Evening Star Newspaper, June 29, 1930, Page 81

the depature obtained a momentary glimpse ;' of the President. He was lying, says the cor- i respendemt of the New York Tribume, ‘mearly " upon his back, with his face turned to the lest. * He had been carefully covered with a sheet and a light white blanket or spread, which Zagg T TH fro rel actually to enjoy the experience and to be improving. His pulse, which reached 118 early in the morning, fell to 110, and even lower. He did not talk much, and, in fact, could not. His veice was too feeble to make his words distinguishable amid the noise of the running train without too much effort on the part of the patient. Several times he asked what time it was, and once or twice inquired the names of stopping places. Beef tea was the sole nutriment given him during the journey. “In all the towns and cities through which the train passed crowds of people assembled in silent sympathy. Nowhere was there the slightest approach to noise. In many places, where great multitudes of workingmen and mechanics had assembled, hats were silently removed and their owners stood uncovered as the train passed by. Trains upon side tracks, wherever they were encountered, were crowded with people desirous of getting a glimpse of the President, but not cbtrusive nor demonstrative, Some people waved flags but none cheered. “The train reached Elberon a few minutes past 1 o'clock. It moved over the track which had been laid during the night and morning from the main road to Francklyn Cottage, which had been prepared for the President’s reception; the bed was tenderly lifted by strong men, and the invalid, who had borne the long journey 6o well, was soon resting in a large, airy room in the second story, where the invig- mungstrrmmtheopen sea must have been indeed refreshing after all the long confine- ment in the sultry air of Washington.” GARF’ELD lingered until the 19th day of ¢ September, when he peacefully passed away. Guiteau, whose mind was undoubtedly, impaired, was tried, convicted and executed in the District Jail, out near Congressional Cem- etery, on Friday, June 30, 1882, a little less than a year after the crime was committed. As a prisoner and a defendant im court Guiteau was spectacular, to. say the least. He Just loved to be the center of attraction, and no doubt would have selected a large audi- ence to witness his execution had the arrange- ments been left to him. On the evening before he paid the penalty of the law, in reply to the inquiry made by Dr. Young as to his health, Guiteau said: “I'm feeling very well, doctor. Please see that there is no hitch in the ' 'machine tomorrow. I want to g0 off promptly at '12 o'clock, and I want the work to be done “I'll attend to that,” replied the doctor. Among the incidents of common occurrence ' that the writer will always remember were the martyr President’s visits- made each Sabbath morning to the wooden Cambellite Church, generally spoken of as the Vermomt Avenue Christian Church—which then steod on the site of the present church, on the west side of ' Vermont avenue between N stréet and Logan circie. Invariably the President was accompanied by his aged mother and his wife, and a crowd was always there to see them go in 'and out of this modest house of worship. To his mother the President was always unuiually attentive, and he always took her arm to assist her feeble footsteps. No son was ever kinder to a parent than was he. PTER Garfield’s death the old church was moved to the rear or Fourteenth street side of the lot, where services were conducted : until the new church was finished, when the old one was torn down and not long after- ward moved to another site and used as a saloon, as has been said. As the writer then attended the Sumday school of the Memorial Lutheran Church, near- by, at Vermont avenue and N ‘street, he re- calls this old church and Gaerfield’s - visits there quite vividly. For years he has sought & picture of this historic building; but without - success until recently. v Originally it is said once to have been the - meeting house of the Mount Vernon M. E. Church, when it was at the northwest corner of Ninth and M streets, and after having -+ An old account says that the lot had a frontage of 80 feet, and that the building about 40 by 60 feet, with' a gallery at east end, and its seating capacity is at about 400 persons, which is doubtful. first pastor there was Rev. F. D. Power, it was he who filled the pulpit at the of Garfield’s attendance and for a num- i of years afterward. Dr. Power was & most delightful clergyman and had ‘s host of ad- mirers. For awhile he served as chaplain of the United States Senate, and when he died [T I8N <A 1% THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, B. C, N0 M) S A T Do E 29, 193. *ralv vl The Inauguration of President Garfield, Chief Justice W hite administering the eath of office. he was succeeded as pastor of the churfh hy the Rev. Earle Wilfley, who is still in charge. A new church for this denomination is now being erected to the northwest of Thoma® Circle, between Massachusetts avenue and Fourteenth street. According to Wilhelmus Bogart Bryan, the history of the Disciples of Christ m Wash- ington dates back to '830, when they held their meetings in the home of Dr. Barclay. “Four years after the