Grover Cleveland's Obituary

[From page 1 of The New York Times, June 25, 1908]

MR. CLEVELAND IS DEAD AT 71

Succumbs to a Heart Attack in His Princeton Home After Seeming to Rally.

MRS. CLEVELAND AT HIS SIDE

Only Others in the Death Room Were Dr. Bryant and Two Other Physicians.

CHILDREN WERE ALL AWAY

Sent Days Ago to New Hampshire, Not Knowing That the End Was Near.

THE WHOLE NATION MOURNS

President, Governor, and Mayor Issue Proclamations of Regret.

FUNERAL SET FOR FRIDAY

Mr. Roosevelt to be There, but Mrs. Cleveland, In Her Grief, Forbids Any Display.

GROVER CLEVELAND.
Born........................................March 15, 1837
Made Asst. Dist. Atty. of Erie County........January, 1863
Defeated for Dist. Atty.....................November, 1865
Elected Sheriff of Erie County..............November, 1871
Elected Mayor of Buffalo....................November, 1881
Elected Gov. of New York....................November, 1882
Nominated for Presidency......................July 8, 1884
Elected President...............................Nov., 1884
First term began.............................March 4, 1885
Married Frances Folsom........................June 2, 1886
Defeated for re-election....................November, 1888
Re-elected President........................November, 1982
Second term began............................March 4, 1893
Wrote Venezuelan Message.................December 17, 1895
Second term expired..........................March 4, 1897
Died.........................................June 24, 1908

Special to the New York Times.

     PRINCETON, N.J., June 24. -- Grover Cleveland, twice President of the United States, died at 8:30 o'clock this morning at his home here, with his wife at his bedside. The only others in the sick chamber, besides the nurse were his friend of long standing, Dr. Joseph D. Bryant, and two other physicians. His children were away at the Cleveland New England home, Tamworth, N.H.
     The end came unexpectedly to the general public and to the former President's hosts of friends as well. Its announcement has thrown the Nation into mourning and created profound sorrow in the little university town where he had lived quietly with his family and his books since he withdrew from public life. All day messages attesting their keen regret have poured in here from every part of the country.
     Mr. Cleveland having been in ill-health since last Fall, the hurried arrival of the three physicians at the family home late yesterday gave rise to fears that his illness had taken a serious turn. Mrs. Cleveland set all misgivings at rest by a statement in which she declared her husband safely on the road to recovery.
     Failure of the heart's action following complications of pulminary thrombosis and oedema, is given as the immediate cause of death by Dr. Bryant, who came here from New York on Tuesday.
     For many years Mr. Cleveland had been a victim of severe gastric attacks and a sufferer from rheumatic gout, ailments which, according to his physicians, induced the attack of heart weakness to which he succumbed. With Mrs. Cleveland and Dr. Bryant in the death chamber were Dr. R.L. Lockwood of New York and Dr. J.M. Carnochan of Princeton. Mr. Cleveland's four surviving children, Esther, aged 14; Marion, 12; Richard, 10; and Francis Grover, 5, are at the Cleveland Summer home in New Hampshire with Mrs. Cleveland's mother.
     When it was found that the ex-President would be a long time convalescing from the serious illness which gave his friends so much alarm this Spring, the children were sent to the Summer home Mr. Cleveland built two years ago at Tamworth, N.H. Esther and Richard were summoned after their father's death, and are expected here to-morrow.

Messages from Everywhere.

     Scarcely had the announcement gone forth that Mr. Cleveland had passed away before the telegraph offices here were swamped with messages bearing expressions of condolence and sympathy to Mrs. Cleveland. In a peculiar degree these messages bore evidence of the profound sorrow aroused by the death tidings and how great was the esteem in which the departed former Executive of the Nation was held, and how wide was the circle of his admirers.
     One of the first messages was from President Roosevelt, who had been informed of Mr. Cleveland's death through a telegram sent by Mrs. Cleveland shortly after her husband passed away. Mrs. Cleveland also sent a message to Secretary Taft. The Secretary of War had not been heard from at a late hour.
     The first public knowledge of Mr. Cleveland's death came in a statement signed by Drs. Bryant, Lockwood, and Carnochan. Dr. Bryant, later in the day, amplified this with a further statement in which he said that up to within twenty-four hours of death the ex-President was in the same condition in which he had been for the last few days, a very sick man, but that there was no real cause for alarm until twenty-four hours ago, when he had a severe attack of heart failure. After that time there were intermittent spells of consciousness. Death was due to a sudden attack of heart weakness.
     Beyond the scant announcement as to his death, all details regarding Mr. Cleveland's illness and his last hours were denied to newspaper correspondents who called at the house of mourning. Mrs. Cleveland, it was said, was averse to any publicity regarding the scene at the deathbed.
     The ex-President passed his last hours in a large room on the second floor of the Cleveland residence, which he had occupied as a bedroom since his return from Lakewood about three weeks ago. Connected with this bedroom in the rear of the house was a large study, where Mr. Cleveland, when not confined to his bed, pored over his books and did his literary work.

A Sudden Turn for the Worse.

     Mr. Cleveland suffered his first attack of heart failure at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Cleveland was hastily summoned by Miss Deckler, the trained nurse. She found the patient in such a grave condition that she at once summoned Drs. Bryant and Lockwood from New York. Both physicians arrived on the 4:24 train yesterday afternoon. By this time Mr. Cleveland, although still in a very serious condition, had rallied from his first attack, and this undoubtedly led to the optimistic statement made last night by Mrs. Cleveland.
     This statement had scarcely been given to the press, however, before Mr. Cleveland suffered a relapse. This second attack, while not as severe as the first, found him in a weak and nervous condition, with his strength spent in fighting off the first stroke. It soon became apparent that the patient was in an extremely critical condition. At this juncture Dr. Carnochan, the local family physician, was hurriedly sent for.
     The three physicians labored over the distinguished sufferer for several hours, but he failed to rally in response to their ministrations. At times he lapsed into unconsciousness, then came back to a realization of what was going on about him, but was very weak. He turned faintly on his bed and talked incoherently in a voice so faint that it was impossible at times to distinguish his words. He seemed to suffer intensely from his heart.

His Final Hours.

