as
in the agricultural Northwest that lies between Chicago and the Rocky
Mountains. Schools and churches are almost everywhere flourishing in
this region, and the necessities of life are not beyond the reach of any
element or class. There is a pleasantness, a hospitality, and a
friendliness in the social life of the Western communities that is
certainly not surpassed.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY, 1897-1901.

William McKinley--Organization of "Greater New York"--Removal of General
Grant's Remains to Morningside Park--The Klondike Gold Excitement--Spain's
Misrule in Cuba--Preliminary Events of the Spanish-American War.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT.

William McKinley was born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29,
1843, of Scotch ancestry, his father, David, being one of the pioneers
of the iron business in Eastern Ohio.

The parents were in moderate circumstances, and the son, having prepared
for college, was matriculated at Alleghany College, Meadville,
Pennsylvania, but his poor health soon obliged him to return to his
home. He became a schoolteacher at the salary of $25 per month, and, as
was the custom in many of the country districts, he "boarded round;"
that is, he made his home by turns with the different patrons of his
school. He used rigid economy, his ambition being to save enough money
to pay his way through college.

[Illustration: WILLIAM McKINLEY.

(1843-.) One term, 1897-1901.]

Destiny, however, had another career, awaiting him. The great Civil War
was impending, and when the news of the firing on Fort Sumter was
flashed through the land, his patriotic impulses were roused, and, like
thousands of others, he hurried to the defense of his country. He
enlisted in Company E, as a private. It was attached to the Twenty-third
Ohio regiment, of which W.S. Rosecrans was colonel and Rutherford B.
Hayes major. Of no other regiment can it be said that it furnished two
Presidents to the United States.

For more than a year Private McKinley carried a musket, and on the 15th
of April, 1862, was promoted to a sergeancy. Looking back to those
stirring days of his young manhood, President McKinley has said:

"I always recall them with pleasure. Those fourteen months that I served
in the ranks taught me a great deal. I was but a schoolboy when I went
into the army, and that first year was a formative period of my life,
during which I learned much of men and affairs. I have always b