The progress-itemizer. (Water Valley, Miss.) 1918-1929, 1923-08-09
NATION M0URNS
HARD|NC'SDEATH
Caravans Of Grief Move Slowly Down
Streets of Capital City; Thousands
Pay Homage to Late President

WASHINGTON, Aug. S--A sweilln!
t.Gn of honors bore Warren G. Hardin;
today bacl, over the road by whlcl
lac came, triumphant, to the presi
dclcy, two crowded years ago.
or him the urge of ambition wa
On ed, the compelling call of dut'
:, lied in death. Amid the tens o.
thousands of his silent countrymei
). uped along the way, he passed II
such state as only the great dead OF
III, nation may know. Beyond tn
l,.ef hour of the ceremony of sorrow
tAlre awaited for him, rest eternal on
lie soil that gave him birth.
Down the VIDE avenue he was car
r.el today with marching legion
II. mping ahead to lay him under tn
Gene of the Capitol awhile ere h'
COS back to his nalive state to stay
forever That high resolve of duty
! I'D brought him death and with 1t thf
peace and quiet he loved, but whlct
he could set aside at the nation s call
With Pershing riding ahead, the
marching thousands of the escort LED
1Ac wav, the steel of their bayonetS
glittering above them. Soldiers, sailors
marines and citizens soldiers, all were
there and behind them came the new
president, still bowed in grief that
his high office came at such prlce
Came also two men who before him had
held that office, one to be stricken
l Ike himself and so crippled in illness
he might not give himself as he
would be the sorrowful duty of the day
Behind these, in endless array, marcl
cd the great body of American elIi
zcnrv and the men who keep the wheels
CT a great government moving IN the
lu.;e silent buildings about
Military L ds Play Hymns
Military bands, interspersed in the
columns, played old, old hymns that
stir and comfort. The hush and dim
mystery of last night, when the flag
draped easket came to its brief space
of quiet in the White House, was lack
But there was no sound or movement IN
:, ..Tc g4eat crowd that lined ~ W"sh
ington streets until that fatefui bur
den under its colorful, glorious bunt
ing had been carried by on silent
wheels. to be lifted to the catafalquo
in the great stone chamber OF inc
Capitol rotunda.
There, in keeping with the simplicity
of the man who lay dead, the funeral
services were of brief, impressive
nature. Afterward in its space of honor
beneath the dome, the body was to lie
until nightfall while thousands filed
past the bier with bent, uncovered
heads, to bid farewell to upright, kind
" man so soon to leave forever.
Caravans of Grief
1t was few minutes past 10
O'Clock when the great procession OF
sorrow swung out from the White
House gates to begin its pilgrimage ny
the historic avenue where so many
other long caravans of grief and Of
rejoicing. of regret and of triumph,
had preceded It in years gone by.
Tenderlv the President had been
carried for the last time from the
nortals of the White House and placed
again on the artillery caisson that had
borne him last night from the funeral
tra:n to the East Room to lie for a
few hours amid the flowers that had
been placed there in tribute by the
potcntatcs of the earth and by the
p'ain people, the fallen chieftain 1t
loved so well.
Casket is Open
As the funeral hour approached, the
casket was opened so that near rela-
tives and friends might have Their last
look there in the East Room at the
bier of their beloved dead who lay
with a peaceful smile in the reponsc OF
eternity.
Former President Wilson, himself
broken by the cares of the chief
mag.stry, came to the great portlco
Just before the hour of departure to
take his place in the cortege at the
invitation of President Coolidge.
Chief Justice Taft, the only Other
living expresidcnt also was waiting
when the casket enshrouded in the
stars and stripes like that of other
soldiers who have made the supreme
sacrifice in the service of their coun-
try, was lifted from its setting OF
flowers to be borne to its place am 4
smother and perhaps a grander array
of floral coloring and fragrance in
the rotunda President Coolidge who
enters thus with heavy heart upon the
duties of the highest office in the
land, arrived to tako his place also
lust at the hour set for the departure