Milford chronicle., 1883-03-02
\. Y. CHURCH SCHOOL DISASTER,
The Funeral of the Children-FOurteen
White Henrses.
[From the New York Herald.l

[From the New York Herald
Fourteen white hearses, carrying white
plumcs; fourteen little cofins covered
with flowers, vast numbers of curious
minded people, crowded church, a
solemn service and some illusions to the
mysterious ways of Providence, a long
! line Of carriages vending toward the
cemetery. fourteen new filled graves
and thus ended the tragedy of the
Fourth Street School.
A great city is this New York of ours,
and strange sights are seen among MS.
While the majority of its people were
bent on pleasure recently, trying to make
the most of a holiday which in itself
offers but few attractions oramusements,
a majority, consisting of many thousands,
were engaged in one of the saddest
dramas ever enacted. Flags were flying
from the housetops in other parts of the
city. but in the noighhorhood resting
under the shadow of the late calamity
not a single streamer rippled in the
breeze. It was a strange holiday for the
Seventeenth ward. From very early
morning the streets in the vicinity OF the
Church OF the Most Holy Redeemer
were filed with people.
One has no idea Of what a crowd is
until he goes into this section Of New
York and sees the great tenement houses
empty their occupants upon the streets.
Men, women and children chOked up the
payements as well as the sidewalks.
Their chief and only ambition appeared
to be to find something in some way re-
lated to the funeral to look at. If it was
only wreath carried into one of the
homes of death they watched it with an
eager curiosity.
From eight o'clock to nine the white
hearses were mcving hither and thither
through the district. Fourteen Of them
finally drew up in front Of fourteen diff
ferent houses from whose doorways hung
the white emblem of mourning. Each |
hearse had its following in number Of
carriages and swarm Of excited, gos-
siping people. So demonstrltiye were /
the latter that but for the efforts of the /
police they would have seriously imped- |
ed the funeral ceremonies.
It was a busy morning for the blue
coats. Seyenty.fye men were detailed
from different precincts and performed
hew duty under the direction cf Inspec-
tor Murray and Captain AIcCullagh.
Central Office detectives were scattered
lhout the district on the lookout for
'ogues. They would have lcen worse
han rogues who plundercd pockets or
louses at such time rs this, and it was
title inducement the neighborhood
.fforded to thieves Be it said to the
redit of the rogucs that the detectives
ound nothing to do.
Before the bodies were carried to the
hurch, the police rendered good service
{ the houses from which the collins
we're removed At times they had TO
rive the spectators forcibly away from
he hearses and the entrances to the
ouses of grief One could but remem-
er how this same crowd of people had
locked the entrance TO the school at the
ime Of the panic, and interfered with
he labor of life-saving when moments
-ere precious. They meant no dis
aspect to the dead, but they were hard
1t to deal with, and the police exhibited
remarkable degree of patience.
The vast congregation in the church
nd it could not have been under four !
for half an hour be-
1re the first body arrived. Just pre- !
eding it came the sound of mufled I
rum, the big doors swung open and |
bout forty members of the Jaeger !
Iuard, commanded by Captain Braun, /
larched along the aisle and halted half 5
ay up. The organization belongs to |
le church and does duty on all occasions
{ pomp. They stood at attention in c
yo files, between which the mourners
I'd the dead were to pass. /
Five minutes went slowly by and the
g doors opened again. Two men d
rried a coffin up the aisle. The guard a
resented arms rs it passed. Women ii v
.e rear Of the church stood upon the o
ats and craned their D. cks to catch d
ght of it. A curious lot of women they
9re-poor and thinly clad, bare handed $
ID few bare headed, but all looking II
lat and clean. They acted as if they n
ere attending some kind of public ex- G
bition, talked together and smiled. A Il
pan escaped from the mother who fol- 1
we'd the coffin up the aisle, and at the s.
yht of her grief these same women q
Lrst into compassionate grief. p
4 llt Ilol NDAAtA Aitt u44AhGA ~ bMHAAt1
nutcs to nine, and the others came in In
,wly. Some were followed by two or s.
rec mourners, some by half dozen. m
10 air was laden with sobs. Behind M
e coffin a poor woman was actually n
rried up the aisle by her husband and II
D. "Ohl oh p were the only sounds ~
e uttered, but they pierced the re- al
)test ears in the throng. Hardly a 81
man in the church but wept with her, 81
q the guardsmen winked their eyes N
t to keep back the tears that soldiers
= not supposed to she'd
When they brought their muskets to Il
. floor, again it was done so softly it vC
nd not be heard in the back Of the OF
Tch, though the weapons were heavy Sc
] grim, and there was no earpeting on m
J aisle. A tiny coffin, the smallest Of tn
long procession, was carried in. 1t m
ltained the remains Of little Josephine ql