Part 58 (1/2)
The following facts will give an idea of the size of this great statue: the forefinger is more than eight feet long; the second joint is about five feet in circ.u.mference; the finger-nail is a foot long, and the nose nearly four feet; the head is fourteen and a half feet high, and can accommodate forty persons, while the hollow torch will hold twelve persons. The copper sheets which form the outside of the statue weigh eighty-eight tons. From the base to the top of the torch is slightly more than 150 feet, which is 305 feet above low-water mark.
DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT.
In no event of Cleveland's first administration was the public more deeply concerned than in the death of General Grant, the foremost defender of the Union. After his return from his triumphant journey around the world, he engaged in business in the city of New York. The soul of honor himself, it was hard for him to believe the dishonesty of others; but he became the victim of unscrupulous persons, and lost not only all his own savings but those of many of his friends. He did everything in his power to make good his losses, but succeeded only to a slight extent. He was ruined financially, though a grateful nation would never permit him to suffer want.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FUNERAL TRAIN OF GENERAL GRANT Pa.s.sING WEST POINT.]
It was at this sad period that a cancer developed at the root of his tongue, and, though he received the best medical attention in the country, the malignant excrescence soon made it evident that he was beyond human help. He devoted himself heroically to writing his memoirs, and, with the grim determination which was so marked a feature of his character, he fought off the last great enemy until the valuable work was finished.
General Grant's last days were spent with his family at Mount McGregor in New York State, where he quietly breathed his last on the evening of July 22, 1885. The body was embalmed and removed to the City Hall in New York, where it was viewed by mourning thousands before its removal to the last resting-place in Riverside Park. The final impressive scenes, when the remains were deposited in the mausoleum on the banks of the Hudson, took place in 1897.
DEATH OF VICE-PRESIDENT HENDRICKS.
Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States, died November 25, 1885, at his home in Indianapolis, from paralysis of the heart. He was born in Ohio in 1819, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He was elected to the Indiana Legislature in 1848, and three years later became Democratic member of Congress from the central district of Indiana. He was chosen a United States senator in 1868, and strongly opposed the impeachment of President Johnson. He was prominently named several times for the presidency of the United States. In Indianapolis, where he had long made his home, he was universally respected by members of all parties.
OTHER VICE-PRESIDENTS WHO DIED IN OFFICE.
Since Mr. Hendricks was not the first Vice-President to die in office, it will be interesting to complete the list. George Clinton served one term under Jefferson, and had nearly ended another under Madison, when he died in 1812. His career had been extraordinary. He was a soldier in the French and Indian War, was a sailor on a privateer, and became a brigadier-general in the Revolution, but was unsuccessful in his defense of the Highland forts in 1777. At one time he was a member of the Provincial Congress and was the first governor of New York, serving for eighteen years, from 1777 to 1795, and again 1801-04, when he became Vice-President. His death occurred in Was.h.i.+ngton, and the eight pall-bearers were Revolutionary soldiers.
It was a curious coincidence that the next Vice-President to die in office was the immediate successor of Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, who died November 23, 1814. He was a native of Ma.s.sachusetts, a member of its colonial House of Representatives and a delegate to the Continental Congress. He signed the Declaration of Independence and aided in framing the Const.i.tution, though he refused to sign it, on the ground that it conferred too much power on the national government. He held a number of important public offices and was governor of Ma.s.sachusetts in 1810 and 1811. In the latter year, the Republicans (modern Democrats) carried out a redistricting scheme by which the Ess.e.x district took a form which many fancied bore a resemblance to a salamander. It was from this incident that the word ”gerrymander,” so often heard in politics in these days, took its name.
It will be recalled that when Franklin Pierce became President, the Vice-President, William R. King, was an invalid in Cuba, where he took the oath of office before the American consul. He was in the last stages of consumption and died shortly after his return to his home in Alabama.
Henry Wilson, Vice-President with General Grant, died November 25, 1875, his death being hastened, it is believed, by the news of the death of his intimate friend, Senator Ferry, of Connecticut.
The death of General McClellan has already been mentioned as taking place on the 29th of October, 1885. A few months later, February 9, 1886, General Hanc.o.c.k died at his home on Governor's Island.
DEATH OF GENERAL HANc.o.c.k--HIS CAREER.
General Winfield Scott Hanc.o.c.k was an ideal American soldier and officer, brave, chivalrous, courteous to foe as well as friend, patriotic, a gentleman at all times and under all circ.u.mstances, genial, remarkably handsome and prepossessing in manner, who made friends everywhere. His conduct of political affairs in a section of the South during the troublous reconstruction days won the commendation of his government and the respect of the South, who p.r.o.nounced him a ”just man,” for whom they formed a strong personal affection. But for Hanc.o.c.k's unfortunate slip, he a.s.suredly would have been elected President of the United States in 1880.
The two peculiarities of Hanc.o.c.k's birth was that he was a twin and was born on St. Valentine's day, February 14, 1824, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Appointed to West Point, he found among his fellow-cadets U.S. Grant, G.B. McClellan, Rosecrans, Longstreet, and Stonewall Jackson.
Hanc.o.c.k entered the Mexican War as second lieutenant, taking part in three engagements, receiving a wound and winning the brevet of first lieutenant. He was appointed quartermaster in 1855, with the rank of captain. Three years later he was a member of the expedition to Utah to bring the Mormons to terms. When the Civil War broke out, he was at Los Angeles, Southern California, where considerable sympathy was shown for the Southern Confederacy. The tact of the United States forces in that section held the State true, a patriotic speech of General Hanc.o.c.k contributing greatly to the same end.
His patriotism would not allow him to remain idle, and, when he learned of the grave condition of affairs in the East, he applied to be called thither. The request was granted, and he was so anxious to serve his country that he did not pause to call on his parents while on the way to Was.h.i.+ngton.
Hanc.o.c.k's first appointment was as quartermaster-general in General Robert Anderson's command in Kentucky; but McClellan, who knew his worth, made a personal request of President Lincoln to appoint him brigadier-general. His commission was dated September 23, 1861.
McClellan said of him: ”He was a man of the most chivalrous courage and of superb presence, especially in action; he had a wonderfully quick and correct eye for ground and for handling troops; his judgment was good, and it would be difficult to find a better corps commander.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: CITY HALL, PHILADELPHIA.
Equestrian statues of Generals Reynolds and McClellan ornament the plaza, and one of General Hanc.o.c.k is to be erected on one of the vacant corners.]
General Hanc.o.c.k gave invaluable help in moulding the Army of the Potomac into the magnificent form it attained, and his brigade was conceded to be the finest and most effective in the whole army at the time the landing was made on the peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the James River.
In the b.l.o.o.d.y battle of Williamsburg, his skill and personal courage were of the highest order. Making a feint of retreating, he drew the enemy after him into the position he intended, when he turned and a.s.sailed them with a furious musketry fire. It was his men who captured the first colors taken by the Army of the Potomac, and it was on that occasion that Hanc.o.c.k used the expression which has been often quoted.