The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-11-19
THE ROYAL FUNERAL
Alexander III Finally Laid to
Rest with His Fathers.
THOUSANDS WERE TURNED AWAY.

Immense Crowds Who Had Been Waiting
Time yrns % to Gain Abundance to the
Cathedral.
ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. 19.-The funeral
of the late Alexander III took place today
In the Cathedral Of st. Peter and st. Paul.
Immense crowds who had been waiting to
gain admission to the cathedral to view
she cznrs body for the last time were
turned away. Since the first day Of the
lying In state there has been no diminu-
tion In the number. So great have been
the crowds and 80 intense their desire to
get into the cathedral that there have been
so1ne regretable scenes of disorder. The
police were unable to control the masses,
and so violent was the pressure at times
that lamp posts and trees were knocked
down. Many persons hayebeen badly hurt
by the crushing.
The funeral arches and other signs Of
mourning have multiplied from hour to
hour. The streets Of the city look as IL
they were cut out between solid walls of
black and white. Black framed portraits
OF Alexander III are seen in hundreds of
windows. The streets near the route, al
ready crowded before daybreak, had be-
come wholly impossible by noon when all
traffic in the adjacent districts was
stopped, and the way vas cleared for the
procession.
Seventy foreign p.iLoes attended the
funeral. The spate Is sc limited that the
embassy STATS were unable to enter the
cathedral. On the occasion of the funeral
$4,000 of St. Petersburg's poor were pro-
vided with free dinners
The mourning will last one year The
car and grand dukes will be in full
mourning to the end of that period. The
.zarina and the grand duehesses will be in
Sull mourning for three months. A. the
CLOSE of every third month of the remain
ing nino they will lay aside part of their
mourning thus resuming gradually their
usual habits. High Russian officials are
required to keep their rooms and houses
draped for year.
The Cathedral of st. Peter and St. Paul,
In which the remains of the late car are
laid, was originally built by Peter the
Great In 1703. 1t Is often called the Fort
ress church, because it stands within the
fortress which was built on the island by
Peter of Petersburgsky. Beneath the pave
ment are great vaults, in which all the
Russian sovereigns since the foundation
of st. Petersburg lie buried, with the exs
ception of Peter II, who died at Moscow
and was inferred there. Overhead in the
church magnificent mon uments mark the
sites of the graves. The interior OF the
church Is covered with banners and other
military trophies captured in tho various
wars waged by Russia.
Externally the most remarkable feature
OF the building is the slender and elegant
pyraIniral spire springing from the four
oornered belfry at the western end. The
summit of the cross, which surmouIts it,
is 81 feet above the ground level In the
gliding of the spire twenty two pounds
weight OF pure gold are said to have been
employed.
The fortress which contains the mint as
we'll as the cathedral, is now used as a
state prison. The remainder of the island
is meanly built and is the, refuge of the
poorer officials and the better class of
workinsnen. Its northern part, separated
from the lain island by a narrow chan
mel, bears tic name of Apothccaries' ISL
and, and is occupied by IA botanical gar
den