Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-09-19
ANCIENT RITES
FOR DEAD RULER
Funeral Ceremonies of Late En-
perOr of Japan Begin.
ALL NATIONS REPRESENTED
More Than 100000 Persons Gather at
Capital to Attend Services
Which viii Last Three
DAYS.

Tokyo, Sept. 14-With the appear
Rnce Of Emperor Yoshihito, accom-
panied by Count Togo, grand master
Of ceremonies, and Count Watasabe,
minister of the imperial household, in
the main hall Of the national palace,
! the three-day funeral services for the
dead emperor Mutsuhito, began today.
They will continue until the body Of
the late emperor is laid to his last
long rest in the ancient imperial Gem
etery at Kioto on Sunday.
More than a hundred thousand per
sons from all parts Of Japan are gath
cred in the capital this morning, all
mourning with a deep and sincere
grief for him who is known as the
emperor of enlightenment"
The funeral which is to cost more
than $1,000 900, mingIes in its strange
/ ceremOniaIs the centuries-old rites and
costumes of Shintoism, with the mod
ern military display of twentieth cen
| tury Japan
In an enormous coffin, weighing one
and one-half tons, and decorated with
all the art and symbolicism Of the
| priests of the national religion, the
remains Of the emperor lie in the pal
ace. Around it for more than an hour
stood the new emperor clad in the
uniform of commander-in-chief'
crepe knOtted on his arm and at the
hilt Of his golden sword; his escort,
four court chamberlains, carrying the
imperial sword and seal; Prince Kat
sura, the lord chamberlain, and Gen
eraI Makamura, chief aide-de-Camp.
These are known as the official mourn
ers
Outside, gathered in the streets,
crowded up to the gates of the moated
park. in which is located the palace,
and from which the late emperor had
stepped but few times in his long
reign, are packed the mOurners from
all walks of life and from all parts of
Japan. There is no sign of mourning
as Europeans and Americans know it,
for black in clothing or draperies is
absent. and in place of it everywhere
blossom the vivid coIOrings Of the
Orient. Only the sOmber suite Of the
ministers of the foreign republics who
are gathered here form sudden con-
trast to the moving mass Of color
which has filled Tokyo to overfOwing.
Sorrow for the dead ruler, however,
is manifest on all faces, those officials
who lived their lives closest to the
great Mutsuhito showing most their
grief for the passing of their one-time
leader.
Official representatives of every
country are here to participate in the
last ceremonies. Prominent in the-list
are Secretary Of State Knox. who is
accompanied by Pansford E. Miller,
! chief of the far eastern section of the
state department; Rear Admiral Al
/ fred Reynolds of the United States
navy, and Brig. Gen John J. Pershing
Of the United States army.
The representatives of the United
/ States government entered the moat-
ed palace shortly after the new en-
/ perOr had passed in to mourn with
his dead. This afternoon there will be
T professions, prayers in all the tenn
! pies. the ringing Of bells and the sing
/ ing of sacred songs. Each day will
+ have separate ceremonials until Sun
/ day. when the funeral observance will
end, the visitors from many lands will
/ go to their homes, the people of Jap
an viii dispense to the four corners
of the empire, and YOshihito will be
face to face with the problems of the
nation. as his father was more than
a quarter of a century ago.