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Show CM 2 Lincoln the Only President Ever Under Enemy's ! fire While Holding Office of Chief Executive; II J ki CsN fl CIaIIAM I. ..1 nr l A It Happeneu di 1 PRESIDENT LINCOLN UNDER FIRE AT FORT STEVENS. (From the sketch by James E. Kelly in the Kelly collection owned by Dr. George. Hope Ryder of New York City, reproduced by courtesy of the United States Army Recruiting News.) By ELMO SCOTT WATSON I (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) SEVENTY-FIVE years ago this month a President of the United States stood on the parapets of a fort and heard the bullets of enemy soldiers whistling about his ears (he only case on record of a Chief Executive having that experience during his term of office. The President was Abraham Lincoln and the scene of his narrow escape from death was Fort Stevens on the outskirts of Washington on July 12, 1864. It came about in this way: f In June of that year Urant f egan his famous "hammer-fig" "hammer-fig" campaign against Richmond Rich-mond which drove Lee back jpon Petersburg. By the first Of July it seemed certain that Petersburg was doomed and fhen it fell the door to the lapital of the Confederacy S'ould be opened. Realizing that Grant was not to e beaten off by direct assault, Lee decided to make a threatening threaten-ing gesture toward Washington. He sent Gen. Jubal A. Early and 30,000 picked men to the Shenan-4oah Shenan-4oah valley to sweep down upon Washington from the north. Early bad reached Martinsburg, W. Va., before Grant became aware of hat was taking place. Immediately Immedi-ately the Union commander ordered or-dered small detachments of cav-!ry cav-!ry into the valley to harass Early and delay him until he tould bring the Sixth Army Corps to the rescue of the capital. Next tie ordered Gen. Lew Wallace, Iho was at Annapolis with 8,000 hundred-day men" to intercept Parly at Frederick. Sweeping up the Shenandoah, fany crushed a small Union - MWkUX ton commanded by Gen. Franz gel, swung off to Maryland Heights and bottled up another force led by General Weber. On July 5 he crossed the Potomac "d the next day captured both tiagerstown and Frederick. On Juiy 8 he met Wallace's green koops on the banks of the Monody Mono-dy and, although he defeated t-era decisively and scattered aa Jace Partia accom-P"sned accom-P"sned his purpose of delaying invaders for a little while arlyTbegan making forced parches. July 10 found him at S2vndthe mormn ofthe s eventh his cavalry reached Silver Sil-ver ipnng, on the outskirts of yZ"gton? the main col-pnn col-pnn close behind. S3Wfcr?f?was Prtected by ttSkfe J0?? fa Anacostia; two heaw We.and 19 forts and A fThP tteies 0n tte north- ForiS? fications were t the w V Wnght' commander ue Wrashmatnn j . . L ,v!nt to meet the invarW Sed6',80011 beaten ck tlot hous along Pras fire rSf: " Pouring a mur-k&J mur-k&J Pi" into 'had been was c,! 7,man wh could arjfohed these troops Syiewoftfe Iv n from f; moved IheTri . to fort an rri' J?s,t,.ons 'm the rife t-y to give an impres rui i jievtm jum n Tears Ago ' '"L"' sion of a great force of troops in reserve. Then, just as the Confederates Con-federates started to deploy along a two-mile front for a concerted attack, Wright attempted a magnificent mag-nificent bluff. A A skeleton regiment of 400 men of the Twenty-fifth New York dismounted dis-mounted cavalry, commanded by Captain Chamberlain, which had just arrived from Baltimore, where it was being remounted and reorganized after being cut to pieces during the fighting in Virginia, filed into the rifle pits. Suddenly they leaped out, and, yelling like demons, charged through the picket line, drove back the Confederate skirmishers GEN. JUBAL A. EARLY and recaptured the stone houses where the Gray sharpshooters were hiding. Acting as though Grant's "Invincible Sixth Corps" were backing them up, instead of a few thousand ineffective troops, they completely fooled the invaders invad-ers and stopped their advance. Early hesitated and let slip his golden opportunity to capture Washington and perhaps end the war. As the forts increased their fire he began to withdraw his troops. A few hours later Grant's veterans of the Wilderness marched into the capital. Wash ington was saved! That night there was heavy skirmishing in what is now Rock Creek park and Brightwood with the guns of Fort Stevens and Fort De Russey still roaring defiance at the invaders. During the night Early learned from his spies how he had been fooled and, filled with rage at the thought of his lost oDDortunitv. he resolved to