     Mrs. Cleveland's apartments are directly across the hall from the rooms her husband occupied, but she was in the sick room most of the night watching the efforts of the three physicians to save her husband. It was not until midnight that it became apparent to the three physicians that their patient was a dying man.
     From midnight on Mr. Cleveland lingered in a semi-comatose condition, with only the brief intervals of consciousness, until the end came at 8:40 o'clock this morning.
     Mrs. Cleveland is bearing up well under her loss. Immediately after her husband's death she wrote to her mother, Mrs. Perrine, who had to break to the four children the sad news that they had lost their father. Mrs. Cleveland then asked that Prof. Andrew F. West and Prof. John D. Hibbins, both of Princeton and intimate friends and neighbors of the family, be sent for. Later in the day they were joined by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Watson Gilder of New York and President Finley of the City College and by Cleveland F. Bacon, a New York Lawyer, who is a nephew of the dead statesman. To-night they are at the Cleveland residence rendering all assistance in their power to the bereaved widow.
     While the announcement of Mr. Cleveland's death had already sped over the wires across the continent and ocean, Princeton was yet in ignorance of the sad event within its gates. It was not until long after the instruments in the telegraph offices had commenced to spell out the story of praise and homage to his memory that the neighbors of the departed statesman became aware that Princeton had lost its most distinguished citizen.

Town Long in Ignorance.

     It was only when the undertaker's wagon was driven up to the Cleveland home that Princeton got to know. Then all at once it became evident how much the former President was thought of in the community he had selected for his home at the expiration of this second term in the White House.
     Flags at half mast are to be seen everywhere, and for a while immediately after the news was generally known the ordinary activities of the day halted.
     Announcement was made to-night fixing on the hour of the funeral for 5 o'clock on Friday afternoon. It was announced that the funeral would be strictly private, and in order to make this more emphatic the two words had been underlined in the typewritten announcement.
     President and Mrs. Roosevelt will be in attendance.
     It was said by a friend of the family that Mrs. Cleveland, in screening from the public gaze the closing scenes of life which in a very real sense had belonged to the public, was deferring to the wishes of her dead husband, who intensely disliked ostentation and display.
     Mr. Cleveland will be laid at rest in Princeton Cemetery in a plot where his daughter, Ruth, who died two years ago, lies buried.
     Over 1,000 messages of sympathy and condolence have been received. They came from all parts of the country and from all classes and conditions of men.

Messages of Condolences.

     Mrs. Cleveland declined to permit the publication of but a few of the hundreds of messages of condolence which are reaching her from all parts of the country, but to-night she issued a statement containing the names of those who had sent them. Here is a partial list:
     Gov. Ansel of South Carolina, Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller of the United States Supreme Court, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, Secretary of State John S. Whalen, Albany; Joseph Jefferson, Buzzard's Bay; Townsend Hildreth, Warner Colwell, St. Louis; J.G. Phelps Stokes, Whitelaw Reid, John Hays Hammond, N.Y. State Supreme Court Justice Charles Truax, W.R. Steinway, New York; Gen. John W. Wilson, U.S.A; Judson Harmon, Cleveland, Ohio; State Controller Martin H. Glynn, Albany; Thomas P. Egan, William H. Truesdale, R.D. Evans, George M. Eckels, ex-Justice Morgan J. O'Brien, Charles W. Goodyear, New York; George H. Morgan, Lenox, Mass.; George S. Wood, Plattsburg, N.Y.; Herbert S. Saterlee, David H. Sickels, Atlanta, Ga.; H.B. Hollins, New York; Francis Lynde Stetson, New York; Mr. and Mrs. George Westinghouse, Eugene T. Chamberlain, New York; Alton B. Parker, Gov. John Franklin Fort of New Jersey, United States Senator George N. Culberson of Texas, John S. Wise, Gov. Glenn of North Carolina, Secretary of Commerce and Labor Oscar F. Straus, Avery B. Andrews, New York; C.W. Bangs, New York; Henry E. Russell, Boston; the Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, Mayor McClellan, Paul Mordon, St. Clair McKelway, Gov. E.G. McAlpin, Melville E. Stone, Hen. and Mrs. Stewart B. Woodford, Patrick Calhoun, New York; Isidore Straus, C.C. Cuyler, New York.
     Paul D. Cravath, Vice President Fairbanks, Nicholas Murray Butler, A.R. McClure, Admiral Schley, Col. William Jay, New York; Mayor Reyburn of Philadelphia, John D. Crimmins, New York; Secretary of the Treasury George Bruce Cortelyou, the Rev. Dr. George H. Lorimer of Philadelphia, New York State Supreme Court Justice A.L. Erlanger, William B. Hornblower, New York; ex-Secretary of the Treasury Charles S. Fairchild, George Peabody Wetmore, John G. Milburn, Henry Marquand of New York, J.G. Hemphill, Charleston, S.C.; James G. Blaine, New York; ex-Secretary of State Richard Olney, Boston.

HISTORY OF HIS ILLNESS.

Ex-President Had Been in Poor Health for Many Months.

     Last Winter Mr. Cleveland kept close to his home in Princeton until the approach of his birthday, when he went to Lakewood with his family. Up to the time of his going to Lakewood he had attended to correspondence in connection with his work for the Equitable. After he went to Lakewood, however, he discontinued that work, and it soon became known that Mr. Cleveland was suffering from an attack of digestive trouble which he had experienced many times before. Mr. Cleveland was attended by Dr. Joseph B. Bryant of this city, and Dr. George R. Lockwood, a specialist in lung disorders, was called in consultation.
     On May 1 a report became current, said to have come from one of the officers of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, that Mr. Cleveland was suffering from cancer of the stomach. This was promptly denied by Mr. Parker, the secretary of the Trustees of the Equitable Society, who afterward acted for Mrs. Cleveland in issuing statements as to the condition of the ex-President. Mr. Parker said that Mr. Cleveland was suffering from one of the periodical attacks of stomach trouble, and that was all.
     Mr. Cleveland remained at Lakewood for several weeks, and constant reports of improvement in his condition were issued from the hotel. About a month ago he had sufficiently recovered to be taken to his home in Princeton, making the journey in an automobile.

CHILDREN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

News Reached Them Late -- Sons Will Not Be at Funeral.

