E. G. Keith Back from Europe

Describes the Shock to Transatlantic Passengers When They
Learned the President Was Shot.

     E. G. Keith, President of the Metropolitan National Bank, returned last evening after a four weeks’ trip to England and New York.
     “We left port the afternoon President McKinley was shot,” he said, “and knew nothing of the event until told by the pilot on coming aboard. In all my experience I have never seen such a radical change of demeanor among a throng of people as when the tidings were spread.
     “All enthusiasm and the joy with which the sight of our own shores was greeted disappeared instantly and the passengers filed slowly from the ship with bowed heads as though the loss had been a personal one. Although the President was not dead, the information given us was that the wound was a mortal one and recovery impossible.
     “The most vivid impression of my journey is the change that a few years have wrought in the attitude of the English toward our countrymen. The accession of President McKinley, who was greatly admired abroad, probably was one of the causes of their friendly attitude toward Americans.”