New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-25
w. w. CORCORAN DEAD.
THE PIlILANTHRoPIsTS PEACEFUL END.
HIS LAST ILLNEss-HIs DEATHBED SURROUNDED
BY RELATIvEs-FUNERAL ARRANGENENTs.

HIS LAST ILINEsS-HIS DFATHBED
BY RELATIvEs-FUNERAL ARRANGENENTs
fBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.l
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.-William w. Corcoran
died at o'clock this morning. The end had
been expected hourly for several days, and II
came so quietly and peacefully that those about
the bedside hardly knew the life bad ebbed out
There was no pain, no struggle. The patient had
lain unconscious through the night, the pulsa-
tions Of the heart growing weaker as the hours
advanced and the breathing becoming lower. AS
morning came the action Of heart and pulse
gradually ceased and painless death crcpt in. IL
was only when the low breathing was no longer
noticeable that the watchers realized that hfo
had fed. Through yesterday and the day be-
fore the patient had been unconscious and In
dying condition. No nourshment had been ad-
ministered, and there was only the remarkable
vitality Of his constitution to keep off death
Shortly before midnight DR.. Garnett was at tho
bedside, and his warning that d eth was coming
momentarily gathered the relatives In the sick
room At daylight one OF the grandsons had
gone to his home, but there remained the young
est grandson William CorcOran Eustis James
Corcoran nephew; Mrs. Reynolds niece; and
G. n Mathews, q relative by marriage. These
four and faithful nurse saw the peaceful end.
II was in small apartment, temporarily
used as sick room, in the rear Of tho
house and overlooking the wide garden. Al
though the immediate cause OF death came from
q cold taken week ago, yet Mr. Corcoran had
been enfeebled since last summer and his robust
constitution gradually broke down. 1t began
with stroke Of paralysis, which affected his
right side and arm. This improved slightly until
last Christmas day, when the strength Of the
paralysed side again gave way. Although Mr..
Corcoran maintained grand hold on his strength,
It gradually left him and the cold recently caught
found him 80 enfeebled that he could not throw
it of.
As soon as the news Of the death spread, Gags
were flying at half-mast throughout the city,
for there is probably no man In Washington so
generally beloved. The Corcoran Art Gallery was
heavily draped in black the Louise Home, founded
by the dead philanthropist was also hung with
Grape, and the inmates Of the institution felt with
keenness the loss they had sustained Business
houses IN which Mr.. Corcoran was interested were
also draped
Arrangements for the funeral have been com,
pleted The services will be held at the resi-.
dence at 2 o'clock on Monday afternoon and will
be as simple and private as possible, relatives and
near friends being expected to attend. The Rev.
Dr. Leonard of St. Johns Episcopal Church. Of
which Mr Corcoran was member, will ofliciate,
with the assistance Of other clergymen TO be in
vited. Before Mr. Corcoran died he selected the
pail bearers he desired to act They are taken
from among his most intimate associates Tho
honorary pall-bearers are Judge Loring w. III.
Lee, Senator Morrill, Secretary Bayard, George
Bancroft, Senator Beck, DR.. yelling and John w.
Burke. The active pall-bearers are w. A.
Maury, A. Francis Riggs, Calderon Carlisle,
Charles c. Glover, Leigh Robinson, w. L. Dunlap,
Woodbury. Blair and Richard Smith. The selection
Of pall-bearers indicates the remarkable attention
to detail which Mr. Corcoran kept up almost to the
last Even in the final hours, when aroused from
his Inconsistencies, his trembling hand traced
his name in answer to one Of the many appeals TO