The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-12-29
|SADDENED MINERS
FORM ESCORT OF
FUNERAL PARTIES
Bodies of F'ifftty-Nine
Panic Victims Buried
at Calumet.
THOUSANDS VIEW
SAD PROCESSION
Testify to Grief That oppresses
Community Since Fearful Trag-
edy on Christmas Eve--Re-
mains Laid in Common
Graves in Snow-En-
shrouded Cemetery.

Calumet Mich, December 2s.-The
Western Federation of Miners buried
Its dead to-day. F'ifty-nine bodies in-si.
Guiding those of forty-four children 5
were carried through the streets, down
winding country highway, and laid
III graves in n snow w-enshrouded GENE ~
tery within sight of Lake Superior.
thousands OF saddened miners formed
the escort OF the funeral parties and
passed between thousands who, as
spectators testified to the grief that
has oppressed the community since
seventy-two men. women and children
were killed In the Christmas Eve manic 81
in Italian HALL -.
For hours the Sabbath calm was
broken by tho tollng of bells and the
sound of voices intoning burial chants.
In half dozen churches services wara {
held earlier In the day, and the mourn 4
erS went about the streets, passing
from their homes to the churches, back
10 their homes, after brief reapites, and
again to the churches tc prepare for
the last sad trip to the gravesides.
Delegations of strikers began com
ing into Calumet early In the day. The
special train of nine coaches brought
hundreds OF federationists from tho
Iron mines of Negaunee and Ishpem 4
ing, and every town and mining loca-
tion In the copper country sent mem =.
bers and friends of the union to swell
the ranks o. marchers in the afternoon
by noon tho union host was assem-
bled. Months of experience in demon
strating their numbers by parading had
taught the men to form ranks quickly z
and with little delay they lined up four
abreast.
Not Enough Hcarses.
The supply OF hearses was made
quate, and there were only fourteen
OIL these vehicles In the van. Then
came three undertakers' wagons and
an automobile truck, the latter carry-s
ing three collins These vehicles con-
tanned the adult victims and the older
children Beside one marched eight
women. who acted as pallbenrers for 10 8
member Of the Women's Auxiliary of
the Western Federation
III was this woman's organization
which was distributing gifts of candy.
shoes, caps and mittens to the chill
dren Of strikers when tho panic broke
out. s9t
Behind the hearses was a section of
the procession which brought tears and
sobs from onlookers Thirty-niua&
white collins, their size testifyinR tet
the short life of the little forms with
In, were carried by relays OF strikers
-Four men bore each coffin, and as their
arms grew weary or their feet slipped
on the roadway, companions relieved
them of their burden.
Persons drawn to Calumet solely by.
the curiosity of the spectator becamas
mourners as this contingent passed
them. Men turned away to brush tears
from their cheeks; women, especiallv
the mothers In the crowG. sobbed open-s@
ly, and dozens, unable TO endure the
sight, rushed from the streets taxing
refuge in homes where Yuletide had
not been directly saddened by death
other mourners, too, were in evidence 4
among the toil-hardened men who car
r1ed the collins. They bore the bodies
of their companions children. and many
a rough sleeve h,-,1c Ia1 bnr
across down-turned faces, the Dyes OF
which were concealed by peaked cans
drawn far forward
Singers Chnnt Hymns.
Fifty singers chanted hymns In the
wake of those carrying the children,s
collins. Most of these men were Eng
lish miners. who had learned In Corn
wall to chant Christmas carols In the
streets, and years ago brought this old 4
custom to the copper country. To-day,
however, they did not sing songs of q
new life born. Jesus. Lover OF NV
Soul" 'E.ock of Ages and Nearer. NV
God. to Thee" came from throats thick &
with emotion, but the harmonies were
full and rich.
AS the singers turned into Hina
street, which led to the cemetery road
the open ranks OF marchers wheeiefI 4
into line. fshpeming and Magazines
men came first, followed by a brass
band and the members of the conner
Il Ia . "
The last marchers hao scarcely start
cd from Calumet before the head of the
procession had reached the cemeterv
gates, two miles away. -
All but a half dozen bodies were
placed I'm common graves dug yester-
day by the members of the union. The
ground belongs to the federation. and &
IL was stated that a monument would
be erected there, the formal dedication =
to take place year hence. 8a
The cemetery is in two sections Ono
is consecrated to the dead of the Ro
man Catholic faith. the other to those
belonging to Protestant denominations I;
In the former three trenches had been
eXcavated and in these twenty-flve
bodies were laid.
On the Protestant side of the burial
place. two large graves received TWEEN
ty-eight bodies. The other six were
laid in family plots. Only brief ad.
dresses were delivered in the cems-
terry. Eugene A. McNaIly local at
torney. euogized the dead in Eng
lish, and George Strezich, of ST. Louis:
Frank AaItonen. OF Negaunee, and
other federation leaders delivered adj
dresses in Austrian. Fianish and
Croatian
Reference to Meyer.
NcNalIy made only ono passing ref
erence to the deportation of President
&c. II. Meyer. OF tho federation predict
ing that his absence. whether tem,s
porary on permanent, would result I'M.
the development of leadership as eY-S
fective as his. All tho speakers termed 81
catastrophe martyrs to tho cause az u
unonisni." s
They argued that had the mans ecfs N
not refused to recognize the union, TIL, ,slS
warfare would have been settfetts s
inonths ago. and there wonld havs bsott s.