The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-04-29
GREAT DAY N GOTHAM
DEDICATED WITH POMP
AND sPLENDOR.
UNIFORMS OF ALL NATIONS
FORMED A PARADE TO BE REMEM-
BERED FOR ITS GLITTER AND
CONSCIOUSNESS.
SOLEMN CEREMONIES At The TOMB
EuIogy on the Dead Soldier by Pres
ident McKInIey-Many Ex-Con-
federntes Joined In Doing the
Dead Hero Honor-wnr-
ships and Other Graft
ThrOnged the
Hudson.
SOLEMN CEREMONIES At THE TOMB

New York, April 27.-Never but once
before in the history Of the United
States, has such tribute been paid to
the noble dead as when today, with won.
drous pageant by land and sea, the ma
ton dedicated the tomb that now holds
the body Of Ulysses s. Grant. 1t was
an occasion more Of triumphant eulogy
and national pride than of funeral rite,
for in these twelve years since first the
nation mOurned for Grant, the kcenness
Of agony has worn away and in its place
there lives In the hearts of men that hero
worship which found such tumultuous
vent today. The greatest Of our citizens,
our soldiers and our sailors stood side by
side with men of fame from almost every
nation of the earth and paid, without
regard to race or creed or party preju-
dice, the last and long delayed homer of
the living to the dead, while the great
est throng that ever filled the city of New
York added its surging pean to the roar
OF belching guns and the tramp of march
ing soldiers. And in that throng there
was no North and no South, for since the
soldier president had said LET us have
peace, the gray had blended with the
blue.
Before the presidential party left the
city to take part in the dedication cere-
monies, the flag-decked streets were black
with people who cheered vocfcrously as
the great men drove by. When the tomb
was reached strange sight met the eye.
All around the oval, in the center of
which stood the gray monument to Grant,
were what seemed to be black hillocks.
This sombre background was formed by
the thousands of spectators who filled
the stands built up from the ground on
both sides of the oval to the level OF ,he
steps that lead to its massive doors.
On the south, where the look around
the oval met the Riverside drive, there
were two solid lines of humanity. On /
all four sides of the monument oval the |
stands were packed to overlooking, while |
facing these crowds was the great mass
of sight seers who had not been officially
provided for
Inc solemn Service of dedication SEEM
ed TO .nrow strange hush over this vast
throng. The president stood barcheaded
in the wind. When he spoke, he was
Istlnctly heard by the $4,000 persons
who stood directly in front of him.
Gen. Porter's Grafton in honor of the
hero seemed to impress the crowd less
than the sight of the bale.faced, bare
headed presdeht standing beside the
widow of the dead general, ex-President
Cleveland and the gray haired statesmen
ind soldiers. 1t was their presence,
rather than their words, that lent solemn
~ to the occasion. And when il was
all over, when Mayor Strong had for
mally accepted from the nation the trust
of the tomb, and when the president and
his party disappeared in the luncheon
tent, sigh went up from the crowd for
at last the hero lay in the tomb BETTING
him. erected by grateful nation.
While the land parade was being
waited for after the conclusion of the
ceremonies, the sky became cloud-lnden
and the wind increased until it almost
howled around the trees. The waters
of the Hudson reflected the ashcn hue
of the sky, and the great white ships
that floated on its bosom stood out in
almost ominous relief. The dusty road
bed of the drive was whipped up until
black coats became brown and spccta-
tors forsook their unsheltered seats for
the protection of the tomb pillars.
Then suddenly, under the cloud of dust