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Show B !' iilli COMMENT ON MR. HEATH'S LOUISVILLE IN- B' till TERVIEW. m 'l'!l MISTAKEN IN DATE. B'l 'I ii'l I 5 If Mr. Mckinley Was Not in Washington at Time 1 ?! I i , 1 I Stated. K j I J Rather widespread publicity has been given Ht i 1 I ; I to an interview with Pei ry Heath a few days B i 1 1 r a 1 ago, in which Mr. Heath declares that President Hj J I I 1 McKinley told him "it was his firm conviction Brt I f! I tnat nG woul(1 livo to see Hanna President, and Hi ( j' 1 that he would receive the nomination from his Hj j ill 1 party." The interview with Mr. Heath was print- B I III ed In the Louisville Courier-Journal. Mr. Heath B IB mid visited Louisville during Christmas week. H , I The Interview attracted so much attention that B i 1 1 ( j the Courier-Journal has come out vouching for H 1 1 ' 1 1 H the entire accuracy of the report of Mr. Heath's H 1 1 B utterances. B j j i If i Mr. Heath is quoted as saying: "I saw Presi- B j i J 1 dent McKinley only a few days before he was shot B 1 j f I in Buffalo. He was in the White House in Wash- B , JA 1 ington, and I had a long talk with him pertaining B i i w ' 1 to the next presidential election. During the con- B' j I ' W I versation Mr. McKinley, in speaking of the man B i .'J 1 who would succeed him, said: 'I expect to see B ! i iH i my friend and associate, Marcus Hanna, the next B ?TO I President of the United States. I believe he will B jcij '111 I be nominated and elected.'" B i Jf 1 Mr Heath then goes on to say: "Mr. McKinley B j j If I went to Canton the following day, and the next B rf i?n I (lny tnerenfter was snot while at Buffalo." B j kM j - Mistake as to Time. H ij' i Mr. Heath thus locates this conversation in Br 1 1! yB the White House in Washington two days before B' IK tho snootinS of President McKinley at Buffalo, B 'I MIS inasmuch as the President "went to Canton the B ' ' fiB following day and the next day thereafter was B iMnB shot while at Buffalo." H vllm Bllt Mr" Heath is mistaken as to the time when B -' i 'im 1 tnis conversation at the White House took place. H j B 9 For it is a matter of general knowledge that Pres- B ) iJH 1 ident McKinley was not in Washlngtn a few davs B jjfflf 9 before he was shot, or even a few weeks before B ' Mb! H tftat tiaEedy He le Washington with Mrs. Mc- H j ( j Kinley for Canton July G, and never returned to H j j mm this city. He went direct to Canton from Wash- B j li fljBl ington and remained there all summer. He was B '' i IB snot In Buualo September G, just two months H afl from the day he had gone from his offices in tho H i ffl White House. It is well known among White B i JB House officials, and to Secretary Cortelyou, who B i :3 was then secretary to President McKinley, that H Jm Mr. McKinley did not at any time return to Wash- B lIB ington before the Buffalo tragedy. All the official B if IB business of the government was transacted at Bid ifflB Canton during the summer. BS 1 '' BB The tragedy at Buffalo was, as a matter of Bff ! In history, probably rendered possible by the illness Bfl I IB of trs' McKinley during the summer. April 30. Bm I IB 1001' Presi(lent McKinley left Washington on his Hfflt IkS famous visit to the Pacific coast. The trip was HBI mSm scheduled to last between six and seven weeks, BB IB and waa to have wound up at Buffalo about the B3 mMji 13tl1 of June, the President having accepted an Hj H invitation to make a speech on that date, which Hf HBBf was fixod as "President's day." BIhBu When tho President had got as far as El Paso, Hlii'JIlB Texas, on his journey Mrs. McKinley was at- H&iillm tacked with a serious illness. Her trouble be- HIhI came more aggravated in three or four days and BMm when the train reached Del Monte, Cal , the flBBwB President concluded that he had better take his UBHH wfe eetly to San Francisco, where she could HhUBI fl receive proper medical attention and rest. A.t the HHh a home of Henry T. Scott, of San Francisco, Mrs ffiiiiiffi McKinley became so seriously ill that Dr. Rixey HB I President McKinley and all thoso at her bedside mBPllw m. thought she was dying. She rallied, and as soon Bli Ww fl as ner condIon would permit she was brought Braiikri H immediately to Washington, reaching here May 30. The abandonment by President McKinley of tho remainder of his long trip was due to Mrs. McKinley's illness. If her health had remained normal the President would have been in Buffalo June 13, and probably have escaped the bullet of an assassin. Mis McKinley grew better after getting to Washington, but a bone felon unexpectedly developed de-veloped on one hand and a form of blood poisoning poison-ing ensued. Mrs. McKinley was desperately ill about the middle of June, but by the Gth of July had grown fairly strong. It was then that her husband took her to Canton. Washington (D. C.) Star. |