Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1904-05-28
One of the Guests Found Lying Dead
on the Library Hearthstone.
Letters In His Pocket Show Him to
Have Been One W. Pfeiffer of Denver.
No Interruption Of the Ceremony Fol
lows This CHASTITY Discovery, but
the Guests Fly In All Direc-
tons as Soon as the Nup-
tial Knot Is Tied.

tons as Soon as the Nup-
tial Knot Is Tied.
'oThe festivities attendant upon thu
wedding of Miss Veronica Moore tt
Mr.. Francis Jeffrey Of this city me
with startling check today. AS mos
of our readers know, the long CLOSED
house on Waverley avenue which fol
nearly century has been in the pos
session of the brides family, was open
ed for the occasion at the express wish
Of the bride. For week the prepare
tons for this great function have beer
going on. When at an early hour this
morning line Of carriages drew up in
front of the historic mansion and the
gloomy but now seemingly triumphant
portal, the crowds, which blocked the
street from curb to curb, testified to
the interest felt by the citizens of
Washington in this daring attempt to
brave the traditions which have mark
ed this house out as solitary and by a
scene of joyous festivity make the
past forgotten and restore again to
usefulness the decayed grandeurs of
an earlier time. AS Miss Moore is one
Of Washington's most charming wom-
en- and as this romantic effort natural
ly lent an extraordinary interest to the
ceremony Of her marriage, a large
number Of our representative people
: assembled to witness it, and by high
noon the scene was one Of unusual
brilliancy.
"Halls which had moldered away in
an unbroken silence for years echoed
again with laughter and palpitated to
the choicest strains Of the Marine
band. All doors were open save those
Of the library an exception which
added a pleasing excitement to the oc-
casion-and when by chance some Of
the more youthful guests were caught
peerirg behind the two COrinthian pill
lars guarding these forbidden precincts
the memories thus evoked were mo-
mentary and the shadow soon passed.
"The wedding had been set for high
noon, and as the clock in the drawing
room struck the hour every head was
craned to catch the first glimpse Of the
bride coming down the old fashioned
staircase. But five minutes, ten min
utes, half hour, passed without this
expecta ton being gratified. The crowd
above and below were growing rest
less when suddenly cry was heard
from beyond the gilded pillars framing
the library door, and young lady was
seen rushing from the forbidden quar-
ter, trembling with dismay and white
with horror. 1t was Miss Abbott Of
Stratford Circle, who in the interim
Of waiting had allowed her curiosity
to master her dread and by one peep
into the room, which seemed to eXer-
else over her the fascination Of Blue
boards chamber, discovered the out
stretched form of man lying sense
less and apparently dead on the edge
Of the hearthstone. The terror which
instantly spread among the guests
shows the hold which superstition has
upon all classes Of humanity. Hap
PLY, however, an unseemly panic was
averted by the necessity which all felt
Of preserving some sort of composure
till the ceremony for which they had
assembled had been performed, for
simultaneously with this discovery of
death in the library there had come
from above the sound Of the approach
ing bridal procession, and cries were
hushed and beating hearts restrained
as Miss Moore's charming face and
exquisite figure appeared between the
rows of Towering plants with which |
the staircase was lined. No need for I
the murmur to go about: Spare the
bride! Let nothing but cheer surround
her till she is Jefrey's wife, The look
Of joy which irradiated her counte- |
nance and gave a fairylilxe aspect to |
her whole exquisite person would have |
deferred the most careless and self |
centered person there from casting a
shadow across her pathway one min
ute sooner than necessity demanded. |
The richness of the ancestral, vel,
which covered her features and the |
natural timidity which prevents a /
bride from lifting her eyes from the |
floor she traverses saved her from OBJ
serving the strange looks by which her
presence was hailed. She was conse-
quently enabled to go through the cere-
mony in happy Inconsistencies of the
forced restraint which held that surg
ing mass together.
But the bridesmaids were not so.
happy. Miss futile especially held
herself upright simply by the exercise
Of her will. and, though Respondent in
beauty, suffered so much in her anNi-
ETY. for the bride that it was a matter
of small surprise when she tainted at
the conclusion of the ceremony.
'Mr. Jeffrey showed more composure,
but the inward excitement under which
he was laboring made him trip more
than once in his responses, as many
there noted whose minds were not fix
ID too strongly on fight.
"Only DR.. Auchincloss was quite
himself, and by means of the solem-
nifty with which he invested his words
Kept the hubbub down, which was al
ready making itself heard on the out