Carnation Day Commemorates Birth of William McKinley

     There is every indication that Carnation Day, which commemorates the birth of William McKinley, will be more widely observed than ever throughout the United States today. The Carnation Day observance was originated by the late Joseph Adams, of Kalamazoo, Mich., who, after the death of the “martyr president,” suggested that on each January 29th every one wear a carnation, the favorite flower of the slain statesman. The suggestion was taken up by the entire country, and each year has witnessed an extension of the observance. The Carnation league [sic] of America was formed to foster the movement, and its efforts have been attended with great success.
     Interest in the McKinley Day celebration naturally centers in the Ohio cities of Niles and Canton. The body of the former President rests in the tomb on Monument Hill in Canton, where McKinley long resided. At Niles, where he was born, the cornerstone was recently laid for a National McKinley Birthplace Memorial. This edifice, when completed, will be a two-story building, severely colonial in architecture, flanked by wings, and with a marble figure of McKinley, twelve feet in height, in front of the structure. Ionic columns will support the main portico. The Niles memorial project was initiated by J. G. Butler, Jr., of Youngstown, O., who was largely responsible for raising the funds to carry it through. Henry C. Frick was the largest contributor to the fund, giving $50,000.
     The house in which the future chief executive was born was a frame structure of two stories which stood on the main street in Niles. The site is now occupied by a bank. The house was removed to another site, where it was permitted to fall into ruin, vandals helping in its demolition. A few years ago the building was purchased by a public-spirited woman, but it was then only the crumbling shell of the house which was the first home of one of Ohio’s most distinguished sons.