Evening star., 1925-07-30
Silent Column Waits at Door
of New York Avenue Edi-
flee to Pay Final Respects
to William Jennings Bryan.
PEACE ADVOCATE RESTS,
FACE CALM IN REP0SE
Widow Approves Military Rites.
Escort of Field Artillery to Ac-
company Casket to Grave at
Arlington to Sleep Among Other
Heroes of His Nation.

Peaceful in eternal sleep, the body
OF William Jennings Bryan lay in
state today i'll the chancel of the
New York Avenue Presbyterian
Church while hundreds of his coun-
trymcn passed his bier in silence
and gazed for the last time on his
mortal remains. The parting bene-
~diction of the people OF Washington,
many OF whom lad known him in
life. was as impressive as it was
solemn
Silent sentinels, veterans of the
Spanish-American conflict, with
whom Bryan served as volunteer
in the stirring days of '98, stood
guard over the bronze casket Is the
throng of admirers and friends
passed.
Throughout the day and far into
the night the public will have an op-
portunity to view for the last time
the features of the Commoner, little
changed in death as he rests in the
peace of the church, where he many
times sought divine guidance in pub
lie service. The body will lie in state
until tomorrow noon and, after a
brief funeral service at the church,
it will start on the last lap of the
journey to It's final resting place in
Arlington Cemetery.
Many Were Waiting.
About an hour before the doors of
the historic red brick church had
been thrown open to the public to-
day hundreds of persons from every
walk of life surrounded the triangle
on which it rests. waiting for the
signal that would permit them to
view the statesman's mortal form.
Men, women and children OF every
creed and color were in the orderly
double line that formed on the H
street side of the edifice and rounded
into Fourteenth street.
1t was 12:15 o'clock before the long
lines started moving slowly into the
church. Shortly before l O'Clock,
however, the last of the original lines
had passed the bier of the Common
er, and those who came to pay him
tribute afterward We're no longer
forced to wait. The police have pre-
InTOnR
when the Government departments
turn their workers out.
Except for a medium sized silk
American flag at the extreme end of
the pulpit, the chancel, in which the
body rests is bare of decorations and
flowers. This flag will be the only
emblem of Mr.. Bryan's service to his
country besides the military touch
that will be given to the funeral pro-
ton 81. ~
tomorrow afternoon A table behind
the casket bears this simple inscrip-
ton, I'm Remembrance of Me-"
Opening of Church Delayed.
Although it had been originally
planned to open the church to the
public promptly at noon the delay was
necessitated by the appearance of
relatives ana close friends of the
body The public procession started as
soon as all had left the church.
The crowd that gathered around the
undertaking parlor, where the body
was taken direct from the Union Sta
tion after its arrival, We're given an
unexpected opportunity to pay 1t hom-
age. The coffin reposed in the under
taking chapel draped in the flag which
covered IL on it's trip from Tennessee,
with bowed heads and solemn faces.
Arrives at 1:5i AM.
Back to the city he loved so well
and the seat of his career as politician
and statesman, Mr.. Bryan came this
morning in deaths slumber, to re-
ceive the rites of the church before
he finds his final rest in Arlington
Cemetery. The train bearing his body
pnh he al -,
Union Station at 7:51 am, just six
minutes behind scheduled time.
The arrival of the funeral car at
tached to regular Southern Rail-
way train, which had borne the body
from Dayton. Tenn, found a reverent
throng waiting at the station. Sew
eral hundred solemn-faced men,
women and children, whom Mr.. Bryan
himself would describe as 'just COM
mon people," lined the roped-off sec
ton in the station concourse to catch
a fieeting glimpse of the Commoner's
widow and the portentious bronze
caSket containing his mortal remains.
Another crowd of equal size had con-
gregated around the taut ropes on
the outside of the station.
Friends Meet Train.
A small group of intimate friends
funeral car in the train shed and
accompanied the widow through the
station. Ben G.. Davis, confidential
clerk to the statesman while he was
a member of the cabinet and who
arranged all of the preliminary fu-
neral plans, headed the deputation.
With him were Mr.. and Mrs. Daniel
Bride, Charles Cook of the State De-
partment. Representative Upshaw of
Georgia, District Commissioner Fred
erick A. Fenning, and a delegation
representing the Jackson Democratic
Association of the District. which
enrolled Mr.. Bryan as an honorary
member in 1896. The representatives
included William NICK. Clayton,
Charles w. Ray, Daniel A. Edwards
and Robert \. Harper.
Virtually all those in the funeral
\ car. who had accompanied Mrs. Bryan
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