The French transport Isere, with the Liberty statue on board, arrived at New York, June 24, 1885, and was saluted and welcomed by a hundred different vessels. The dedication ceremonies, October 28, 1886, were among the most impressive ever witnessed in the metropolis of our country. Among those on the reviewing stand, near the Worth Monument, were President Cleveland, General Sheridan, the members of the President's cabinet, M. Bartholdi, M. de Lesseps, representative of the diplomatic corps at Washington, and many distinguished American citizens.
The following facts will give an idea of the size of this great statue: the forefinger is more than eight feet long; the second joint is about five feet in circumference; the finger-nail is a foot long, and the nose nearly four feet; the head is fourteen and a half feet high, and can accommodate forty persons, while the hollow torch will hold twelve persons. The copper sheets which form the outside of the statue weigh eighty-eight tons. From the base to the top of the torch is slightly more than 150 feet, which is 305 feet above low-water mark.
DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT.
In no event of Cleveland's first administration was the public more deeply concerned than in the death of General Grant, the foremost defender of the Union. After his return from his triumphant journey around the world, he engaged in business in the city of New York. The soul of honor himself, it was hard for him to believe the dishonesty of others; but he became the victim of unscrupulous persons, and lost not only all his own savings but those of many of his friends. He did everything in his power to make good his losses, but succeeded only to a slight extent. He was ruined financially, though a grateful nation would never permit him to suffer want.
THE FUNERAL TRAIN OF GENERAL GRANT PASSING WEST POINT.
It was at this sad period that a cancer developed at the root of his tongue, and, though he received the best medical attention in the country, the malignant excrescence soon made it evident that he was beyond human help. He devoted himself heroically to writing his memoirs, and, with the grim determination which was so marked a feature of his character, he fought off the last great enemy until the valuable work was finished.
General Grant's last days were spent with his family at Mount McGregor in New York State, where he quietly breathed his last on the evening of July 22, 1885. The body was embalmed and removed to the City Hall in New York, where it was viewed by mourning thousands before its removal to the last resting-place in Riverside Park. The final impressive scenes, when the remains were deposited in the mausoleum on the banks of the Hudson, took place in 1897.
DEATH OF VICE-PRESIDENT HENDRICKS.