The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-08-03

condition is not serious, 1t was said.
tomac Telephone Company was be.
sieged with thousands Of calls.
Newspaper offices and the White
House were sought on the tele-
phone for confirmation Of the death.
The issuance Of an extra edition
by The washington. Herald within
few minutes after the President
died was the first means by which
the confirmation of the death was
officially spread throughout the
city. ,s ~.
washington slept little last night.
The death Of her President was too
much Of a shock. The Chief Elk.
ecutive was beloved by all and ex,
pressions Of regret are being heard
today in every home:
Crowds Gather.
The streets downtown were prac-
tically deserted when the first ex.
ira went, on the streets. Al few
minutes later, however, crowds
gathered in front OF. newspaper
offices, awaiting bulletins. Al small
crowd gathered around the White
House, conveTsing in. low tones. ],
Lieut.. Walter Emerson, night chief
of detectives. transmitted word Of
the death to all police and city of.
ficials. Flags on every District gov
eminent building, including fire and
police stations, have been put at
half mast. ,<s% ~ "
Radio played an important part
in the announcement Of the death.
In the course of concert from
station WDAP, the, announcer
broke in the middle OF the seiec.
ton, and startled his listeners with
this statement: -
;''It has just been reported to
WDAP that President Harding died
at 1853 o'clock tonight. Efforts are
being made J to. confirm it., n Stand
by, for further announcements
A little later the. confirmation
was sent out. This was followed
by the reading of the bulletins
sent out from the death room in
San Frascisco last night. &, !
Pastor Brings News.
The Rev. DR.. A. Freeman Ander.
son.. Of Calvary Baptist Church. was
the first to give news Of the Presi
dents death to the White House
Shortly after IL o'clock he ,teie
| talked with e. c. Goss, OF the
White House police force.
Policemen were the only EN-
ployes in the White House when
Goss got first word. Rudolph
Forster, chief clerk was imnedi
ately reached on the telephone, and
within an hour every White House
attache had reached the Executive
Mansion. -
The White House telegraph wire
was opened shortly after midnight.
The first message to come was over
bulletin issued in San Francisco
at $3.50 O'Clock, which said the
President had spent the most salts
factory day since his illness. The
official encouragement of the Presi-
dents death Immediately followed.
Deep Sorrow In d. C.
President Harding's death is caus-
ing deep sorrow&in Washington to.
day, especially among the thousands
Of Government clerks. The. Chief
Executive, always championing, their
campaign for higher salaries, has
won his way to the hearts Of most
of them.
Outside Of possibly. Marion, Ohio,
the Presidents acquaintance iS
wider here than anywhere else in
the world. He has hundreds Of close
personal friends here, In addition to
thousands Of others with whom he
came into contact while in office. .
Fifty thousand calls were made
over the telephone last night, it was
reported today. Telephone traffic
was so dense at one time that forty
additional operators were called from
their beds, hurried to the exchanges
and put to work. ~r|'
In order to save, time and get as
many calls through as quickly as
possible. the telephone Company az
ranged with newspaper offices to
handle all calls regarding the Presi-
dent. Instead of being connected
with the newspapers. callers were
given information Of the death by
the operators.
Actin by Organizations.
A special meeting Of the execu-
tive committee of the Washington
Board of Trade was called for 4
o'clock this afternoon by Arthur
L. Carr, secretary, in the absence
from the city Of the president and
vice presidents.
President 2. F. Colladay, of the
Board OF Trade, as Republican Ma
tional Committeeman for the Dis.
trjct of Columbia. a close personal
friend of President Harding.
Leonard P. Steuart, Illustrious
Potentate Of Almas' Temple and
chairman of the committee which
planned for the recent Shrine con.
vention, voiced the sympathy of the
membership Of Almas Temple and
the committee.
He stated that Shrine week was
the last big function In which the
President participated prior to his
departure on his final trip. ~ -,
1.-THE members OF Almas Temple
are inexpressibly shocked by the
announcement" the potentate said.
Though President Harding was not
a member Of Almas Temple, he at
tended many of our ceremonials and
was one of US. He Is known per.
sonally to large part Of the mem
bership and was beloved by all.
During Shrine week he displa we'd
a heart of gold and we can, never
forget his hospitality and cordiality.
It was my privilege to be with him
much of the time during that week,
and he was a real fellow to every
member Of the order with whom he
came in contact"
A special session Of sorrow will
T.. Laid hxy %hA