But the very first year, a bolt from the blue fell upon her. In May, 1901, a great industrial exposition, known as the "Pan-American," was opened at Buffalo, New York. It was especially notable for its electrical display and came to be known as "The Dream City," or "The City of Light."
BUFFALO
[1901]
A transient city, marvellously fair,
Humane, harmonious, yet nobly free,
She built for pure delight and memory.
At her command, by lake and garden rare,
Pylon and tower majestic rose in air,
And sculptured forms of grace and symmetry.
Then came a thought of God, and, reverently,—
"Let there be Light!" she said; and Light was there.
O miracle of splendor! Who could know
That Crime, insensate, egoist and blind,
Destructive, causeless, caring but to smite,
Would in its dull Cimmerian gropings find
A sudden way to fill those courts with woe,
And swallow up that radiance in night?
Florence Earle Coates.
September 5 was set aside as President's Day. The attendance was very large, and President William McKinley spoke to an audience of thirty thousand people. The next afternoon a reception was held, at which all were invited to pass in line and shake hands with the President. In the line was a man whose right hand was bandaged with a handkerchief. The handkerchief concealed a revolver. As the President stretched out his hand, the assassin fired twice, one bullet penetrating the President's abdomen.
McKINLEY
[September 6, 1901]
'Tis not the President alone
Who, stricken by that bullet, fell;
[The assassin's shot] that laid him prone
Pierced a great nation's heart as well;
And when the baleful tidings sped
From lip to lip throughout the crowd,
Then, as they deemed their ruler dead,
'Twas Liberty that cried aloud.
Ay, Liberty! for where the foam
Of oceans twain marks out the coast
'Tis there, in Freedom's very home,
That anarchy has maimed its host;
There 'tis that it has turned to bite
The hand that fed it; there repaid
A country's welcome with black spite;
There, Judas-like, that land betrayed.