The San Francisco call., 1898-07-11
'CORPORAL LEW"
 IS LAID TO REST
FUNERAL OF L. R. TOWNSEND,
 THE VETERAN GUARDSMAN.
The Seventh Volunteer Regiment of San Diego Escorts the Body
 to the Cemetery

The last bugle call, heraldlng Louis R. Townsend to the tomb, was sounded yes terday afternoon at the armory of the Seventh Regiment, N. c. C., at Page and Cough streets.
 Robed in the uniform of his country with the American flag draped as a pail over and concealing the black casket be- meath, the body of the old Guardsman was given the last rites of the soldier and the last marks of respect and vener- ation by his surviving comrades and by the members of the Seventh Regiment of to-day-soldiers of the younger genera tion who have succeeded the old guard.
 The funeral obsequies were held at 2 o'clock by Rev. Edgar Lyon of St. Stephens Church, in conformity with the rites of the Episcopal faith. Hundreds of sorrowing friends surrounded the bier of the old soldier, offering up prayer or placing a floral tribute upon his coffin in expression of their sorrow Judge Hebbard pronounced the eulogy and re- viewed the life of the corporal, outlining the noble and exemplary career of the decedent. both as soldier and as a man. He spoke and applauded the ex- pressed wish that Corporal Townsend had made when hostilities broke out with Spain, that he would like to go to Ma nila with the rest of the boys" and re- gretted that his advanced years prevent ed him from fulfilling this wish. As the keenest zest in life of late years had been afforded by his association with the Seventh Regiment he longed to go and share their fortunes and their tri- umphs and trials with them.
 Immediately after the funeral ceremony, the body was conveyed to the Odd Fei- lows Cemetery, being escorted by the Seventh Volunteer Regiment from San Diego. The funeral diTge was rendered by the musicians of the same regiment. -Sn Tod nrnnpGGfnn from armory to the cemetery. Among the pallbearers selected from the old Guard were the following: General Hewston. General J. Howell, Edward H. Prentice. J. L. Haskell, J. G. Steele, General Wal ter Turnbull and Colonel S. J. Taylor.
 At the cemetery, preparatory to the cremation a Volley was fired over the body by the firing company of the San Diego Volunteer Regiment. Many beau- tiful floral tributes, from members of the Old Guard and from the remaining mem bers of the Seventh Regiment now In the crematorium just before the body was lowered to the receptacle below.
 Corporal Townsend was 67 years of age and had been a prominent figure in mili- tary circles for nearly half a century. For forty-four years he had served in the National Guard of California, first joining the organization as a member of the City Guard on May ,, 1854. On April IS, 1872, he was appointed and reluctantly accepted the rank of corporal, as he pre- ferred to be among the boys of the rank and file. Later in 1877 he was promoted to the position of second lieutenant of Company of the same regiment He enlisted with the veterans of the Old Guard in May, 1888, where he remained an active member until his death. MT. Townsend leaves a daughter who is now sojourning there at the time of her fathers death