Evening star., 1932-03-10

of chaplains of the Navy. Under the
leadership of Capt. Taylor Branson, the
Marine Band will play the dirge, The
Son of God Goes Forth to War" The
Gridiron Club Quartet will sing abide
With Me- and Jesus, Lover OF My
Soul
Hundreds viii Attend.
Despite the unusual cold, hundreds
will attend the final rites in the Con-
| gressional Cemetery, a mile or so from
| the scenes of Sousa's birthplace. To the
slow tempo of funeral marches that
Sousa wrote, the body will be escorted
by the band he loved so well, by two
companies of bluejackets and Marines
and honorary pallbearers chosen from
the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
| At the grave Chaplain Evans and
Rev. Mr.. Gabler will commit the body
to the earth and the final rites Of the
Masonic order also will be held. A sa :
Lutte will be fired and TAPS" sounded
| by Marine trumpeter.
As the funeral procession proceeds
slowly through the streets of Southeast
| Washington the Marine Band will play
| two Of Sousa's favorites, The Honored
Leader" and "The Garfield Funeral
March" ..-... -.
The name that will appear on the
tombstone will dispel forever the circu-
! lation of a rumor that John Philip
| SouSa was not the bandmasters real
name. In some inconceivable way this
rumor has circulated for years, even
among people in Washington, where the
Sousa family has been prominently
known for years.
| Some said that his real initials are
s. o. His baggage frequently being
stamped u, S. A. they claimed the
bandmaster used the combination OF
| letters IS. o. u. S. A." as a synthetic
name for his musical career. Lifelong
| friends know this is false. His father,
Antonio Sousa, lived in Washington for
many years and the bandmaster' S
grandfather also bore the name Of
Sousa when he first came to this coun-
| try The family name is said to be a
Portuguese name quite common in that
country.
Honored by Congress.
Congress laid aside legislation yester-
day to honor the bandmaster. The
Senate adopted a resolution Of tribute.
In submitting it Senator McNary, Ore
gon, Republican, called Sousa 'the
worlds greatest composer of march
music"
It provided that Vice President Cur
tis name Senate group to attend the
funeral and the Republican and Dem
ocratic leaders, Watson of. Indiana and
| Robinson of Arkansas, respectively;
/ McNary. Bratton. Democrat, New Mex
I leo. and Moses, Republican, New Hamp-
| shire, were chosen.
| Capt. Frank B. Geottge of the Ma
| rine Corps was designated by President
| Hoover to represent the White House.
In the House, the Democratic leader,
1 Rainey of Illinois, called him the great
est composer of martial music who
ever lived in the world"
He proposed that the House also send
a delegation to the funeral, but Smell
of New York, the Republican leader,
said:
while I have the utmost reverence
and appreciation for the work Of the
great John Philip Sousa, I feel this
resolution would establish very bad
precedent and must object"
He did not explain, but the House
ordinarily sends Representatives only to
funerals of Congress members or high
| Government officials.
| Some of the latter, however, Will be
| honorary pallbearers at the funeral
held with full military honors. Among
them will be Ernest Lee Jahncke, As
sistant Secretary of the Navy; Rear
Admiral William A. Moffett and Brig
Gen. George Richards OF the Marine
| Corps. Many representatives OF music
also will be present.
Cans Recalls Honor.
Isaac Cans. retired Washington mer-
chant. who will attend the funeral, re-
called time three years ago when Mr.
Sousa paid him the unusual honor o.
departing from the regular program al
his band concert to permit the renal.
ton of THE Isaac Cans March"
At a National Press Club luncheor
earlier in the day, Mr.. Sousa remarked
to him that he understood the Arm!
Band in Washington had deolcateo
march to him. At the Sousa concer'
that night in the Washington AUDI
torium, the great band leader an
nounced that he was going TO 90 some.
thing he had never done before at
concert-to depart from his regular
program. He called Capt. Stannard tc
conduct the band as 1t played the new
march.
Regulations were smashed to permit
Sousa, who was we'll above the age
limit, to obtain a neutenant's commS'
sion in the World War and give the
Nation the worlds largest band. o1
1,708 pieces.
The story was revealed today for the
| nrSt Time Dy rear Admiral Wliuoih "A
Moffett, now chief of the Bureau o.
Aeronautics Navy Department, VINO
was a captain in charge Of the Great
Lakes. Ill, Naval Training Station dur
ing the war:
Admiral Moffett's Reply.
When the World War broke out
Sousa was SO years old. The regula-
tions were that none over Al years
of age was to be commissioned. Ad'
miral Moffett was determined to nave
Sousa In the Navy.
Some time later Admiral Moffett was
asked by Secretary Daniels how 1t wa
that Sousa got into the service, tne
cabinet officer expressing the opinion
that he thought the march master was
, far older than AZ years.
why, Mr.. Secretary, Lieut.. Sous