Washington, Aug. 4—The national capital, in sorrow and mourning symbolic of that of the nation, went forward today with the preparations to receive and pay a last tribute to the dead President.
A state funeral, to be marked by a solemn dignity and simplicity, was arranged for by President Coolidge and other high officers of the government, who devoted themselves untiringly to the preparation of ceremony that will fittingly express the grief and reverence of the American people.
President Coolidge, Chief Justice Taft, members of the cabinet, of high in government councils will participate in the ceremony. At the suggestion of Mr. Coolidge, Woodrow Wilson was invited to take part but after a conference between Lieutenant Colonel Sherrill, aid to the chief executive, and Rear Admiral Grayson, Mr. Wilson’s physicians, it was announced that because of the condition of him the former President regretted he would be unable to participate.
Upon its arrival here from San Francisco Tuesday, the funeral train will be met by Mr. Coolidge and other ranking officials who will accompany the body to the White House behind the escort of a squadron of cavalry and a battalion of field artillery. It then will be in the East Room until Wednesday. Whether there will be private services at the White House will depend upon the wishes of Mrs. Harding.
Wednesday morning the body will be escorted to the capitol and be placed in the rotunda. After funeral services there, it will lie in state until 6 p.m. and an hour later will start upon the last journey to Marion where on Friday it will find a resting place in the soil of Ohio.
As the flag-draped casket from the White House over Pennsylvania Avenue it will be escorted by several thousand troops under General John J. Pershing, and behind the automobiles carrying Mrs. Harding and members of the family will be President Coolidge, members of his cabinet, members of the senate and representatives. In line also will be representative groups of patriotic organizations will be added by their commanders with colors and uniform, as well as many civic and commercial organizations.
The Masonic orders of which Mr. Harding was a member will be represented by 150 Knights Templars and representatives of the Grand Lodge, and there will also be small groups from other fraternal organizations.
As the funeral cortege moves from the White House, 10,000 Washington school children will lay down a carpet of flowers for the caisson bearing the casket and a children’s chorus, recruited from the city’s play grounds will sing the favorite hymns of Mr. Harding. Pennsylvania avenue will be roped off from the White House to the capitol and will be cleared of traffic. Cordons of police will line the famed thoroughfare where it is estimated that more than 100,000 will gather to view the procession.
After the services have been concluded, the public will be admitted for the last view of the dead. They will march in from the entrance four abreast, but reaching the line will separate, passing two abreast to either side. There will be a guard of honor at the casket and the lines will be kept in continuous motion.
Basing their estimates on similar events in the past, the police have reckoned that the number of persons who would view the body from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. will exceed 100,000.
When the doors have been closed, the body will have been taken to the union station with a military escort and placed aboard the train. President Coolidge and many other government officials will accompany it to Marion.
Two army officers, both Ohioans, were appointed today to represent Mr. Coolidge in making arrangements at Marion for the funeral. They are Colonel F.P. Lahm, formerly of Mansfield, and Lieutenant Edward M. Taylor of the Sixteenth field artillery, formerly of Marion and once an employee on President Harding’s newspaper. They will have credentials from President Coolidge, placing them in complete charge of the Marion arrangements. The funeral train will reach Marion Thursday morning and there it will be met by a military escort. Funeral arrangements for the ceremonial there have not yet been completed, but it had been announced that there will be a brief burial service.
Unless Mrs. Harding desires it, no congressional committee will accompany the funeral party to Ohio. This decision was reached tentatively at conferences at the capitol, participated in by a member of the senate and house leaders. Only a comparatively few members of congress are now in Washington but all of them have been notified formally of the time of the service here and as many as can will come.
From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, Aug. 5, 1923. A caisson is a two-wheeled military vehicle, used in this case to bear a casket.
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