The morning call., 1893-01-31
HIS WORK ENDED.
James Ct. Blaine Laid to
Rest.
MANY FOLLOW THE CORTEGE
The Private Funeral of the Popular
Idol Became an Impressive Pub
lie Demonstration.
Special to THE MORNING CALL.


| service. Tie presence of the President.
| Cabinet. Supreme judges, high officials of
| Congress and diplomatic corps was not
| more significant than the homage Of the
| waiting crowds, who in respectful silence
| lined the streets through which the funeral
| cortege passed.
| The parlor on the second floor, where the
| body lay, was fairly embowered in floral
| tributes from prominent people from all
parts of the country, from President E9EA /
son down. The Presidents tribute Na (,
| wreath of orchids and roses, placed ON the
coffin. The President entered first. accom-
| panied by Mrs. Mckee, and following them
! came officials of the executive, legislative
and judicial departments, the diplomatic
| corps and others who by ties OF kindred,
| friendship or association were entitled to
the privilege of being present at the final
| rites of the distinguished statesman.
The parlors were not able to contain all
| who received invitations. Even the house
was too small. ard many perforce remained
| in carriages, which filed the adjacent
streets. extending along Pennsylvania ave-
nue.. in front of the Treasury, the War.
State and Navy buildings. A concourse of
| several thousand occupied Lafayette
square, opposite the Blaine mansion. and
the doors and windows of adjacent houses
were thronged with spectators.
A marked air of decorous solemnity at
tended even the outside demonstrations.
AS the hour for the services arrived the
mourners. including the members of the
| family. grouped around the casket. the re-
mainder Of those present standing, as there
was not room for chairs.
The simple service of prayer constituted
the rites. Rev. Mr.. Hamlin, standing be-
hind the casker, delivered in a low tone the
| Presbyterian service for the dead, Walter
Damrosch, meantime touching the keys of
| the piano to the notes of slow dirge. DIR.
| Hamlin thanked God that life ended only
that immortality might begin. He besought
the Almighty for comfor. to the members of
| the stricken household.
This ended the brief but impressive serv-
| ice. The casket was closed and tenderIy
| borne to the hearse. and the procession
wended its way slowly to the Church of the
| Covenant
The street outside was thronged with
| spectators who reverently dofed their hats
as the cortage passed. Following the hearse
were the pallbearers-Senators Frye aud
Hale, of Maine, and Morgan of Alabama,
| Representatives Reed and Boutelle, of
| Maine, HIT of Illinois and Bingham of
| Pennsylvania, General Thomas Ewing of
| Ohio, John Hay of Washington. Joseph ii.
| Maniey of Maine, Almet F. jerks of Brook
! lyu and z. V. p. Ely of Boston. Then came
the members Of the family. attending ply
! sicians and the distinguished guests in due
| order.
! AT the church ropes were stretched to
| exclude all who were not specially invited.
The funeral procession arrived at the
| church at noon and to an improvisation on
the organ made up of the several themes of
| hymns which Blaine loved the distin-
| guished concourse moved slowly up the aisle
and the body was deposited at tie chapel
rail.
! The services at the church were as simple
| as at the house, consisting of the service for
| the dead, selections from the Scriptures and
| prayer
| Then the funeral procession reformed
| and the body was conveyed TO Oak Hill
! Cemetery and laid to rest.
| The decorations at the church were very
rich and effective. The terrace formed by
the pulpit and the rail separating he organ
| gallery from the platform afforded a back
| ground for striking massing oil plants aud
| cut flowers. On the ledge of the pulpit
|
twelve inches in width, aud below this rib
| bon. and suspended from across the front
and around the curved sides of the pulpit.
were short festoons of smiax The bap-
tismal font, at the right OF the pulpit, was
| twined with smilax, and bore in its bowl
bunch of Harrison lilies Over the cut
| flowers were foliage plants, and at either
end of the rail. against the wall. stood an
| WI
| all. Immediately behind the reading-desk
we're two Kentias palms. The front of the
| organ was covered with curtains of smilax
and ropes were draped from the apex of
| the instrument to the candelabra on the
side walls of the organ loft This decora-
| ton was made under the direction of the
| public gardener and has never been sur
! passed here in either profusion or effective
| ensemble. The space in front of the pull
| pit, in which the coffin lay was entirely
| covered with floral emblems which had ac-
| companied the remains from the house.
| These were disposed in such way as TO
heighten the effect of the stationary decora-
| tOns.
Mrs. Blaine was not among the mourners
| at the church. Just before the starting of
| the funeral procession from Lafayette
| square she requested to be left alone for
| few minutes with her dead. The paror
was cleared for this purpose. and when Mrs.
| Blaine emerged she made her way, sup
| ported on the arms of her son and daughter.
| to the room where her husband had died.
and there gave way to her grief in utter
| prostraton. Mrs. Hale and other sympa-
| thizing friends followed her TO the death
chamber, but friendly ministrations were of
no avail, and Mrs. Blaine was compelled to
stay behind.
| At Oak Hill Cemetery on the successive
| terraces that border the winding path way
leading to the grave scores of spectators
were standing aud many pressed forward to
| pluck flower from the wreath on the
column that adorned the dead mans bier.
| The floral tributes were so, numerous that
| five wagons were necessary to convey them
| to the cemetery. where they were arranged
artistically at the back of the grave ON a
huge strip of canvas.
Dr. Hamlin read the simple burial service
| OF the Presbyterian church. This was fol-
| lowed by an extemporaneous prayer, and
then came the benediction. and all that was
mortal OF James Gillespie Blaine was con-
| signed TO earth. The interment was over
fifteen minutes after the cortege entered the
cemetery at 80 o'clock
Slowly the crowd dispersed. The Presi-
dent and his Cabinet. the Senators and the
family all entered their carriages and were
| driven away, all but one. James G. Blaine.
| who is junior no longer, who stood beside
the grave Of his father until the masons had
bricked in the casket and the graye-diggers
had filled in the remaining space. When all
this was accomplished he returned to his
carriage and the last group of spectators
dispersed. The death certificate gives the
primary cause of death as arterio renal
fibrosis. chronic in,erstitial nephrts and
chronic catarrhal pneumonia. The im-
mediate cause was cardiac degeneration and