PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPTEMBER 9, 1901.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 208, 9 September 1901, Page 2

PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPTEMBER 9, 1901.

ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. The dastardly attempt to murder the popular President McKinley lias naturally caused a thrill of horror throughout the world. Our cablegrams of Saturday morning gave a brief report of an eloquent progressive speech by the President; in the afternoon there was dashed through the wires the startling information that Mr McKinley had been shot. Later news : happily indicated that the assassin had not been successful in wholly accomplishing his purpose. 11 Our statesman warrior,” the Americans love to call their President, and it is a remarkable fact that a man who first came into prominence on lh.o f;eld of battle, amid a hail of bullets, should have his life attempted by revolver and bullet. He made' his triumphal entry into history’s blazing calcium light, mounted on an army waggon which charged into the field of battle at Antieiam —loaded with hot coffee and sandwiches ! At the time, McKinley was a commissary sergeant, under 21 years of age. The army had been fighting in the field for many hours without food or drink. The young sergeant pressed the stragglers into service as cooks, and getting a couple of waggons ready with steaming hot coffee and sandwiches, he drove through the lines, despite the warnings of superior officers, and though the bullets came thickly zipping around him, to every man in his regiment he gave food and drink. Nowadays it docs not seem a great thing to do, but it was the first time in the history of war that it had been done. And it was McKinley all over—a man who thought of others and disregarded danger to himself. The act gained

him promC. fiou tll) “ lieutenant, and gradu ally he rose higher aiiu hljhsr Until lt£ occupied £i-o chief office of State. William was ever the idoi of his brothers and sisters; his brother was laughed at twenty years ago for prophesying that William would become President of the United States. In the war the young man greatly distinguished himself. The history of the statesman after he became Isuch must be known to all our readers, but it is well to look to where he found the royal road that leads to fame. In his own home, among his brothers and sisters, he began his upward course. By kindness, by diligence, by filial aspect he got his footing. By earnest studies, and the vanquishing of them in good-natured debate, he made his way among his schoolmates. Among his comrades in the j war he won his way by bravery. At the bar ho fought fiercely, yet handled opponents so gently as to win their friendship. |

Away back in the little village o£ Poland’ in Ohio, he began, by these small gentlenesses and strong efforts to do well in small things. As one admiring writer states : “ The gentle strokings of an old mother’s hand; the kindly offered cup to the choking soldier ; those were the steps that took William McKinley out of the broad boulevard, which 99 per cent of us are travelling toward the great eternal failure, and put him on the lonesome trail that led to success.” And then, when lie lias so well shown himself to be qualified for the leading position, to be shot down by a cowardly anarchist —it seems hard to realise, though we know other great men have fallen victims to the assassin. The hope of all will be that the great warrior statesman may soon recover from the effects of the bullets. A feeling of the deepest sympathy will be extended to that good lady who has stood by him in his trials and his triumphs. A few months ago Mrs McKinley was at death's door ; she recovered, but the shock of this blow may go severely with her. Their love has been described by a member of the family as being like that of two children. “Mr McKinley cannot walk across the room without looking at the wife ; will not leave the room without speaking to her; never leave the house without saying good-bye. ’ Mr McKinley travels thousands and thousands of miles in order to be with her husband, and ever cheers him on his way. The scene at the bedside, as reported in our cablegrams, must have been a very pathetic one. “ We must bear up ; it will be better for both,” said the kindly husband. Mrs McKinley has assisted her husband in politics, she has been a wise counsellor, a sympathiser, and has heartily enjoyed all the honors he has wop. Many a time her presence served as an inspiration to him. it was she who urged him to accept his first political preferment. Though at times he doubted his ability, she never did so ; she was over confident that his services would be for the good of the State. Ail but five years of their married life has been spent by him in public service, but his good wife encouraged him always. The statement that the police believe that there has been an organised plot by Anarchists against the life of the President does not seem credible ; it sounds more like American sensationalism. The probability is that the act, though deliberately plotted by the assassin, was conceived by himsolf without confederates. That, however, should soon bo discovered. The fiend has said so much that it is probable he may say more. The people of New Zealand will sinccroly join in the messages of sympathy sent, and the hope of all will be that the President will long bo spared to take a leading part in swaying the destinies of the United States.