield inaugural ball in the building of the National Museun:. excitable man of more than ordinary mental culture but regarded as somewhat eccentric. The man under arrest so nearly resembled this man in appearance that I thought it was he and was about to address him as such and ask him why he was under police restraint, when one of the officers whispered to me, “This is Guiteau, the man who shot the President.’ It was Charles J. Guiteau. “I visited this man at the District Jauil sev- eral weeks later, where his conversation with me confirmed the impression made upon me by the self-satisfied simper which I had noted on his face on the police headquarters steps— that if his mind were not unbalanced it would take very little excitement to make it so. “His egregious egotism, which was tanta- mount to mental irresponsibility, was apparent from his vainglorious boast at the time of his arrest in the railroad station that ‘I did it and want to be arrested. I am a stalwart, and Arthur is President,’ as if the crime entailed no punitive consequences to himself, but rather exalted him into an object entitled to public adulation, “No one could duly estimate bhis boundless self-esteem without having seen the self- satisfied grin which animated his face when- ever he was pleased with what he said. It was that facial expression which most im- pressed me about him, both at police head- quarters and when I met him at the jail. “THE following letter, which was taken from Guiteau’s pocket, gives a fair idea of his mental condition: “‘July 2, 1881. ““To the White House: The President’s death was a sad necessity, but it will unite the Republican party and save the Republic. Life is a flimsy dream, and it matters little when one goes—a buman life is of small value. During the war thousands of brave boys went down without a tear. I presume the President was a Christian, and that he will be hap- pier in Paradise than here. It will be no worse for Mrs. Garfield, dear soul, to part with her husband thit way than The Baltimore & Potomac Railroad depot. natural death. He is liable to go at any time, anyway. I had no ill will towards the President. His death was a political necessity. I am a lawyer, a theologian and a politician. I am a stalwart of the stalwarts. I was with Gen. Grant and the rest of our men in New York during the canvass. I have some papers for the press which I shall leave with Byron Andrews and his co-journalists at 1420 New York avenue, where all re- porters can see them. I am going to the Jail. CHARLES J. GUITEAU.’ “He wrote that letter before he shot the President, obviously with the expectation thas it would be accepted by the country as a justi- fication of his crime. “When the detective informed me of the identity of his prisoner and the cause of his arrest it occurred to me that I might be of some service at the railroad station, toward which I immediately went. “When I reached the station President Gar- field had been carried up to the second-story southeast room. The police officer at the foot of the stairway halted me there, but Lieut. Charles R. Vernon of the police department, who soon thereafter appeared, said, ‘Let him up, he's a doctor,” which was stretching a very slender fact to its limit, as it had been several vears since I had had occasion to employ my medical information in either advice or treat- ment, at least to others than my own family. “Upon arriving at the room where the Presi= dent was lying upon the floor I noticed abouf & half dozen persons in the room, but neo physician. I asked the President if I could be of any service to him, to which he replied that he was very comfortable except for the tingling in his feet, which reminded him of the feeling he had when a bov when his foot was asleep. “Soon after he said that he w.uwid lhike a little more air and suggested that the window be opened. I opened it slightly, but he almost im- mediately said that it made him chilly and asked that I close it, which I did. He remarked that the only dtsfi'eaing discomfort the shock had caused him was the nausea at first, which was relieved by the vomiting, down on the first floor soon after he was shot. By this time several persons had come into the room.” From July 2 to early on the morning of September 6 the stricken President remained at the White House, when it was felt that a change to Elberon, N. J., might prove of benefit. For the purpose of conveying him to and from the train the most exacting preparations and care were taken; even the street railway tracks at Ninth and Seventh streets were covered with sawdust to prevent possible jarring, the Presi= dent being conveyed over the route in an ex- press wagon. A WITNESS to this sad spectacle tells us: “As the wagon approached the end of the drive the gates were thrown open, and the mass of people who had collected to witness