renew the attack despite the arrival of the Union reinforcements On the morning of July 12 he again advanced to the attack, aft er sending his sharpshooters lor ward to open fire on the defend ers of the forts. During the morn ing President Lincoln arrived on the scene in his carriage, accompanied accom-panied by Mrs. Lincoln. As General Gen-eral Wright advanced to greet him, the President extended his hand, saying, "General, I am very glad to see you. This looks tllifili as though we were going to do something." "Mr. President." replied the general, pointing toward Fort Stevens, "if you'll just come along down there with me, I'll show you one of the prettiest lit tle fights you could wish to see." Years later, General Wright told of the historic incident thus: "No sooner were the words out of my mouth than I deeply regretted re-gretted having uttered them. I fully realized that the President's life was far too valuable to be brought into danger by any care less words of mine. But it was too late. He not only accepted my invitation but insisted upon accompanying me, notwithstanding notwithstand-ing all I could say to prevent him. He sent his wife back and when I mounted the parapet, there he was beside me, looking out upon the scene with a great deal of interest. The enemy's sharpshooters were firing pretty closely, and I explained to him that the place was entirely too dangerous for. him. " 'It is not more dangerous for me than it is for you,' he re plied coolly. " 'But it is my duty to be here while it is your duty not to expose yourself. Your position requires this, and I particularly request you to remember it.' "Just then a sharpshooter's bullet struck a surgeon who was standing near the President and I became really alarmed for his safety and I have no doubt, a little lit-tle excited, as I said firmly: " 'Mr. President, you must really real-ly get down from this exposed position: I cannot allow you to remain here longer and if you refuse re-fuse I shall deem it my duty to have you removed under guard.' " 'I suppose the absurdity of my threatening to put the President Presi-dent of the United States under arrest amused him, for he smiled, looked at me quizzically and got down behind the parapet, where I provided him with an ammunition box for a seat, but he wouldn't sit still a minute at a time and was constantly stretching up his long form to see what was going on, thereby exposing fully half of himself to danger in spite of all I could do; and thus he contin ued to bob up and down until the action was over, when he cheered lustily along with the rest and bidding us good night, got into his carriage and rode away home. Soon afterwards the whole Con federate line moved forward but counter-attacks from Fort De Russey drove the flanks in toward Fort Stevens. Despite the hot fire poured into the Confederates, they advanced to within a short distance of the rifle pits before their lines broke and retreated. Under the cover of darkness, General Early withdrew his forces and crossed over into Vir ginia at White's Ford into Lou doun county. His retreat was a masterly one and accomplished with such skill that the Union forces were not aware of his with drawal until he was too far away to be overtaken. In recent years a reproduction of old Fort Stevens, whose val iant defenders saved the nation's capital 75 years ago, was con structed by CCC workers and today to-day a granite monument marks the spot upon which Lincoln stood as he watched the fighting. A bronze tablet on the monument reproduces the historic scene of July 12, 18B4 tne only tune an American President was under combat fire while in office. ,'. GEN. HORATIO G. WRIGIIT This bronze tablet was execut ed from a sketch made by James E. Kelly, a famous sculptor and artist of Civil war scenes. Early in 1896 Kelly was In Washington while his model submitted in com petition for the proposed equestrian eques-trian monument of Gen. W. T. Sherman was on display in the war department. At that time Wright, who had been retired from the army was in the capital. Kelly had known Wright while both were living in New York dur ing the seventies and had made a medallion portrait him. On January 17, 1898, th artist accompanied the general to the site of Fort Stevens near Bright-wood, Bright-wood, D. C, and there, under Wright's direction, he sketched the picture of Lincoln standing on the parapet of Fort btevens, exposed to the fire of General Early's sharpshooters. That picture, pic-ture, signed and dated by Wright, is now in the possession of Dr. George Hope Ryder of New York