Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-14
TRIBUTE TO MEMORY
OF SEREN0 {. PAYNE
Funeral Services Held in Hall of the
House of Representa-
tivcs.
Ceremonies Attended by Senator's.
Members Of Supreme Court and
Other Government Officials.

Sitting in joint session in the hall OF
the House vest erday. both congress
sional bodies participated in the fune-
raj rites over the body of the late Rep
resentative Serene L. Payne of New
York, who died last Thursday night,
the dean of the House in point of con
tinuous service. The services we're a
part of the official record of the pro-
ceedings for this session, the House
being called to order by the Speaker s
gayel as usual. and motion to ad-
iourn being voted upon at the close
of the ceremony.
Rarely has the House seen an hour
of greater quiet OF greater solemnt5
than in that brief space of'time yester-
day when the simplest of funeral rites
were performed. The great hall was
filed, members of both houses and spe-
cial guests. including the members OF
the Supreme Court and several diplo-
mats, and members of the cabinet, at
tending. The galleries were almost
completely occupied. but the quiet
which prevailed was extraordinary.
Coffin Banked With Flowers.
The coffin, banked high on all sides
~
memorials, was placed in the open
space in the House in front of the
Speakers roStrum.
II was the SPOT where Serene Payne
in the heat Of debate would stand and
wage the battles of his party. On one
side of the House sat the democrats on
the other sat the republicans, and WIN
of the ''old guard" of which Serene
Payne was a leader. There were tncie
Joe" Cannon, who had vowed never to
re-enter the House chamber without a
certificate of election in his hand; .'onn
DaJzell, reelected from his district IN
Pennsylvania for the next House;
James Hemenway of Indiana, former
representative; Ebenezer Hill of Con-
necticut. William Mckinley OF 1ll1nols.
Henry S. Boutell of Illinois, former
representative, ana Nlchoi2s Ioh6
worth of Ohio.
The House gathered quietly. and at
1880 Speaker Clark tapped his savel,
the House came to order, and Chaplain
Couden led in prayer. To carry out the
strict parliamentary procedure of the
extraordinary funeral session Repre-
sentative Page of North Caroline
moved that the regular reading of the
journal be dispensed with, and 4 recess
of half an hour was taken.
Senators and Others Seated.
Senate, Senator Thornton of Louisiana,
and the members of the Senate were
announced and ushered to seats. F'o,-
lowing them tho Supreme Court JUS
tees in black robes, members of the
diplomatic corps. members of the cabi-
net and the large funeral escort from
House and Senate we're ushered to
places. Secretaries Bryan, Lane, Rcd
field, Wilson and Houston represented
the cabinet Neither the President nor
Vice President attended the ceremony.
Chaplain Couden then recited passa ges
from the Scripture. choosing verses
from both testaments, and in speaking
of his late friend said -
"A friend, colleague, servant of
the people, has passed from these
scenes; into the realms of beyond"
\ quartet from Calvary Baptist
Church sang Nearer. My God. to Thee
and Lead Kindly Light and Rev. DR..
Samuel Greene of that church spoke of
Serene Payne:
His public career is a fine illustration
of the worth of character he said.
That closed the ceremonies, with the
exception of a benediction from the lips
of the chaplain. Tee Senate solemnly
walked out of the chamber. follow cd
by the other special representatives.
Members of Funeral Escort.
Last to leave the chamber was the
funeral escort, composed Of the mem
bers Of the ways and means committee
the New York delegation and the deans
of several other state delegations who
had known Serene Payne for many
years.
These left the chamber, with the eX-
ception of Representative John Fitz-
gerald of New York. who now becomes
the dean of the congressional delega-
ton from the Empire state. Standing
in the center of the hail. he faced the
Speaker. and i'll Il soft voice. said:
Mr.. Speaker, ] move that the House
do now adjourn
This closed the session.
There was no break in the program
which was carried out by Joseph J. Sin
not, the doOrkeeper of the House, who
acted as master of ceremonies. Assist
ing him as usherS were William J. Fad
den. William V. Gormley and William
+. Small, employees of the House.
Body Forwarded to New York.
The body of the deceased representa-
tive was left to lie in state until late
yesterday afternoon, when, escorted by
a committee of sixty members of the
-