     TAMWORTH, N.H., June 24. -- Although the death of ex-President Cleveland at Princeton occurred before 9 o'clock to-day no word of it was received at the Cleveland Summer home here until nearly 2 P.M. News of his death was telephoned to the manager of the Cleveland place, but he refused to make it known to the household. He explained that there had been so many rumors concerning Mr. Cleveland's condition that he would not communicate with the members of the household until he had received definite word from Princeton. These, he said, were his instructions.
     Mrs. H.E. Perrine, Mrs. Cleveland's mother, is at the Cleveland home with the four children -- Esther, Marion, Richard, and Francis. The home is in an isolated district, far from the railway and telegraph lines, and the only telephone in the vicinity is that in the house of the farm manager, W.H. Cook. Three miles away is the village of Tamworth, seven miles distant that of West Ossipp, and the only means of communication between the Cleveland home and these places is by team.
     Mrs. Perrine received the announcement of Mr. Cleveland's death by long-distance telephone from Princeton. The news was communicated also to Albert Boyden, a close friend of the Cleveland family, whose estate adjoins.
     The message of death came as a great shock both to the children and to Mrs. Perrine. The latest reports received from Princeton had not been of an alarming nature and the death of Mr. Cleveland was entirely unlooked for.
     The two older children will leave for Princeton at 8 A.M. to-morrow, together with Mrs. John H. Finley, wife of President Finley of the College of the City of New York. The Finleys are close friends of the Clevelands and the Summer homes of the two families are near each other here. Mrs. Perrine and the two younger children will not attend the funeral and will remain here for the present.
     Mrs. Perrine has received many telegrams of condolence, among them one from Mrs. Roosevelt, expressing her deep sympathy.
     It is understood that the death of Mr. Cleveland will not alter the plans of the family for spending the Summer here.

PRAISE FROM ABROAD.

LONDON, June 25. -- The London morning papers print extended memoirs and portraits of Mr. Cleveland. The Daily Telegraph devoting six columns to this purpose. Some editorials are also published on the death of the former President of the United States, and the majority of these make note of the strange coincidence of his death on the day that the diplomatic representative of the United States withdrew from Venezuela.
     All the newspapers pay arm tributes to Mr. Cleveland's independence of parties, his integrity and high purpose, and their references to the "unfortunate Venezuelan incident" are made without bitterness. The Daily Mail says:
     Cleveland will stand out in history as one who achieved his popularity by invariably placing the interests of the Nation above those of classes, however influential.
     The Morning Post in a highly laudatory editorial says:
     Cleveland was one of the great men of his time. He had Bismark's strength and Bismark's breadth of views and more than Bismark's honesty. As President he did not life a finger for the Democratic Party, but merely served the United States. He was the strongest man that has lived i the White House since the death of Washington.

Esteemed in Berlin.

     BERLIN, June 25. -- Although most of the Berlin newspapers confine themselves to publishing a record of Mr. Cleveland's career, several of them pay high tribute to him in their editorial columns. The Neuesten Nachrichten says:
     Cleveland gained renown among partisans and adversaries as a stainless, high-principled patriot.

     The Tageblatt says:
     Mr. Cleveland was the personification of the modest, quiet, fearless, honerable American type, which latterly has been pushed into the background. Although it sounds strange, Cleveland against his own will was morally the founder of the present American imperialism.

     The Local Anzeifer declares that, without distinction of party, Americans will hold him worthy of remembrance.

DIES ON THE DAY OF THE VENEZUELA BREAK

Mr. Cleveland's Most Famous Act Recalled to Many by a Coincidence.

HIS RINGING MESSAGE

It Frightened Many, but Raised an Issue That Left the Monroe Doctrine Firmly Established.

     By an odd coincidence, Mr. Cleveland's death has occurred on the day on which it was also made known that the United States had broken off relations with Venezuela, the Chargé d'Affaires of this country having left Caracas. The coincidence served to recall with doubled significance the supreme act of Mr. Cleveland's career -- his message on the Venezuelan boundary dispute in 1895, his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, and his insistence that it be enforced.
     The correspondence with the Foreign Office of Great Britain had continued for years in a slow plodding way, and there seemed to be no advance toward a final settlement. Outwardly, too, there was no sign of tension between the countries, but those best informed were aware that Great Britain was preparing to act in Venezuela, and that once she landed troops there and enforced her demands by force of arms, interference by this country would not only be dangerous but possibly futile.
     President Cleveland had been in the South on a short vacation, duck hunting. He returned suddenly to Washington and took up the correspondence with Great Britain. On the night of Dec. 14, 1895, he held a long and earnest consultation with Secretary Olney at the White House, going over the situation thoroughly. The whole correspondence between Mr. Olney and Lord Salisbury was taken up, point by point, and a memorandum of the subjects under discussion was laid on President Cleveland's desk.
     At midnight Mr. Olney left the White House for his home. The President sat down at his desk and carefully and in calm deliberation began the penning of the message which was to stir the country within a day or two and bring the whole affair of the Venezuelan boundary to a crisis.
     At 4 o'clock in the morning the message was finished. The message itself, as well as the fact that the President had stayed up all night to write it, was proof that the occasion was an emergency, though the public had not till then regarded the dispute as of excessive importance. In part the message was a reassertion of the position taken by this Government publicly some time before. The new and highly important matter was contained in the last three paragraphs. They read:
     When such report is made and accepted [referring to the report of the commission appointed to determine the true boundary line] it will, in my opinion, be the duty of the United States to resist, as a willful aggression upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by Great Britain of any lands or the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over any territory which, after investigation, we have determined of right to belong to Venezuela. In making these recommendations I am fully alive to the responsibility incurred and keenly realize all the consequences that may follow. I am, nevertheless, firm in my conviction that, while it is a grievous thing to contemplate the two great English-speaking peoples of the world as being otherwise than friendly competitors in the onward march of civilization and strenuous and worthy rivals in all the arts of peace, there is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent loss of national self-respect and honor, beneath which are shielded and defended a people's safety and greatness.
     The message was sent in on Dec. 17. It sent a thrill through the civilized world. It read, as every one thought, like an invitation to war. The stock markets were affected, panics threatened. Men of great, good judgement believed that Mr. Cleveland had made a fatal error and prepared to do their utmost to avert a catastrophe.
     It proved, however, that Mr. Cleveland had understood the case far better than they, and that the message was in reality a message of peace. Prompt and vigorous action had been the one thing needed, and Mr. Cleveland, it has since been conceded, had taken just the right step. Instead of drifting slowly but steadily into war, the two countries were brought to a sudden halt and brought face to face with the hard, cold facts of the case, bluntly stated. Negotiations followed and then arbitration. Cleveland had prevented war and he had established the supremacy of the Monroe Doctrine.

