The Evening critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1881-1885, 1881-09-24
THE EVENING CRITIC.
GONE FOREVER,


ricd from the Scene Of his Greatest
Triunphs.
We republish below for the benefit of our
regular subscribers the extra of last night,
containing the very complete account of the
departure of the late Presidents remains
from the city.
A Remarkable sight.
Years will clapsc before Washington wit
nesscs such sight rs we have had this af-
tcrnoon, and let all hope that It may never
again come from such melancholy cause.
The act Is over.
The curtain has fallen on the Washing
ton career of James A. Garfield. The streets
which he had troddcn in the early days of
tho war, and the Avenue which had grown
by degrees into beauty and symmetry Qikc
, his own improving public charactcr), will
know him no more.
But the scenes in which he was so promi-
nent an actor, and the particular spots that
have witnessed the triumphs and the
tragedies of his long career, will remain
landmarks of history for all time to come,
and children who to-day formed fractions of
the vast multitudes of mourners will re-
peat the story and describe the sad occasion
when we are dead and gone.
1t occurred to thousands who thronged
the Avenue to-day that Washington was
favored by circumstances in being the
theatre of great events How many mil
lions of people from one end of the country
to the other have envied to-day the privi-
legged few in the United States who could
witness the funeral cortegc of the nations
chief?
Not even at the time of the Inauguration
people on the Avenue. They seemed to
spring from the ground as if by magic, in
cited by motives of sympathy and respect
Where they all came from was q marvel
Even allowing for the troops that came
from the neighboring cities on all the
morning trains, it was still hard to account
for the human mass that poured down the
side streets and surged in solid phalanx
along the Avenue over the entire line of
march. ~
The overflow spread through the grounds
Of the Capitol, and at the eastern front,
whence the body was to be borne, nothing
could be seen but surging sea of upturned
faces, anxiously awaiting the commence
ment and the close of the ceremonies. 1t is
useless to dwell on any estimate of the num-
bers who witnessed the last scenes. Per-
haps it would be safe to say that over 2O0,-
900 men, women and children, representing
all classes and conditions, were gathered to-
gethcr on this mOmentous occasion.
AS on Wednesday last, there was the same
silence and perfect order. Militiamen and
regulars, with reversed arms, the army and
naval escort in full uniform, the sombre
hearse and the long line of carriages. The
arrangement could not have been moro per-
feet. The ceremonies concluded, the march
began down the historic HILL and all was
over. Funeral strains, sad hearts, bereavcd
thousands. And when all had passed, the
crowd surged bomeward.
1t was indeed "the sad verify of death
swept by the rustling masquerade of life"
"a sentence which the dead statesman adj
mired, little fancying he would ever point
moral.
1t was Friday the day Of superstition. 1t
was also Friday when the late President
was borne in triumph along the Avenue to
the sound of huzzas and notes of martial
music to enter the Mansion which has been
To him and his so fruitful of disaster.
On both events the elements seemed to
grant their sympathy.
On the morning of the inaugural the sky
was heavy and murky: but when the
triumphal march nm the Avenue began, the
sun came brilliantly ont and the scene was
porreously in kceping with the day. This
Friday. which ended the sad scene. opened
brilliantly. and the sun went under a cloud
when the march down the Avenue beran.
Rut through the mists and the summer
.,.... ,,;nbou, sronnod tho oostor, civ
..''o.;,.oI,, o,,or tho domo MID n Moan
~ .om ,ho thousonds below that ont Of tbo
',.ta - souro,,, oo,o tho roys NJ a not;onoI
,a.a.
WAITING nj tho Denot and I'm the
streets.
Throughout the entire day the streets
were thronged with people. Pennsylvania
Avenue was n sea of faces and forms, and
about the Capitol human ocean surged in
almost limitless numbers.
Depscly crowded trains from the East