city, owner of the Kelly collection of Civil war sketches. Later this sketch was made into a finished drawing which was used for the tablet erected on the spot and dedicated on July 12, 1911. This finished drawing was first reproduced in the United States Army Recruiting News, by whose courtesy it is reproduced with this article. When Lincoln stood on the para pets of Fort Stevens and watched the fighting, he little realized that a fellow-Kentuckian, who was an old political opponent of his, was watching the battle from the other oth-er side. Yet such was the case, for two of Early's divisions were commanded by Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, one of the Democratic Dem-ocratic candidates whom Lincoln had defeated in the presidential election of 1860. During the attack on Washing ton, Early and Breckinridge made their headquarters at Sil ls. T: - ' f i i GEN. J. C. BRECTXNRIDGE ver Spring in the home of Francis P. Blair, famous as a member of Andrew Jackson s "Kitchen Cabinet" and editor of the Wash ington Globe, which was estab lished at Jackson's request as the official administration newspa per. Blair and Breckinridge were cousins and before the war Ereck- inridge had often visited in the Blair mansion at Silver Spring So he saw to it that Early's soldiers did not molest Blair's private correspondence, consist ing of letters from Jackson, Henry Hen-ry Clay and other notables, which had been left in the house. He even had Blair's silver plate transferred to another house for safekeeping and sent a note to Blair telling him what he had done. However, the home of Blair's son, Montgomery Blair, postmaster general in Lincoln's cabinet, did not escape so easily It was burned to the ground by Early's soldiers. There is an amusing story of how they captured two gamecocks game-cocks owned by the Washington correspondent of Horace Greeley's Gree-ley's New York Tribune. Although Al-though gamecocks are not the most toothsome kma ol chicken. the Grayjackets are said to have taken unusual delight in boiling and eating the two which had been owned by "Old Horace's" representative ! After Early's departure a vol ume of Lord Byron's poems was found in which a Confederate sol dier had written this message to the President: "Near Washing ton, July 12, 18M. rowt Uncle Abe. you had better De quiet dur ing the balance of your administration. admin-istration. We only came near vour town this time to show you what we could do, but if you go on in your mad career, we will come again soon, and you had better stand from under. Yours respectfully. The worst Rebel You Ever Saw. Fifty-eighUi Vir ginia Infantry. Serious Mien Required to Cure Hysteria By DR. JAMES W. BARTON AN "UP" patient in a large k hosnital wns snrlrlpnltf 1 j stricken with what the attend ants thought was some kind of fit. He threw himself on the floor, struggled with an imaginary imag-inary foe, work ing his face, arms, legs and body. The visiting psychiatrist took one look at him, ordered the attendants away and advised the patient to behave nimsell as there was nothing really wrong. The "fit" was slm-ply slm-ply hysteria where the Individual, starving starv-ing for attention, desires de-sires to be the central cen-tral figure or hero in the "show." Instead of a "fit," there may be loss ot speech, no appetite, Dr. Barton vomiting, Inability to swallow food, or loss of memory, , Dr. S. Barton Hall. Liverpool, In the Practitioner, states that before a patient's condition can be called hysteria it must fulfill the following requirements 1. An examination of the patient from head to foot, Including labora tory investigations, shows that there is really no organic cause for symp toms. 2. The underlying circumstances causing the patient to use any of these methods to call attention to himself should be found. There must be something giving him feeling of inferiority, a feeling that be is not a success, 3. The underlying cause or reason must be related in some way to the patient's symptoms. Look Into Past. 4. As there is always some back ground for the behavior of the in dividual, something that has hap pened in years past, this something must be located. "The patient appears to her (or his) friends as somewhat selfish and self-absorbed: there is a lack of gen uine emotional power, a defect which the patient attempts to make up for by these melodramatic acts, In treating these cases Dr. Hall suggests that the physician should adopt the same serious attitude that he applies to patients with organic disease. He must not try to ridicule or suggest that the patient