DIED POOR, SAY HIS FRIENDS.

Probably Only a Small Estate Left for the Family

     Contrary to the general belief, Mr. Cleveland was a poor man. For some reason, which does not appear, the opinion was generally held that he was possessed of a considerable estate and that he would leave his family well off when he died. Inquiries made yesterday developed the fact that Mr. Cleveland, far from being well off, was poor and left to his family, unless his close personal friends are entirely mistaken, practically nothing but the house at Princeton and the place at Buzzard's Bay.
     "When Mr. Cleveland left the White House the last time, and for many years thereafter," said one of his intimates yesterday, "he had, together with his wife, about $10,000 a year. His income often worried him exceedingly, especially as he saw his family growing up about him, and knew their future was not as well provided for as he could wish. He would not accept anything from his friends; he was extremely proud on that score, but those who know him best knew that his circumstances worried him not a little.
     "He did not live in New York for the sole reason that he could not live here as cheaply as he could in New Jersey and maintain the style he felt would be demanded of him. When he became one of the Trustees of the Equitable Life his income was added to somewhat; I think he obtained something like $5,000 for that work. He was the only member of the board of three who was paid, but unlike the others, he gave nearly his entire time to the work of the insurance company.
     "Had he lived a little longer his circumstances would have been much improved. All of his friends rejoiced when he became the head of the Association of Life Insurance Presidents, with a salary of $25,000 a year, for they knew his circumstances. However, he had only held that place for a year, so that, although there had been an improvement, it was not sufficient to make a great deal of difference.
     "I know a good deal about Mr. Cleveland's affairs and my belief is it will be found that he left little if anything to his family outside of the house at Princeton and the furnishings in it and the place at Buzzard's Bay. He had some money in addition, but I don't believe it was very much. My recollection is that he had it on deposit in the Knickerbocker Trust Company. That fact came out at the time that company closed its doors."

ROOSEVELT WIRES HIS CONDOLENCE

Abandons Plan to Go to New London and Will Attend the Funeral To-morrow.

MRS. ROOSEVELT GOING, TOO

They Will Make the Trip to Princeton and Return by Special Train

PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION

     OYSTER BAY, L.I., June 24. -- This proclamation was issued by the President immediately on hearing of Mr. Cleveland's death:

A PROCLAMATION.
        The White House,
                  June 24, 1908.

To the People of the United States:
     Grover Cleveland, President of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897, died at 8:40 o'clock this morning at his home in Princeton, N.J. In his death the Nation has been deprived of one of its greatest citizens.
     By profession a lawyer, his chief services to his country were rendered during a long, varied, and honorable career in public life. As Mayor of his city, as Governor of his State, and twice as President, he showed signal powers as an administrator, coupled with entire devotion to the country's good, and a courage that quailed before no hostility when once he was convinced where his duty lay. Since his retirement from the Presidency he has continued well and faithfully to serve his countrymen by the simplicity, dignity, and uprightness of his private life.
     In testimony of the respect in which his memory is held by the Government and people of the United States, I do hereby direct that the flags on the White House and the several departmental buildings be displayed at half staff for a period of thirty days, and that suitable military and naval honors, under the orders of the Secretaries of War and of the Navy, be rendered on the day of the funeral.
     Done this twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eight and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and thirty-second.    THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
    By the President.
     ALVEY A. ADEE,
      Acting Secretary of State.

     OYSTER BAY, June 24. -- News of the death of ex-President Cleveland was communicated to President Roosevelt at his Summer home here to-day, and caused radical changes in the President's plans for the immediate future. Mr. Roosevelt was deeply shocked at the tidings, and immediately telegraphed to Mrs. Cleveland at Princeton, tendering his sympathy and that of Mrs. Roosevelt, and asking to be notified at Mrs. Cleveland's earliest convenience of the time of the dead statesman's funeral. Afterward announcement was made that President and Mrs. Roosevelt would attend the funeral and services at Princeton on Friday.
     The President's telegram of condolence to Mrs. Cleveland was as follows:

"Oyster Bay, June 24, 1908.    

"Mrs. Grover Cleveland, Princeton, N.J.:
     "Your telegram shocked me greatly. Mrs. Roosevelt joins in very deep and sincere sympathy. I have, of course, abandoned my intention of starting to-day for the New London boat races, so that if the funeral is either Thursday or Friday I can attend. I can also attend if it is Sunday, but if it is Saturday a number of men are coming here from various parts of the country on a business engagement which I cannot well break.
     "Will you direct some one to wire me when the funeral is to be and where?

"THEODORE ROOSEVELT."    

     President and Mrs. Roosevelt, accompanied by Secretary Loeb, will leave Oyster Bay on a special train on Friday for Princeton to attend the funeral. When they reach Long Island City, a tugboat will be in readiness to transfer them to Jersey City, whence another special train on the Pennsylvania Railroad will convey them to Princeton. They will return over the same route to Oyster Bay immediately after the funeral services.
     A beautiful floral wreath was ordered by the President to be sent in his name and that of Mrs. Roosevelt to Princeton; and placed on the bier of the former President.

HUGHES'S PROCLAMATION

Governor Orders Flags Half-Staffed on All State Buildings.

     ALBANY, June 24. -- Gov. Hughes on his return from Cohoes to-day issued a proclamation on the death of ex-President Cleveland. The Governor was informed of the death while in Cohoes, and cancelled all engagements until after the funeral, including one at Hamilton College, where the Degree of LL.D. was to have been conferred upon him by Colgate University. The proclamation issued by the Governor was as follows:

State of New York, Executive Chamber.

