Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-03-09
men heavy with grief. Their
faces are sad and set.
AHolnnLnu nodS RnnnnSSinn

men heavy with grief. Their
faces are sad and set.
MaIenkOv Leads Procession.
Malenkov leads the process
sion which goes up single file.
Behind him comes Beria, in a
black coat. Chou En-lai follows.
There is Marshal Klimenti Vo-
roShilov in uniform, and Molo-
tov, now the foreign minister,
Nikita Khruschev and Lazar
Kaganovich are there. as is An
drei Andreyev.
I recognize Matyas Rakosi, the
Hungarian leader: Petru Groza
of Romania. Harry Pollitt from
Britain. They go up to the
tribune
A few minutes later the diplo-,
matte corps headed by the Sweds
ish Ambassador enters the tier
just below the tribune. They all
sand there silently.
At 1888 an announcer in
PRODUCES Georgi Malenkov.
Malenkov has a vibrant voice.
He speaks without hesitating in
clear strong tones. Loudspeakers
bring his every word to the thou
sands in Red Square and the
millions in Moscow.
The radio takes his voice to
every corner of this broad land,
and by short wave to the coun-
tries of the world.
Malenkov never hesitates. He
speaks out over the crowd. Every
eye IS on him. He finishes
promptly at Ills.
There is the slightest of pauses.
The announcer presents Lavrenti
Beria. He starts out in strong
measured tones. People hardly
move.
Beria finishes at 1870 just as
the Spassky chimes are striking.
Molotov is introduced.
The Foreign Minister begins
and. grief-stricken, his voice al
most breaks. He goes on.
At 1883 Molotov has said what
he had to say.
There is a pause. The an
nouncer says that the funeral
orations have finished.
Movement on the tribunal.
Malenkov leads the procession
back down the marble steps and
out in front of the tomb in Red
Square to the platform where
Stains coffin stands.
His comrades gather around
him. They move over and take
the coffin in their hands and
lift it ever SO slowly.
They take it up and move of
toward the wide-open metal
doors of the tomb.
First Guns Roar.
It is 1883. The first gun roars
over in the Kremlin-the be-
ginning of the salute. The bands
begin to play again the Funeral
March of Chopin. The chimes
on Spassky ring out high noon
Softly at first and then louder
and louder 60 the whistles of
the factories of Moscow, and the
whistles on boats in the nearby
Moskva River. moving through
channels cut in the ice.
The cannons fling their volleys
into the March sky. The clock
rings out the last strokes of IL.
The whistles are very much
louder. The chimes, Chopin,
roaring gun and whistles-Stal-
ms requiem.
At precisely five minutes past
noon the last cannon sounds it's
30th shot. The whistles die away
and the final strains of Chopin
fall from the brass horns.
1t is strangely silent again.
Then there is a slight move
ment in the massed bands.
Trumpets to a hundred lips. A
great blast over the square. The
first note of the Soviet Hymn.
The troops stand even more rig
idly than before, If that is pos
Sible.
Hats come off. The party and
! government leaders come to Sa-
lutte.
! With the last notes of the
hymn, 1 look back over my
shoulder at the Kremlin. The
red flag of state which has stood
at half staff since Stains death
is slowly rising. Two men pull
\