Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/338

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AMERICAN BOYS' LIFE

vicinity, were called in, and they did all they could for the sufferer, after which he was removed to Mr. Milburn's residence.

The news that an attempt had been made to assassinate our beloved President spread throughout the country like wildfire, and that evening and night great crowds collected in front of telegraph and newspaper offices, to read the latest bulletins. Everybody was shocked, and among these people were his keenest political rivals, for personally many were his friends. It was learned that the man who had done the foul deed was Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American. The assassin was personally a stranger to the President. He said he was an anarchist, a member of a secret society that is against all law and order, a society which would tear down the very framework of all present government without having anything better or even as good to offer in return.

For a number of days it was hoped that the President would live, and all that medical skill could do was done for the distinguished patient. But gangrene had set in, and just one week after he had been so foully laid low he sank so rapidly that all