     I announce with deep regret the death of Grover Cleveland., Mayor of Buffalo, Governor of this State, twice President of the United States. He personified civic virtue and exalted the ideal of public office as a public trust.
     Firm, resolute, incorruptible, unseduced by flattery and unshaken by fear, just and tenacious of conviction, he enriched the Nation with a noble example of strength and fidelity.
     And it is fitting that New York, to whom he gave the earlier service which tested and revealed his character, should pay to his memory the tribute of esteem due to one of her most honorable and distinguished servants.
     Now, therefore, I, Charles E. Hughes, Governor of the State of New York, do request that the flags upon all the public buildings of the State, including armories and arsenals, be displayed at half-mast up to and including Friday, the twenty-sixth day of June, nineteen hundred and eight, and that the citizens of the State unite in appropriate marks of respect.

CHARLES E. HUGHES.    

     Gov. Hughes also made this statement:
     "I learned with deep regret of the death of Mr. Cleveland. His character will be more and more appreciated as time goes on. By his ruggedness, his courage, his tenacity, and his devotion to the ideals of duty he did much to elevate the standards of public service."
     The Governor sent the following telegram to Mrs. Cleveland, an alumnus of Wells College, of which institution Mrs. Hughes also is a graduate:
     "I am deeply grieved to learn of President Cleveland's death. Mrs. Hughes joins me in expressing our sincere sympathy."

ALL UNITE TO PRAISE CLEVELAND'S MEMORY

Lifelong Friends Tell of His Greatness and Simplicity of Character.

ONE OF GREAT PRESIDENTS

Ex-Justice Morgan J. O'Brien Says He Stants with Washington and Lincoln
-- His Integrity and Sense of Duty.

     Tributes were accorded the memory of Mr. Cleveland yesterday by hundreds of lifelong friends who admired him for his greatness and loved him for his simplicity of character. Of the many friends that Mr. Cleveland had among prominent Democrats, ex-Justice Morgan J. O'Brien was one of the warmest, having been for years a close personal associate of the late President, and affiliated with him also in the management of the Equitable Life Assurance Society by virtue of the Trustee agreement that Thomas F. Ryan executed when he took over that company from James Hazen Hyde. Judge O'Brien said yesterday to a Times reporter:
     "I regard Mr. Cleveland as the greatest American, both because of his splendid personal character and his useful life as a public servant. Like all great men he was many-sided, and to get a real view of the correct ideals of the man one should take up each side and bring them together for the purpose of determining his position and character among the American people.

One of Three Greatest Presidents.

     "As a public man, considering the splendid record that he made, he will be put in the same class with Washington and Lincoln -- one of the three great Presidents that this country has had. His greatness was justified by his exceptionally strong character and his many intellectual gifts. He was a man of great moral strength, and having the advantage of a fine intellect he thought seriously and deeply upon all subjects, and, having reached a conclusion, particularly as to a principle of morals or religion, or public weal, he was uncompromising. He agreed with David Crockett that the first thing was to determine what was right and then to do that thing.
     "What he was in public life he was equally in private life; string in his views, tolerant in method, but uncompromising in principle. Most of his time was spent in promoting education and philanthropy -- work which entailed sacrifices of his time and personal convenience, without fee or hope of reward beyond the desire to do that which was useful and good. These occupied, when not in public life, most of his time, so that when we look over his career, though he reached the proverbial three score and ten years, it is not to be measured by years alone, but by his splendid deeds and lofty ideals which affected all who came within the range of his influence.
     "Mr. Cleveland's ideal was that what was worth doing was worth doing well, and that, to the extent of his ability, even as to details, he should attend to them himself, made his life a laborious one, but at the same time a most useful one, furnishing a striking example of hos a man with a great intellect and wonderful grasp sufficient to direct any affair, no matter how large, was equally capable of serving and by himself amassing and carrying out the details of any undertaking."
     Here are other tributes from men who knew Mr. Cleveland in public and private life:
     FRANCIS LYNDE STETSON:
     "I am deeply distressed at the loss of one of the greatest men this country has ever had. I do not feel that I care to say a great deal at this time."
     PAUL MORTON, President of the Equitable Life:
     "Grover Cleveland was a most remarkable man; deliberate in thought, sound in conclusions, and always careful in action. He was as simple as a child in his tastes, and as resolute as a giant in his integrity. He was the highest type of public servant, and it is to be regretted that we have so few men of his sturdy character in public life. He was a patriot rather than a partisan, and his moral courage to do what he thought was best for his country, regardless of his party, was the beginning od the independent thought throughout the United States which is now such a factor in National affairs."

Judge Parker's Praise.

