Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-13
Unidentified Victims
CdrriedstO Cemeteru



bravely bearing up under the uncertainty
of not knowing whether or not their loved
ones were In the grave before them
tainted. The spell woven by the comfort
ing intonatiors Of the clergy was broken
| Sobbing ana weeping broke out unrc-
| strained.
AS bodies were lowered into the graves
the guards passed in single file before
them with barred heads
Sixty-fve grave diggers labored from 10
| O'Clock Thursday morning until 3 o'clock
this morning preparing for the bodies.
a heavy hail storm followed the funeral.
| woman, heavily veiled in black. was
| among those led past the earthen tomb.
| She was the mother-in-law of Thomas Tay-
| lor whose wife is one of the missing vic
| Tins. Another mourner was Samuel PEN
nington He fingered long at the brink of
the square-sided cavity. Perhaps his
daughter was down there No one knows
Another was Paul Gilkin. munitions
worker who escaped the terrible blast with
white bandages hiding shrapnel wound
in the head. He took hasty look and
hurried on.
JOHNSON A MOURNER
Among those who attended the funeral
Alba b. Johnson. president of the
son; Mayor Wesley s. Mcdowell, of Chester,
and other city officials; Captain Walter NJ.
Wilhelm, vice president and general man
ager of the Eddystone Ammunition Corpa.
ration; w. l. Schaffer, general counsel of
the corporation and many other officials
state Senator, william G. Sproul, Represen-
tative William T. Ramsey and Basil Green
ko, Russian munitions inspector
FROM NEW RUSSIA"
ba trib IL,
horseshoe of red roses from the munitions
corporation, huge wreath from the Rus
sian Government and another from the |
Chester Civic Relief Committee. Each
casket bore a silken American flag.
monument, 1t was announced by Of |
hcials of the corporation. will be erected |
in memory of the victims
There were 175 of the long-coated guards !
at the funeral services. They were in COM !
mand Of Captain Heffernan chief of the |
Eddystone. Ammunition Corporation special |
police and Lieutenant Greble, one of the |
heroes of the explosion. On the left breast |
OF each was deputy sheriffs badge and |
on each badge rested wisp of black crepe. |
Boy Scouts policed the thoroughfares |
leading from the center of the city to the |
cemetery, which lies on the outskirts. Their |
volunteer traffic police work prevented con-
gestion> in the stream of muddy-wheeled |
vehicles that flowed to the burial place.
MANY PASTORS PRESENT
Besides the pastors who conducted the
services, other ministers present were: The
Rev. L. j. Ryan and the Rev. Elmer Staple
ton, OF the Immaculate Heart Catholic
Church; the Rev. Joseph Timmins, the Rev.
Thomas Clooney and the Rev., John A.
Walsh of st. Michaels Catholic Church
the Rev. Antonio Garritine, of the Italian
Catholic Church in Chester; the Rev James
Plosyjac, of the Polish Catholic Church
the Rev DR.. William McCallen, of Ridley
hn Rnx IN,,
the Rev. p. H. Mowry, of the First Presby-
terian Church; the Rev. II. F. Hamer of |
the Eddystone Methodist Church; the Rev.
Frank Macdonald, of the First Baptist
church the Rev. f. ]. Andrus. of the Prov
idence Avenue Methodist Church: the Rev
Robert White. of the South Chester Baptist
Church: the Rev William r. Houston. of
the First Presbyterian Church; the Rev. |
John Graham, of the Bethany Presbyterian
church; the Rev. Alfred F. Taylor of the |
south chester Methodist Church, and many
other cergymen from neighboring towns.
Fifty of the caskets were numbered. They
bodies which may be identified
later through articles put in numbered bags
The other two caskets bore no numbers
They inclosed mangled bodies that never
will be identified
The funeral was attended by no pomp or
procession Simply and in accordance with
the wishe- of tn -ity officials and Of the
city. the sad duty of interment was per-
formed. |
Before dawn the caskets were quietly
taken I'm trucks from the morgue to the
cemetery. and there deposited in the 20 by
~ foot grave that had been dug on the
high ground OF the cemetery.
Hours bfeore the time set for the services
nourners iearne( what had been done and
locked to the grave by .dtomobile, oy troll
ey and on foot. They were waiting there
when the clergy arrived
The Eddystone Ammunition CORPORATION
ana nearly every business house in Ches-
er closed at / o'clock out of respect for |.
he dead. They remained closed for three
lours' the duration of the funeral services.
Many truck loads of flowers were taken 10
ne big grave for the unidentified dead |
chester florist shops were virtually stripped