The Republican journal., 1901-09-26
BELFAST MAINE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26 1901

BELFAST,
cANToN's GREAT SORROW.
1t FOrgets the President in its Grief at ths
loss of the Man.
Canton, Ohio, Sept. 18.-Tenderly and
reverently, those who had known William
Mckinley best to-day received his body.
They had forgotten the career of the states
man in the loss of a personal friend, who
had grown dearer to them with the passing
of the years. They hardly noticed The
President of the United States and his Cabi
net or the generals and admirals in their
resplendent uniforms. The coffin which
contained the body Of their friend and fel.
entire population of the little city and thous.
ands from all over Ohio, the full strength
of the National Guard of the State, eight
regiments, three batteries of artillery, one
battalion of engineers, five thousand men in
all the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor
senting the three branches of the State gov.
ernment, were at the station to receive the
body when the train arrived at noon. The
whole town, with the exception of the Nc
Klnley cottage, was draped in black. Only
the hitching post at the curb in front of the
uOuSc udu Uccu SWdLu0u Ill DldCk Dy Glo
citizens in order that it might conform to
the general scheme of mourning decoration.
The funeral train was met by Judge Day
at the head of the local reception committee,
Mrs. Mckinley, weeping piteously, was
helped from the train by DR.. Rixey and
Abner Mckinley and conducted to carri-
age which was in waiting and was then
atives followed her. The coffin was then
lifted from the catafalque car and carried
on the shoulders of the body bearers to the
waiting hearse. The soldiers presented
arms and bugles sounded taps. The Presi-
dent and the Cabinet members then entered
Of honor, in full uniform, and the procession
then marched to the courthouse. Soldiers
at intervals kept back the immense crowd
which thronged the streets. The procession
passed all the way beneath big arches draped
in black.
THE BODY LYING IN STATE.
Sad as was the procession which escorted
the body to the courthouse it could not
compare with the infinite sadness of the
ed steadily through the dimly lighted corri-
doris of the building from the time the coffin
was opened until it was taken home to the
widow at nightfall. They stepped softly,
and tears came unbidden. Perhaps it was
the great change that had come over the
countenance which moved them more than
the sight of the familiar features. The
signs of discOlOratiOn which appeared on
the brow and cheeks yesterday at the state
ceremonial in the rOtunda of the Capitol at
Washington had deepened. The lips had
become livid. All but two of the lighted
chandeliers above the head were extinguish-
ed, in order that the change might appear
less noticeable, but every one who viewed
the body to-day remarked the darkened
features and the CHASTITY lips. When the
body was taken away thousands were still
in line, and the committee of arrangements
was urged to allow further opportunity to
view the body tomorrow morning before it
was taken to the church But this had to be
denied to them.
Throughout the afternoon the human
tide pressed steadily forward to the bier.
Four abreast in double line, without mo-
ment's halt, the people hurried by, and then
with tear stained faces passed out of the
In the line were represented all stations in
life, all ages, all conditions. At one mo-
ment an old man bent and withered, who
had known Mr.. McKinley's mother, tottered
up to gaze upon the silent features. He was
followed by man of middle age, who had
gone to school with Mckinley. On one
side was the Knight Templar, who had
marched beside Mckinley in parades. All
who came had some recollection of per-
sonal relations with the man lying there
cold in death. Fathers brought their chill
dren and held them over the bier for a
feeting glance at the face. A sleeping babe
was reused by its mother for sight it could
not comprehend ToilerS came from the
factories, and, dinner pals in hand, trooped
by the bier of him they called their bene-
factor and friend. Now and then knots of
school children hurried past, awe-stricken
at the gloom of this chamber of death.
Often the guarding soldiers were compelled
tO or1 nd npf1 !, n
that sought to take a blossom from the
flower decked coffin. Strong men made no
concealment of their grief. AS the peo-
pie hurried by they gave expression to
suppressed exclamationS of anguish at the
sight of the pinched lace in the coffin. II
was not the face they had known so we'll
and almost without exception the people
turned away regretful that they had not re-
tanned in their minds that picture of manly
vigor which they knew SO WELL Many OF
his nearest friends refrained from looking
upon the face, preferring to preserve the
memory of him as in life
The number and beauty of the floral tri-
butes surpass belief. Flowers literally came
by the ton. The hothouses of the country
seem to have been empted to supply them
Canton, Ohio, Sept. 19-Before the coffin
containing President McKinley's body was
removed from the Courthouse here to his
late residence last evening the lid was clos.
ed for the last time. Neither his family mol
other friends again looked upon the face of
the dead. The body was deposited in the
room formerly used by the President as his
library. Mrs. Mckinley pleaded with hel
doctors for leave to enter the room and sit
beside the coffin. Consent was reluctantly
granted, and for half an hour the stricken
widow sat in the dim light beside the flower
draped bier Then she was led away to heI
room and has not left it since. Throughout
the morning she wept piteously. Owing tC
her condition she was able to take no part
in any of the ceremonies to-day, and did moi
come into the library when the body was
borne away. From this time on she will be
guarded with the most solicitous care, and
kept quiet, for it is only in this way that a
collapse can be averted.
Toward noon the crowds in the vicinity
of the Mckinley cottage had increased tC
tens of thousands. North Market street was
a mass of humanity for five squares below
the house and for three squares beyond
Several regiments of soldiers were required
to preserve semblance of order. With
guns advanced, the men were posted along
the curbs and within the walks for half q
mile in either direction. A platoon OF
soldiers was thrown across the gate leading
up to the door of the Mckinley house, and
only those with written permit from Secre-
tary Cortelyou were permitted to enter the
grounds. The vast throng was contented
however, to gaze at the curtained windows
and at rare intervals to see some member OF
the family or an attendant come to the
porch outside.