     EX-JUDGE ALTON B. PARKER:
     "Yesterday Grover Cleveland was easily the foremost citizen of our country, enjoying a full measure of public confidence and affection. To-day we mourn his taking from us. We shall miss his wise counsel -- the word seasonably and courageously spoken, which love of country prompted. But we shall have with us the memory of his splendid manhood and distinguished public service, modestly rendered, with the public weal always and only in mind -- never a thought as to the effect on himself."
     COL. E.S. FOWLER:
     "Mr. Cleveland's death will be regretted by all good citizens. He stood for strict honesty and integrity in public office, and took the first stand in favor of real civil service reform. His fearless course in saving the financial credit of the United States at a time when many of his own party were in doubt will ever be remembered with credit to his memory and honor to his name."
     EX-JUDGE W.A. DAY:
     "It may be that no man is vitally necessary to any people, but some men are more necessary than others of their time. If it can be said of any man's precepts and example that they were of more value to our people than any others during the twenty-five years just closed, it seems to me that Mr. Cleveland's were so distinguished. His example will have a lasting effect for hood upon the American people."
     WILLIAM McADOO:
     "I am shocked and grieved to hear of Mr. Cleveland's death. He will easily rank as one of our greatest Presidents, and was a man of remarkable individuality; possessed of unusually sound judgment, and a keen sense of justice; strong moral fibre, great courage; a statesman in the best and most universal sense of that woed; a fine type of all that America stands for: common sense, industry, honesty, simplicity, tolerance, frankness, manliness, patriotism, and bravery."
     W.H. TRUESDALE:
     "I have lost a friend whose place cannot be filled. I regard him as one of the greatest and most statesmanlike men this country has ever produced. The duties and responsibilities of the high positions which he has held in the country's service were faithfully and courageously performed, often under trying circumstances, and he never faltered from doing what he regarded as being right and for the country's best interests. His memory will be long and warmly cherished, and history will record his name among the country's strongest and ablest Presidents."
     DISTRICT ATTORNEY JEROME:
     "I think that none of our Presidents since Lincoln surpassed Mr. Cleveland in rectitude of purpose and in that real patriotism which leads a man to make large personal sacrifices for what he esteems the public welfare. His conception of a public office as a public trust governed his own conduct, though the temptations of a selfish character to depart from it, at times, but have been great."
     EDEN B. THOMAS:
     "The death of Mr. Cleveland is greatly to be deplored and is particularly unfortunate, coming at a time when more than ever the country requires the advice and counsel of so strong a character. The public mind, confused by sentimental reformers and designing politicians, needed at the moment to be wisely influenced in its actions by the ripe experience and sound judgment of such a man, who, possessing as he did to an unusual extent the confidence of all, was in a position to assist in restoring to normal condition the commercial affairs of the country."
     E.C. BENEDICT:
     "This news is a crushing blow, coming as it does directly on top of a message I received yesterday from Mrs. Cleveland saying that Mr. Cleveland was better. For nearly twenty years I have known Mr. Cleveland intimately. He was, I believe, a greater man than we yet realize. His character was rugged and splendid, yet he was one of the sweetest tempered and most loyal of friends. No tribute I could pay him would be excessive."
     WILLIAM B. HORNBLOWER:
     "Strong, sturdy, steadfast, through good report and bad report, in sunshine and in storm, never seeking popular applause, but only to do his duty as he saw it and serve the people to his utmost ability, Grover Cleveland was a noble character. His name and fame will grow more illustrious as time passes and his true greatness assumes its proper perspective in our National history."
     A. BARTON HEPBURN:
     "A great figure in American history has passed away. Mr. Cleveland's hold upon the public arose from his unswerving honesty and uncompromising adherence to the policies he believed to be right. His life and life work will stand out in brilliant contrast to the opportunism and subserviency that characterize current politics."
     GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE:
     "No one who came in contact with President Cleveland could fail to be impressed by his broad mind and always calm temperament, his direct honesty, and great sincerity. He was one of the big men this country has produced, and what his death means will be more deeply realized as time goes on."
     WILLIAM F. SHEEHAN:
     "I considered Mr. Cleveland the greatest man in America. I had known him since before he was Mayor of Buffalo. He was in every sense a big man and a noble character. His mind was broad gauged in every way. The whole Nation feels the loss of such a man as he."

TRIBUTES FROM HIS CABINETS.

Survivors of Two Administrations Grieved by His Death.

     The survivors of ex-President Cleveland's Cabinets are Secretary of State Richard Olney, Secretary of the Navy Harry A. Herbert, two Secretaries of the Treasury, John G. Carlisle and Charles S. Fairchild; three Secretaries of the Interior, D.R. Francis, Hoke Smith, Governor of Georgia, and W.F. Vilas; Attorney General Judson Harmon, Postmaster General Don M. Dickinson, and Norman J. Colman, Secretary of Agriculture. Ex-Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson is also still alive. Here are their expressions of regret on Mr. Cleveland's death and their tributes to his memory:

Stevenson Greatly Grieved.

     BLOOMINGTON, Ill., June 24. -- Ex-Vice President Adlai Stevenson was greatly shocked when informed of the death of Mr. Cleveland. Mr. Stevenson said:
     "I am deeply grieved to learn of the death of Mr. Cleveland. His will be a large place in history. He was the possessor of great talents, of untiring industry, and of executive capacity that had few parallels. His eight years of administration of the Government will safely endure the sure test of time. His personal and official integrity were beyond all possible question."

From Hilary A. Herbert.

By Telegraph to the Editor of The Times.
     PORT CARLING, Ontaria, June 24. -- Mr. Cleveland was a Democrat of the old school who feared God but not his fellow-man, yet he had an unfaltering faith in the final and matured judgment of his countrymen. This faith consoled him in many a dark hour. He was generally somewhat slow in reaching conclusions, and was much oftener influenced by the counsel of his friends than the public was ever disposed to believe, yet such was his devotion to duty as he saw it that, though he loved applause, he would have pursued without a shadow of turning the lines pointed out to him by his judgment and his conscience, even had it been made clear to him that popular approval would never follow.
     His idea of government was justice to every individual, high and low, rich and poor, justice to every interest, great or small. That to him was what Democracy meant.          HILARY A. HERBERT.

A National Loss -- Olney


     BOSTON, June 24. -- Richard Olney, Secretary of State in President Cleveland's Cabinet, said:
     "Mr. Cleveland's death is not a surprise, but comes nevertheless as a severe shock and an irreparable loss. The loss is nothing less than National, and his countrymen everywhere, irrespective of party, will realize that there has gone from us a great and notable figure, a statesman unexcelled in his day and generation for patriotism, for lofty convictions of public duty, and for the courage to put them into effect."

Charles S. Fairchild's Comment.

     BOSTON, June 24. -- Charles S. Fairchild, Secretary of the Treasury in Cleveland's first Administration, who was in this city to-day, when informed of Mr. Cleveland's death said, "Just say for me, please, that Grover Cleveland was a great and good man."

Death a Shock to Col. Vilas.

     MADISON, Wis., June 24. -- Col. William F. Vilas, ex-United States Senator and Secretary of the Interior in President Cleveland's Cabinet, when informed of Mr. Cleveland's death, said:
     "Passing time has already done much, and now will do more to clear away the coulds of contemporary differences and leave his lofty character, his great powers, and his eminent services to his country in the undimmed splendor by which history will display them."

A Typical American -- Harmon.

     DETROIT, Mich., June 24. -- Judson Harmon, ex-Attorney General in President Cleveland's Cabinet, telegraphed from Charievoix, Mich., regarding the death of Grover Cleveland:
     "He was a typical product of American blood, life, and training. His sense of duty always overshadowed all other motives."

Duty His One Rule -- Smith.

     ATLANTA, Ga. June 24. -- Gov. Hoke Smith, who was Secretary of the Interior under President Cleveland, issued this statement to-day:
     "He was big in brain and in body. Duty was with him the constant rule of conduct."

D.R. Francis's Regrets.

     ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 24. -- Ex-Gov. D.R. Francis, who was Secretary of the Interior in the second Administration of President Cleveland, expressed profound regret when told of the death of the former President. He said:
     "Mr. Cleveland was a truly great man and a patriot of the highest type. The services he rendered the Republic have never been fully appreciated, but will be held in higher and higher estimate as the years roll by. His taking off at this juncture is an overwhelming loss to the country as well as to his party."

N.J. Colman Grieved.

     ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 24. -- Upon being apprised of the death of ex-President Cleveland, Norman J. Colman, Secretary of Agriculture in President Cleveland's first Administration, said:
     "I am deeply grieved at the sad intelligence. I cannot speak strongly enough in commendation of his excellent qualities of heart and head. He had but one ambition, and that was to serve the people of the United States in the best and most faithful manner."

Don M. Dickinson Ill.

     DETROIT, Mich., June 24. -- Don M. Dickinson of this city, Postmaster General in President Cleveland's Cabinet, is ill in a sanitarium at Flint, Mich., suffering from nervous breakdown.
     This afternoon Mr. Dickinson was informed of the death of Mr. Cleveland. He said it was a great shock to him as he had hoped that the ex-President had entirely recovered from his recent illness. He was overcome by the news.

PRAISE FROM FAIRBANKS.

     INDIANAPOLIS, June 24. -- Vice President Fairbanks said to-day that he will probably attend the funeral of Mr. Cleveland. Speaking of the former President, the Vice President said:
     "Grover Cleveland was one of the best and most patriotic statesmen the country has produced. He devoted himself to the public service with singleness of purpose and stood by his convictions on important public questions with a sturdy courage that commanded admiration among the great body of the people. He was a many-sided man, a man of broad and generous sympathies. His influence was always for good. He was, indeed, the very best type in public service and as a private citizen."

BRYAN PAYS HIGH TRIBUTE.

Special to The New York Times.

     LINCOLN, Neb., June 24. -- W.J. Bryan made this statement to-night:
     "The death of ex-President Grover Cleveland brings to a sudden end the phenomenal career of one of the strongest characters known to the political world during the present generation. Like every commanding figure, he had zealous supporters and earnest opponents, but those who differed from him were as ready as his warmest friends to concede to him the possession of elements of leadership to an extraordinary degree.
     "He was deliberate in conviction and ever ready to accept responsibility for what he did. Few man have exerted a more positive influence upon those associated with them. We are not far enough from the period in which his work was done to measure accurately his place in history, but the qualities which made him great are the part of a Nation's heritage, and universal sorrow is felt at his death."

GREAT MAN, SAYS CANNON.

     DANVILLE, Ill., June 24. -- Speaker Joseph G. Cannon, when told of the death of Mr. Cleveland at Princeton, said:
     "I very much regret Cleveland's death. I was a member of the House of Representatives during both of his administrations, and while I was a member of the opposition party and they fir not agree with his economic policies, both then and now, I recognize his great ability, his courage and patriotism. He will dwell in history as one of the greatest Presidents of this country."

WHOLE CITY MOURNS CLEVELAND'S DEATH

Flags All Over Town Drop to Half Staff Upon Receipt of the News.

THE COURTS DO HIM HONOR

Justices Have Their Esteem for Dead Statesman Spread Upon the Record
-- Mourning Emblems in Wall St.


     New York City went into mourning as soon as the telegraphic news came yesterday morning of the death of Mr. Cleveland. Flags on public and private buildings were lowered to half staff, and officials and organizations went about putting themselves on record as feeling deeply the passing away of one who was characterized by Republicans as well as Democrats as one of America's greatest citizens.
     Mayor McClellan, as soon as he heard the news, ordered that the flags on all the city's buildings be lowered to half staff, and issued this proclamation:
To the Citizens of New York:
     Grover Cleveland died to-day at Princeton. As a mark of respect I have directed that flags on all municipal buildings be half-staffed.
     By this sign of mourning the people of the City of New York testify to their realization of a great National loss. Both in office and in private life Grover Cleveland was a positive moral force, bringing to the Republic such elements of rugged strength that we do not yet fully appreciate how great his services were. He was the dominant figure of his party, and his name and his deeds are inseparably associated with every achievement of that party since the civil war. His eight years in the Presidency are conspicuous periods in National development, displaying a rightful recognition of the attitude of government toward the individual and associations of individuals, and toward business industries, large and small.
     We must feel a just pride in recalling his wise and dignified statesmanship in our relations with our nations.
     His services to his party and to his country are not to be disassociated. He served his party best by doing what he believed to be right for the country, and his sense of right knew no compromise. He would not temporize for personal or party advantage. The popular policy of the moment never prevailed over the honest conviction of what ought to be done, and to his unswerving purpose and clear judgment our National health owes many benefits.
     Always holding the respect of his opponents, he lived to enjoy the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens and the admiration we give to the man who fights a good fight.
     It is fitting that the people of our city should join with the people of the State and of the Nation in mourning the loss of our greatest citizen.
     At a later day I shall ask you to join with me in a more formal expression of the sense of our loss.

