Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-09-05
HONOR MEMORY OF
YOUTHFUL WAR HERO
Private Swift, Killed in Action,
Buried With impressive
Military Services.

With all the impressivencss and
soiernnity of military funeral,
first Class Private James n. Swift,
Of Company r, al2th infantry. 18th
DIvisIun, who wna killed In action In
France on October 10. 1871, was
hurled this morning. The funeral ser.
vices were held In st. paula X. G.
Church, Fourth and Jackson streets.
beginning Mt 10 o'clock and interrneut
was made in the Cathedral cemetery.
at. paul's Church was not large
enough 10 hold the number of people
who we're anxious to attend the fu-
neral. Long before the appointed hour
men. women and children started to
congregnte at Fourth and Jackson
streets and by 10 o'clock Jackson
street In front of the church was
solid mnas of humanity. After the
church had been flled to capacity
thou~ nds Of people stood outside
with uncovered heads while the SER
vices were I'm progress.
One OF the most striking and un-
usual features of the funeral services
war the singing of the Star Span
gIed Banner" the national anthem.
Joseph Mecuilin had the solo part and
tho combined choir Joined In the ehor
us with the big church organ and the
orchestra accompanying the singers.
Father Wnldfon preached an elo-
uuent sermon. lie drew lesson
from the death of Private Swift show
| ing tow II has been appointed once
for every mnn to die and then he paid
q glowing tribute to the dead hero. He
referred 10 his noble character and
| the fact that he had never hesitated
when called to duty and that he was
not afraid to give his life for his
country. There were few dry eyes
| in the church during the pastors SER
mon.
As the body was carried out and
placed on the gun enisson the entire
aasenblaee uncovered while the band
played a hyfln. The funeral was de-
rlared To he one of the biggest and
most impressive witnessed in this
city for long time.
Since the arrival Of the b,dy OF the
youthful hero i'm this city last Friday
afternoon 1t had rested in state in the
assembly room On .hn third floor Of
the ,;,nwnson library Haii. The
room had been magnificently decor
ated with PLAINS and flowers and the
casket was completely surroundef by
the numerous gurll tributes from
the dead youths RELATIVES and many
friends and from the several organ
izations Of which he had been NOM
ber. The only illumination were the
lighted candles which burned about
the casket. Standing .igidiy at at
tention our after hour. representa-
tivps from the military and civil ore
ganizaiions which participated In q 2
funeral services this morning nqin-
tained a silent watch through the long
hours Of the night and in fsct right up
TO the time the body was conveyed
to the church. The casket had not
been left uuguar,ied for a single mo-
ment from the time Of it's arrival.
Irntil o'clock yesterday afternoon
the hall had been closed to the public.
After that hour. however IL was thrown
open that the people Of the city might
pay - cir respecfs 70 the memory OF
the young man who had made the SUI
preme sacrifice overseas. Up to
late hour last night and again this
morning before the funeral services
| were started there was a continuous
| line of people passing into the hall.
circling the eatafalaue on which the
caskef rested, and then departing.
AT 9.45 o'clock this morning the
body was removed TO 81. Paul's church.
| The casket was placed on a catafalqfe
before the main altar where Il re-
mained throughout the ceremonies.
The church was closed until the rela-
tives. representatives of the several
organizations attending the funeral.
the several priests of the Wilmington
Diocese and others had been seated
and then the doors were thrown open
To admit the great crowd Of men and
women who had congregated to at
/ tend the services.
| AT 10 O'Clock the selaian requiem
mass was started. The pastor CT the
church, Rev Thomas f. Waldron. was
the celebrant at the mass. Rev. Ed
ward Higgins was the deacon and
Few. John n. Dougherty was the sub
deacon. Rev. Joseph r. Lee. ID. d.
was the master of ceremonies. Many
| priests from the various city parishes
and towns throughout the diocese vas
| seated in tbs sanctuary.
During tire mass ther., was n spec
| iai musical program undes the direc-
| tion of Joseph McCullin with Miss
Murphy at the organ. The cnoir WAS
augmented by the addition of Ssaus-
| baeh's Orchestra.
| Following the mass the funeral pro-
cession was formed and the march
To the cemetery started. The line
was headed by platoon of police and
band. The casket rested on a cais-
son drawn by four black horses and
| in the line of march We're representa-
tives of the American Legion and all
of the civil organizations Of which
Private Swift had been a member,
| At the grave there was a salute by
a firing squad and then the sounding
of taps" by the buglers.
The members of the various asso-
Citations who stood guard last night
We're: Holy Name Society, John
| nfrao1a Iaeanh Callahan NyflIiap,