is "act ing." He must by careful exami nation and explanation show that there is no basis, no organic condi tion, that could cause the symptoms Dr. Hall further suggests that get ting the patient away from the sur roundings where his fits or other "behaviorisms" make an impres sion is an important part' of the treatment. Patients Should Tell Story A few years ago when a patient consulted a physician about his nwves sleeplessness, lack of appe tite, anxiety and the physician could find no organic trouble, he referred him to a "nerve special ist" because there might be some thing wrong with the patient's nerves which the general practition er did not understand. Today, when the physician, after making a thorough thor-ough examination, can find no or ganic trouble responsible for the symptoms, he does not refer him to the nerve specialist or psychiatrist but gives the necessary treatment himself. In speaking of some of these nerv ous states anxiety and depression Dr. Franklin G. Ebaugh, Denver, in Southwestern Medicine, says that in the anxiety state the patient often complains of being cold and unable to keep warm. He is tense restless, uneasy, apprehensive, with cold, clammy hands and feet and dry mouth. There is a rapid pulse and high blood pressure, which are down to normal during sleep, Avoid Direct Advice. "In treating a patient with the anxiety complex it is Important to avoid the pitfalls of telling him that be should stop worrying or that nothing Is wrong with him, since he is unable to stop thinking about his trouble and knows quite definitely that something is wrong." The physician must spend an hour or more letting the patient tell his story about his family, business and social life. As there is no organic trouble present and the patient now has confidence in the physician be cause he has shared his story with bim, the physician is often able to give the needed help or advice. This means that the physician, while not exactly acting in the capacity of a priest, minister or lawyer, never theless. with the whole background of the patient now known to him. can advise a holiday for the patient or a member of his family, a change of scene, perhaps a change of occu pation, perhaps more rest and gentle laxative. .The big point is that the physician now recognizes that the nervous or mxious patient needs to be given time to tell his story, if he is to obtain any real help. Released by Western Newspaper Union. 1 TODAY'S HEALTH COLUMN ft m l "" J! At mtm HO-T9. SEW ty- RuthWyeth Spears o3 GREEN OIL CUDTH PAPER Oilcloth Folders for CVERY efficient kitchen has a - book shelf. The paper back booklets that all homemakers love to collect may be placed in bright oil cloth folders so that they will make a brave show along with the bound cook books. The prettiest folders of this sort that I have seen were made in green and yellow to match the kitchen color Bcheme. The diagrams dia-grams given here show exactly Uow they were made.' The folders are stiffened with cardboard bo they hold booklets of different sizes neatly. The cardboard card-board should be cut the size of the largest booklet in the group. The fabric side of both pieces of oil cloth should be entirely covered with paste to make it stick KOOL-AID FLUFF DESSERT 2 level tablespoons 1 cup sugar Kool-Aid 2 CKgs V cup corn starch Juice Vi lemon i uoiespoon puuer cupi waier V teaspoon salt 1. Place sugar and 3 cups water in pan and bring to boiL 2. To this add 1 cup cold water to which has been added the corn starch, egg yolks, salt, butter and lemon juice. 3. Cook until thick, keep stirring 4. Remove from fire and add Kool-Aid, mixing well. Then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Adv, Liberal Sorrow Joy may be a miser, but sor row's purse is free. 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Your choice of the QUILT LEAFLET illustrat ing 36 authentic patchwork stitches; or the RAG RUG LEAF LET, will be included with orders for both books for the present, but the offer may be withdrawn at any time. Leaflets are 6 cents each when ordered without books. Everyone should have copies of these two books containing 98 HOW TO SEW articles by Mrs. Spears, that have not appeared in the paper. Send your order at once to Mrs. Spears, 210 S. Des-plaines Des-plaines St., Chicago, 111. Overcautious Holding an eel too fast is the way to let it escape. flavor, fresh- pieced W Keo99 ....ie. new- typ Cope- by Kellogg Company i Forced Bravery - Many would be cowards if they had courage enough. North Michigan Aveaua f room to loop . . . thtalnt. . . With balk f.$ |