     Very early in the day orders from Washington brought to half staff the flags upon the Sub-Treasury, Custom House, the Assay Office, and the other Federal buildings and structures in the city.
     Wall Street went into mourning even before the city and Federal authorities had half staffed their flags. One of the first drooping flags seen in Wall Street was that upon the office of J.P. Morgan Co., at Broad and Wall Streets. This big flag trailed almost to the street when it was lowered.
     The Chamber of Commerce decided to hold a meeting on Friday at 12 o'clock to take action on the death of Mr. Cleveland. The Stock Exchange voted to close during the funeral services of the former President, the hour to be determined later.
     Even the Board of Governors passed a resolution saying that this Republic had lost in Mr. Cleveland "its greatest American, its wisest statesman, and its most unselfish patriot," and the Curb brokers adopted resolutions deploring the loss of "this great American citizen, whose life made for the stability of the institutions of the country and for the safety and usefulness od the people."
     Representative members of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick will meet Friday at noon in the office of Morgan J. O'Brien at 2 Rector Street to decide upon suitable action in memory of Mr. Cleveland.
     The Federal Grand Jury adjourned at 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon out of respect for the memory of Mr. Cleveland, upon motion of United States Attorney Louis Ogden O'Brien, seconded by Commissioner John A. Shields.
     The courts all over New York City yesterday showed regret for the passing of the great statesman. Justice Francis M. Scott of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court said that Mr. Cleveland had belonged to that section of the Democratic Party opposed to Tammany Hall and its methods. Justice Scott remembered, he said, how Mr. Cleveland had worked until late hours at Albany when he was Governor. He felt that he was a greater men than he had opportunity to show; that if a stupendous emergency had arisen while he was in office he would have been the one man among millions with enough reserve power to meet adequately such an emergency.
     Justice Frank C. Laughlin, also of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, who is a Republican in politics, said that the dead statesman was the greatest man the Democrats ever had, and one of the "few who enjoyed equally the love and admiration of Republicans."
     In adjourning Trial Term, Part VIII., of the Supreme Court, Justice Fitzgerald ordered the clerk to spread upon the minutes of the court an announcement of the death of the Democratic President, together with an expression of the Justice's admiration for "this great man." In his declining years, went on Justice Fitzgerald, he had been the foremost private citizen of the Republic, enjoying the respectful admiration deliberately rendered him by all his countrymen, irrespective of party.
     Justice Giegerich, in Trial Term, Part III., of the Supreme Court, after expressing his personal appreciation of the greatness of Mr. Cleveland and his sorrow at his death, ordered that the regret of the New York Bar at the loss be spread upon the minutes of the court.

THE NATION MOURNS.

Tributes from Many Governors -- Flags Ordered Drooped at Half Staff.

Special to The New York Times.

     CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 24. -- On being informed of the death of ex-President Cleveland to-day, Gov., Guild, Jr., of Massachusetts, said:

     The two foremost traits in his character were sincerity and courage. That he was unable to carry out his tariff plans was not his fault.
     He dared, however, not only to have convictions, but to act upon them regardless of political results, and his own honor was not more dear to him than that of his country.
     Gov. Harris, Ohio; Gov. Hanly, Indiana; Gov. Willson, Kentucky; Gov. Woodruff, Connecticut; Gov. Glenn, North Carolina, all had words of praise for Mr. Cleveland, and ordered flags on public buildings at half-staff.

SECRETARY TAFT SHOCKED.

Candidate Calls Mr. Cleveland One of the Great Men of the Country.

     NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 24. -- Secretary Taft was greatly shocked when he heard of the death of ex-President Cleveland. He was in the commencement procession of university officials, Faculty, and student graduates to Woolsey Hall, where the graduating exercises took place, when the news was conveyed to him.
     "I am very sorry, indeed," said he, "to hear of Mr. Cleveland's death. He was one of the really great men of the country, and his passing away is a distinct loss to the American people."
     Ex-Senator John C. Spooner of Wisconsin, who had received to-day the degree of Doctor of Laws, also expressed his great regret at the death of Mr. Cleveland. Senator Spooner knew Mr. Cleveland intimately and entertained a high regard for him.
     The information of the death of Mr. Cleveland was conveyed to J. Pierpont Morgan, who to-day received the degree of Doctor of Laws, but he made no comment upon it.
     Secretary Taft, in speaking at the Yale alumni dinner this afternoon, paid a tribute to ex-President Cleveland. He was a great man and a great President, said the Secretary.
     "He had the highest civic ideals, had rugged honesty, and he had courage, which makes us now happy in his death, as he leaves this life revered, respected, and loved by all his countrymen."

WHAT THE EDITORIALS SAY.

The Sun Glad to Remember That the Old Breach Was Healed.

From The Sun.

     In the long perspective the three most conspicuous features of Mr. Cleveland's public career perhaps are these: His steadfast fidelity to the cause that was known as civil service reform, his readiness to go to war with the strongest of naval powers in defense of a principle that is part of the Monroe Doctrine, and his courageous but strictly constitutional application of Federal force in the case of the Chicago railway riots in 1894.
     In other days the ideas of Mr. Cleveland and those of this newspaper with regard to many things were notoriously not in accord. This circumstance possibly makes it proper to say now what it will always be pleasant for us to remember, namely, that the personal breach ceased to exist years ago, and that The Sun has long numbered Grover Cleveland among its constant readers and faithful friends.

Courage Made Him Great.

From The World.

     One of the commonplace charges of Mr. Cleveland's opponents among those of his own political faith is that he wrecked his party. It would be more nearly correct to say that the party wrecked itself.
     His whole public career was a demonstration of political courage which, as Mr. Roosevelt truly says, "quailed before no hostility when once he was convinced where his duty lay."

Mrs. Cleveland a Noble Woman.

From The American.

     The death of Grover Cleveland at Princeton removes from the active affairs of man in America one who has occupied a large and prominent place in the history of his generation. As the only Democratic President since James Buchanan in 1856, and for two terms the occupant of that office with a Republican administration between. Mr. Cleveland's public life is naturally and indissolubly linked with the only creative and executive period which the Democratic Party has known during the half century in which we live.
     There is but one mind among Americans as to the virtues and graces of the noble woman who survives him. It is doubtful if in all the Republic there is any woman more sincerely admired and beloved than Frances Folsom Cleveland.

Democracy Destitute of His Kind.

From The Press.

     His iron will and unflinching spirit did not permit him to falter in attempting to perform what his conscience and his sense of duty impelled him to achieve, though his task be accompanied by disaster to his country, the wreck of his party, and, before the end, the literal shrieks of his fellow-men. Indeed multitudes of the American people heard his name only to shudder at it. Yet time and better fortune mellowed that public opinion, which, unmindful of his works, respected what he was. There was honor from all in his closing years.

A Representative American

From The Tribune.

     As President Mr. Cleveland left a record which does him great personal credit. As a political leader, however, he was far less fortunate. He was the foremost Democrat of his day. Yet even before he left the Presidency he had lost the support of his party and had seen it fall a prey to bitter factional strife. He was no Jefferson and no Jackson.

Sister on Her Way to Princeton.

     OMAHA, Neb., June 24. -- Mrs. Mary Cleveland-Hoyt, sister of ex-President Cleveland, was notified of her brother's death in a brief telegram from Mrs. Cleveland. She will start for Princeton to-night.