NATION’S SORROW

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 16 April 1945, Page 5

NATION’S SORROW

LAST TRIBUTE PAID funeraiTof president ROOSEVELT SIMPLE SERVICE AT WHITE HOUSE New York, April 14. Franklin Delano Roosevelt returned in death at 11.14 a.m. today to the White House which he had graced longer than any other President, says the Washington correspondent of the Associated Press of America. Thousands jammed the station as the funeral train drew slowly in and halted where Mrs Roosevelt and members of the family, the new President, Mr Harry S. Truman, and members of the Cabinet waited sorrowfully.

A formation of 25 Liberators droned overhead as seven while horses began drawing on its journey to the White House the four-wheeled cassion on which the flag-covered coffin lay. Tens of thousands of civilians and service personnel stood stUently on both sides of the broad Constitution Avenue, paying a last tribute to a beloved President. Here and there women fainted in the sultry heat. Men and women wept openly. Mrs Roosevelt, Mrs Boettigcr and Brigadier-General Elliott Roosevelt rode in a car directly behind the cassion. Colonel John Boettiger and the wives of Mr and Mrs Roosevelt s sons were in the second car. Mr Truman, Mr Henry A. Wallace and Mr J. J. Byrnes were in the third car. The mile-long procession of soldiers which followed the cassion marched on past the White House as the cortege wheeled into the White House grounds. The procession took 35 minutes to pass a given point. A combined Army, Navy and Marine guard of honour was drawn up outside the white columns of the central portica of the White House. The guard dipped their colours as the cortege halted and the coffin was carried inside by members of the armed services. Mrs Roosevelt and members of the family followed slowly. The silence in the throngs about the While House was so deep that even the chirping of birds on the White House lawn could be heard distinctly. The coffin was placed in front of an altar in the famed east room, which was banked with flowers. In spite of Mrs Roosevelt’s request that no flowers be sent, several truck loads arrived. Among the floral Iributes were several from foreign Governments. Resting beneath the glass top of the coffin Mr Roosevelt’s body was dressed in a greyish-blue business suit, a grey-ish-blue tie and a white soft-collarcd shirt. He looked younger in death than when last seen by friends in Washington. Fala, the President's dog. was brought in on a leash by the President’s cousin. Miss Margaret Suckley. Long after the doors of the White House closed behind the President’s body sorrowing throngs stood bareheaded on the street outside. Mrs Roosevelt concealed her grief beneath a dignified, almost stoic calm. Only once, as she walked toward the front •teps. did her composure waver. Her step faltered slightly and her shoulders slumped, but she recovered herself quickly and stepped forward steadily. SIMPLE CEREMONY The Right Reverend Angus Dun, Bishop of Washington, officiated at the simple Episcopal ceremony. He recalled that Mr Roosevelt, upon assuming office in 1933 said that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. The bishop said: “I am sure he would wish it that we go forward without fear of the future, without fear of our Allies and friends, and without fear of our own insufficiencies.” The British colony in Washington conducted a service on the Embassy lawn at an improvised altar covered by a Union Jack. A special train left Washington for Hyde Park to-night with members of the family, Mr and Mrs Truman and othe- dignatories for the burial at 10 a.m. to-morrow.