Disciples of Chris> or Christian Church had, in 1830, become a de¢- nomination,” says Mr. Bryan, “a church was founded in this city. This was due to the labors of James T. Barclay, M..D., one of the active missionaries spreading abroad the teach- ings held by the followers of Alexander Camp- bell. The first meeting was held in Dr. Bar- clay's residence, near the Navy Yard. The use of private homes was continued, and for many years the- congregation did not ou:i- grow such limited accommodation. When, 17 years later, an appeal was made through the denominational newspeper for subscriptions to erect a church building in Washington, it was stated in regard to the local congregation, A few disciples are there meeting in private rooms—a noble little band truly, but with- out much of this world's goods’ Four years before the Civil War the congregation was using Temperance Hall.” Tlll old Baltimore & Potomac Railroad De- pot, in which President Garfield was shot, stood on Government ground, and its sheds extended for almost a block south of the main building. The tracks, over which came the railroad trains from the South, occupied Sixth street all the way to Maryland avenue. Archi- tectnally the building was very pleasing to the eye, and from this standpoint was not a dis- credit to the city, though the placing of the depot on north B street, and the tracks in South Washington, did surely not enhanee the value of property in this section of the city. It undoubtedly was a great relief to adjacent property owners when the depot and the tracks leading to it were removed, shortly after the completion of the Union Station in 1907. The Baltimore & Potomac Railroad was first opened for business between Baltimore and Washington in the Summer of 1872, though the depot, according to William Bender Wil- son, at that time ‘“was a very uninviting-look- ing frame structure, with a platform having a pine ched roof over it, and stood just outside the present one.” The depot in which Garfield was shot was not sufficiently completed to be occupied until 1873, and some of the older residents may recall that the ground on which it stands was piled with wooden poles to the depth of 9‘1-- —— sfeet.beenmolthnflmolunm’ hereabout, it being right ever the course o the old Tiber Oreek, later eonverted inw ihe Washington Canal, a portion of which is now, a larger sewer, and which upon several oc« casions has backed up and flooded this tere ritory, which is one of the lowest points in the city. In 18890 @n enterprising photographer took & picture of a man in a rowboat in ihe main passenger station of the depot, but, unfortunately, this is not satisfactory fcr re- production. It demonstrates, however, that water will seek its level and that the level at this time was in this vicinity. laying of tracks in South Washington dates from August, 1854, when Congress suthorised the Alexandria & Washington Rail- read Co. to lay its tracks in Washington, sube ject to the approval of the municipal authori- ties, and the following year the latter gave permission to construct a single-track rafle road from the Long Bridge, along Maryland avenue to First street west, thence along that street across Pennsylvania avenue and on to the Baltimore & Ohio passenger station, Thig railway company was not a success, and its tracks were abandoned in May, 1861. The War Department took charge of the property, for military purposes. At first the iron was teken up from the south end of the Long Bridge, but later restored. At an early period of steam railroading tn the District, we are told, “trains using ‘he streets of Washington were compelled to be preceded by a man on horseback, carrying a flag over his shoulder,” and, “as that pllot was usually a colored citizen, 8. C. Wilson, superintendent of telegraph, named it the ‘Black Horse Cavalry.’” Afterward, when . the trains were regularly scheduled, the front brakemen of each train was required to stand on the pilot of the locomotive, holding emt a red flag. 5 After the death of Garfield, the railroad company caused a star to be placed in the floor of the ladies’ waiting room where he fell on that fatal day, and later a marble Lablet, erected as a memorial to him, was placed on the wall, directly above the spot where he was stricken by the insane assassin. This memorial was inscribed: James Abram Garfield President of the United States July 2, 1881 At the time the building was razed, these historic relics were removed by respansible parties, and are now, no doubt, in safe keeping. To ever so many people, the mention of this old depot will bring fond recollections, amd perhaps sad ones as well. The writer saw & number of our best young men leave the city through the doors of this depot to go to the Spanish-American War, back in 1898—some never to return alive, others to return as living heroes who had risked their all for a country that bss ever stood for all the virtues of a free and indo- pendent Republic. Air Mail Grou'ing;' THE poundage carried by the air mail lines of this country, which now number 25, keeps increasing steadily. The total for May was ‘687,058 pounds, an increase of mnearly 16,000 pounds over April, which in turn was 46,000 pounds higher than March. Encampment of soldiers at the White House lawn following the assassination of President Garfield.