, 1864-07-16
DEATH OF AN AMERICAN
STUDENT In GERMANY.
4 Funeral Procession Of German Ntu.
d2nfH.

lCcrfespondence Of the N. T. Eveniag Post.l
BoSs ON TIE RHINE, June q, 1864.
This quiet University town WAS afew davs
ago thrown Into q state Of considerable ex
citcmeut By melancholy accident, which
removed from the small circle OF Americans
resident htrc, ore of its most respectable
members, and afforded Ia some Of its couse~
quences curious Illustration Of German
character and habits. The occurrence wAs
the death, by drowning, Of James Fitz B5rne,
Of St. Louis, No., WHO had been living III
Bonn Tor nearly year, as student At the
June :. be went with friend, for the pur-
pose Of bathing, to one Of the loatlug baths
which are anchored In the Rhine, opposite
the town and near the further bauk, These
establishments, 1t should be said, contain
only dressing-rooms; but as safeguard
agaiust the rapldity Of the current, which
he:e flows at the rate Of five or six miles an
hour, small enclosure Is formed about each
Of them by floating barrier Of logs.
Mr. Byrne had no sooner entered the water
within one OF these enclosures than he was
seized, as 1t is supposed, By cramp, which
wholly deprived him OF the control of his
limbs; tor he Immediately went below the
surtnce and Tns in IN instant swept BY the
current under tho barrier and do m the
stream. LIE reappcared several times at the
surface, apparently quite helpless, but the
force Of the current Was SO great tnat, though
the bathing master at once plunged Ia after
him, it was impossible to reach lin, and he
Was carried in a few moments out of sight
No trace Of the body was discovered for sew
eral days, and it Wns not until the following
Monday morning that telegram was re.
ceivcd announcing It's recovery It had been
found On the previous evening, four days at-
tcr the accident, several miles below Dusse1-
don, end nearly sixty miles from Bonn.
As soon as the body Was received here, 1t
was trtated nth unusual marks Of attention
by the personal friends Of Mr. Byrne, by the
students IF the University, and by the Ro-
man Catholic Church, to which communion
he belonged. On Monday, June 18th, In the
parish church of st Martin. g. solemn soul.
SERVICE" as it was called in the printed no.
tlce, was held '@ Tor the lost student Of phi
losophy." In the Bonn Zettung Of Wednes-
day, ths 18th inst, appeared the announce
and an *'address to james Fitz Byrne, stud.
phil"
In the same paper notice WIS given that
the funeral would take place at nine o'clock
in the evening. with torch-light. procession
Of the students. As the procession left the
University it was headed By band playing
funeral march; behind them was borne
giloed cross, which was followed by the
priests in their official robes. Next came the
h.arse, drawn by four horses. and shaking
with black plumts. Behind 1t walled the
American friends Of the deceased, then the
Faculty Of the University, whose respect aud
esteem for him we're thus strikingly display
ed, and then several Of the ''corps" Of stu
dents, disting guished by the color of their
capE-cach corps carrying flag, and each
student torch. The whole cortegc may,
pcthaps, have numbered 200.
AS they moved SLOWLY along to the cene-
tery distant about hall mile from the Unl-
versity, now and then a hat was lifted among
the spectators as the cross was carricd by,
but the babblc of the irrepresssble German
tongues was scarcely diminished anl the roll
licking crowd poured On after the procession.
At the grave the customary Roman Catholic
services were performed, and ut their close
the students, Under the direction OF leader,
whose form Wus dimly visible to those out
side OF the procession and SO outside Of the
graveyard, through the smoke Of the torches,
eanga parting hymn.
When these ceremonies were over the pro-
ceseion moved at a rnpid step, the band play
1pg quick marches, to the bank Of the Rhine,
where the torches were thrown into the
water, and the multitude turned back into
the city. AZ walked along through the
narrow streets, ringing with deafening rever-
berat1ous of the songs and cries, and whist
lipg Of the crowd, could not but contrast
with this brilliant and boisterous perform
auce Of the most solemn Of oil rites the quiet
and impressive manner IN which, with simple
scryices aud eorrowful hearts, a company Of
American students commit one Of their nun.
ber to rest.