The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-06
0YER 500 HEN IN LINE
At the Funeral of the Late Assistant Super intendeDt Woodruff of the Northampton Division-New Haven Friends-special rraiua

biVision-New Haven Friehus-speciai Trains.
 Westfleld, Mass, July 5.-Probably in
 it's nearly 250 years existence the town never witnessed such largely-attend-
 ed funeral as that yesterday of John L. Woodruff, local station agent and as-. sistant superintendent of the North ampton division of the New York, New
 Haven and Hartford railroad, who died
 on Friday, few hours after undergo ing an operation for appendicitis. Over half a thousand men were in line, quite two-thirds of the number be- ing railroad men from all along the di- vision from New Haven to Shelburne
 Falls and from Holyoke special trains
 being run in these directions to admit of their coming. Quite a number of railroad men were also in attendance from Springfield and other points on the
 Boston and Albany line and several leading officers of the Consolidated sys- tenn, including w. A. Waterbury, super intendent of the Shore Line division,
 and R. G. Curtis, superintendent of the Northampton division, attested the gen.
 eral regard felt for the deceased among
 railroad men by their presence. St. Elmo lodge, Knights of Pythias,
 and Woronoco and Westfield lodges of | Odd Fellows turned out nearly 200 | members and the entire procession, with men ill close marching order, cov-
 cred distance of nearly quarter of a mile.
 | The railroad men were met at the sta- | tion by the Knights of Pythias and Odd | Fellows, with open ranks, and the pro- cession marched to the Woodruff home | on North Elm street, and after prayer by Rev. N. s. Bordman of the Church l of the Atonement, escorted the body
 and mourners to the Second Congrega
 tional church, which was kindly ten dered for the occasion because of the limited capacity of the Episcopal | church.
 | All the seats on the lower floors were
 reserved for the procession, and the family and close friends of the deceased | but the galleries were thrown open to
 the public. There were none too many pews to admit of all the men in line be- ing seated, and the galleries were filled before the services began.
 l Inside the altar were placed floral l tributes. They were of magnificent | character, comprising appropriate emb- | lens from the conductors, trainmen,
 railroad officials business men of the | town and local fraternal orders of which the deceased was q member. The six bearers were T. A. Hermance of New Haven, Ct, grand president of | the Independent Order Railroad Con- ductors; F. B Kenyon of New Haven, grand secretary; Charles A. Firth and
 R. J. Morrissey. representing St. Elmo lodge, and Morris Williams and Robert Herrick of Woronoeo lodge 1 On arrival of the procession at the church the men forming the line were first seated and then Rector Boardman and Rev L. H. Blake preceded the casket and the monrners up the aisle.
 the former intoning the Episcopal bur ial service.
 Gently Lead us' was sung by the
 First Congregational church quartet, under the leadership of J. A. Kenyon and Rector Boardman, followed with the customary service Of his church for | the dead.
 Rev. L. H. Blake offered fitting pray CT, and the quartet sang Come to Our
 Hearts and Abide" Then twenty y-five
 members of the Order of Railway Conductors assembled about the cas-
 leet and their chaplain read the burial | prayer.
 1 At Pine Hill cemetery the Knights of pythias had charge, and the burial was after the form of the order, with 1 Rector Boardman officiating as pre- I late. l Among the floral tributes. which were very elegant and costly, were two from 1 Diekermans. in this city, one being a 1 tribute from the Independent Order of
 Railway Conduetors' association, the
 other from the employees of the North
 ampton division in general, The lat ter was a mammoth scroll of lovely
 flowers, lilies, roses, etc, inscribed 'Tn | Gods Care" The scroll rested upon a
 base or floor work, also of flowers. The
 Railway Conductors tribute was also
 very elegant. It was a massive pillow
 of roses lilies. etc.
 The deceased was for some years while young man, a resident of Sims | bury Conn, living with the late Colo
 nel James F. F. Andrews at West Sims
 bury