The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-11
BUNNY IN STATE i
GA|ETy ST|LLE0
Elks and Masons Conduct 81
vices Before Comedians
and Friends. :
New York

!
New York Tribune.
The Elks' Club. home Of happtre~7
usually bright with lights and re-
sounding with song and laughter. 3as
quiet Wednesday night. But il VS.
not deserted. On the contrary, il held
more people than is usual even n
gala nights. But they came in >ar-
row and departed in silence.
For in the lodge room, whera H.
took upon himself the obligations f.
the order, the body Of John Bunny
the man who made the world laugh.
lay in state.
They brought John Bunny Is tia
clubhouse from his Brooklyn homo
in the late afternoon. and before The
altar Of No. 1. the mother Of all rs
lodges, they placed the coffin. About
it and above it they banked blooms
some from his wife, his children ana
his only brother.
There were others from PLAYERS i9
the legitimate who knew him i'm tla
old days when he was often glad to-
| work for a small salary, and from
those who knew him in the motions.
picture world, when all time VAS
working time if he wished, and his
| salary the price he himself set. from
| his brethren Of the Masonic fraterr-
ity, and his brother Elks, from the
atrical managers, and from friends
who knew him only through the
screen.
And in the early evening the,r
friends and brethren began to assem-
| bile in the clubhouse. At first thcr
came in pairs, then SO many at a time
that boil elevators ran express to the
upper floor.
There ushers met and found places
for Ill until tho orQ9t 1nG loo rDon, H,,-
and triple tier Of lodges that surmount
it were filled with men and
Most of them wore carnations. An
usher in the outer room provided with
blossoms with the message, Have Z
flower for John"
To the uninitiated red flowers in
lapels Or corsage looked out Of place
at a funeral service. But the initiate
knew and understood. 1t was the
amaranth of the Elks. And the crowd
came until even the outer room was
crowded and the overflow spread into
the lodge rooms downstairs.
The widow, heavily yelled and can
ing as heavily on the arm Of a stout
man, whom non needed to be tOlf
was the dead mans brother George.
and her two son arrived shortly after
after 8 o'clock, the hour set for the
service, and were taken to seats near
oAS ~ way VI q III ILL.,
Until the last moments there had been
doubts Of Mrs. Bunny's ability 10 al
tend the service. Up to the time that
the body left their home, in accord
ance with the last wishes Of the dead
that his brethren in the Elks and Ma
sons might pay him their last re-
spects, she held up bravely. Then She
broke down. But mind mastered 3
weary body.
And then J. E. Dearden, exalted
ruler, called the lodge to order, Chap
lain Arthur Van Buren offering the
brief prayer of the ritual. Thrice the
secretary, James H. Carroll, called the
name bestowed upon the dead man az
birth-John H. Bunny-and then, az
ter a hymn by William Stephens, ~
order Robert A. Reilly, esteemed
leading knight; J. H. Chris Mitchell
esteemed loyal knight, and Frederick
Goldsmith, esteemed lecturing knight
testified to the virtues of Bunny.
AS they testified the lights in the
, lodge were gradually ~extinguished IN
til only the lamps above the chair:
gave forth a dim radiance and vii
liam Stephens read, "He Giveth HI
, Beloveth Sleep his words were
, punctuated by sobs from the widow
4 and more than one of the 1900 pres
. ent was glad of the darkness that GOV
q cred the furtive use Of handkerchief
| They were not ashamed to weep. bu
somehow they welcomed the semi
privacy.
Then the officers Of the lodge place.
the amaranth upon the coffin, Their
was more testimony, and the Elks pal'
their last tribute to their OWL.