Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1901-02-12

1ue SCeHeS oI SOieIun pOlup NnlSu NeAe
inaugurated at Cowes Friday and which
were brought to a close Saturday with
the solemn services at Windsor are prob
ably unparalleled in the history of funer-
al pageantry. All England apparently
rested hushed and thrilled in the mourn
full consciousness that it was to say a
final farewell to its queen, and the world
at large could not but be impressed by
the remarkable ceremonial in which ma
tional grief displayed itself. 1t would
seem, from the fact of her expressed
wish foF military funeral, that Queen
Victoria desired that in the rites nothing
shQgld be omitted t2 emphasize the dig
nifty Of dueenhood Victoria the woman,
the mother of her people," was assured
of the sincere mourning of all classes.
The recent ceremonies were those due
the monarch and the wearer of the
crown. The file of warships between
which the vessel bearing tie Queens
coffin passed-in itself a visible evi .lence
of the strength Of the nation-the " all of
bands and the thunder Of guns aud the
great military cortege which awaited the
body at London-all the features If the
ceremonial were suggestive in soGe way
of the regal traditions Of monarchy
which traces its origin back to tue days
of the crusading kings.
Journey from.Cowes.
The first portion of the journey of Vic
toria to the earth whence she clme and
over so large a portion of which she ruled
was completed Friday. Through wind
ing lanes of almost summer yerdure,
through floating walls of steel hulwarks
of the mourning nation-her b)dy was
borne; on land by Il gun cal rlage, on
water by a royal yacht
AS the cannon wended its slow way
from Osborne House the afternoon sun
shone brightly on the jewels III the crown
and scepter placed ON the oAken coffin
containing the body of the dead sOver-
eign. Over the royal standard covering
the casket was draped the e,mine coro-
nation gown donned by the youthful ruler
so many years before.
Behind the cortege came t<ings, EN-
perors and princes, walking humbly be-
tween the black clad lines If sorrowing
islanders. All the colors Of a dozen roy
al courts were massed in the uniforms of
the rulers of a half dozen nations and
their trains. Tie sunlight cleaned from
the hits of jeweled swords and gemmed
decorations.
AS the eye turned from che glittering
mass of gorgeous raiment j. rested on
gS1up of weeping women cad i'll simple
black. This little band of burners, look
ing for all the world like l.uns, contain
ed a Queen future Queeg, and score
of princesses. Many an eye clouded and
many a throat choked as ,he sorrowing
womanhood of grieving royalty walked
haltingly along.
Not q sound save that &C half audible
sobbing came from the spec tators. From
the head of the procession came the mu-
sic the Queen loved so wEll-the cry of
the bagpipes. Her OWE Highlanders
were skirling the BLACK Watch dirge.
A dozen massed bands played Chopins
Funeral March," but ab(re the clamor
of horn and trumpet rose the shrek of
the pipes, wailing for ore who would
never return.
When the journey throl Oh the cedar
hedged path was ended thpre followed a
sight notable and impressive. 1t was the
transit of the funeral yapat across the
waters between walls of warrior steel.
Guns Thunder Grief.
Battleship after battlesJip Numbered
it's grief, band after BANG walled it's
dirge, and crew after creN bowed low
their heads as the pigmy yacht swept
past 1t bore no passengers save an ad-
@Eral ON the bridge and four relocated
guards at the corners of the simple,
cleaning white bier resting amidships.
1t was n picture that neither a paint
er's brush nor an orators elcquence could
depict. There swept in advance eight
venomous, black torpedo boats, crawling
so slowly that the water was scarcely
rippled. Then came the solitary royal
yacht bearing apparently no living thing.
Admiral Fullerton, in a cooked hat, was
a motionless silhouette, the four figures
at the corners of the coffin seemed to
be of stone. The boat slowly glided on
in the mellow light of the afternoon sun,
itself almost golden in hue, sharply CON
trasting with the black warships, while
the nearest shore seen between the war
ships was itself deeply fringed with
mourning by the presence of myriads OF
human beings.
The music of the dirge playing bands
was no longer audible. The guns of the
feet were paying their homage. One af-
ter another they belched forth their echo
provoking thunder which rolled back peal
upon peal from the hill-lined shores.
The sun began to set just before the
yacht reached is landing place. The
morning mist had been replaced by the
mist of the minute guns, which rolled
shoreward. The smoke slowly settled,
and through it came the CHANGING, almost
blood-red rays of the dying winter sun.
The Alberta emerged from the smoke
crowned steel lane the last gun was
fired. the sun sank behind a cloud, a new
moor hung low in the winter sky, the
anchor dropped in Portsmouth harbor,
and the first part of Eictoria's last jour
ney came to an end.
Somehow the pomp and parade was not
homogeneous and one felt that it was all
a great and majestic tribute to reign
which was an era and to a sovereign TO
whom the world has paid its highest hon
ors.
Victoria Laid to Rest,
In the scenes witnessed Saturday the
historic character Of the ceremony was
emphasized both in the pageantry and
in the environment wherein they took
place. The body. after it had been borne
across London, from Victoria to Padding
ton station. was taken to Windsor. the
historic home Of English royalty since
the days of the Norman conquest. There,
IN St. Georges chapel, a beautiful struc-
ture hung with the escutcheons and ban
ners Of her royal ancestors and reminis-
cent in every stone Of some charter Of
English history, final services were held
and the Queens body lifted for the
last tine, was borne thence TO the prince
consort's mausoleum at Frogmore. Here
fs the last resting place Of England's
Queen. Under the massive granite sar.
tophagus, upon the right Of which rests
the recumbent marble statue Of the
prince consort, she was laid at rest az
she had commanded thirty-eight years
Ago. The tablet above the yestibule ia