Evening star., 1945-04-15
|Grieving Thousands
Match as Roosevelt.
Beqins Last Journey
President Truman
Accompanies Body
To Hyde Park


night left the National Capital
forever.
Departure of the body at II pm.
from Union Station for burial to-
day in Hyde Park marked the end of
a day of deepest mourning in the
city where Mr.. Roosevelt had lived
for the last II years. All day long,
the normal activities of the Capital
had crept along slowly, or had
stopped altogether in conformance
with President Truman's procla-
nation setting aside the day as a
period of national mourning.
At pm, the hour of the funeral
in the White House East Room, vir-
tually all activities stopped entirely
for a moment all over the Nation
as a tribute to the dead President.
Thousands Stand Silently.
Although the White House made
no advance announcement of plans
for the final procession to Union
Station, a crowd estimated at be-
tween 10000 and 100000 stood si-
lently in the darkness of a warm
spring night to pay their last re-
spects to their departed President.
They stood along Fifteenth street
and Constitution avenue and at
Union Station Plaza-very much as
they had this morning, when a
caisson drawn by six white horses
bore the body from the station to
the White House for the services
And across the street from the
White House, in Lafayette Park,
the crowd stood silently as it has
ever since the tragic word of the
Presidents death reached the Capt.
tai Thursday afternoon.
At Union Station Plaza, men and
women with drawn faces arrived to
take up vantage points as early as
4::30 pm They sat on statuary
and on the steps leading to the
fountain, content to wait until the
body was brought from the White
House.
1000 in Plaza.
BY 7 pm. about 1900 persons had
gathered In the Plaza. An hour later
police estimated the throng had
grown to 10000, and when the body
arrived shortly before 9:45 pm.
there were about $4,000 persons on
hand.
The flag -draped casket was car
ried out of the White House at 9:28
pm. by the same noncommissioned
officers who have acted as pa.lbear-
ers since Friday. The casket was
borne down the front steps of the
White House, on the Pennsylvania
avenue side, and placed in plain
black hearse that stood at the west
end of the porch at exactly $50 p m.
On the lawn stood the Navy
Band, which struck up four drum
ruffles and flourishes as the Presi-
dents body was brought through
the doorway. Then the band played
the National Anthem as the casket
was carried across the porch. When
the body had been placed in the
hearse, the strains of Lead Kindly
Light" were carried into the night
Mrs. Roosevelt With Children.
Mrs. Roosevelt and two of her
children-Brig. Gen. Elliott Roose-
veit and Mrs. Anna Boettiger-
entered the first limousine. Other
members of the family got into
other cars. Mrs. Margaret Suckley,
the late Presidents cousin, led Fala
into another car for the last OF
many journeys the little black Scot
tie had made with his beloved
master.
The hearse moved away at exactly
9::32 pm. and drew up at the north
east gate to wait for the other cars
to fall into the procession. Two
minutes later the hearse and the fu-
neral cars moved slowly out of the
gate.
The procession drove into Penn
sylvania avenue, where squad OF
motorcycle officers from the Metro
politan Police Department was wait
ing to escort it. 1t turned south on
Fifteenth street and rolled past the
Treasury. At the south end of The
Treasury a stream of so armorcd
Army cars, each bearing five SOL
diers, fell in behind the funeral cars
The entire procession turned east on
Constitution avenue and, at a speed
lSee ROOSEVELT ,T. page Al