IN SILENCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19732, 29 December 1926, Page 7

IN SILENCE

SOLEMN CEREMONY MIKADO’S BODY ENCOFFINED IMPRESSIVE SCENES. FUNERAL TO BE HELD IN FEBRUARY. By Telemtph—Per Press Assn.—Copyright. TOKIO, Dec. 27. The ceremony of cncoflining the body of the Mikado occurred in the presence of the Emperor, the Empress, the Dowager Empress, and Imperial officials, after which the Dowager removed to the reconstructed Palace at the command of the Emperor. During the cncoffining and removal the entire village was absolutely silenced. Four warships, including the battleship Yamasiro, drew in as close as possible, but there was not a sound; not a bugle, not a shot. The Emperor spent a portion of last night with the Dowager beside his father’s bier, laid in. the regal room overlooking Sagami Bay, where much i of Yoshihito’s boyhood was spent. The Slow Journey. In the morning several thousand soldiers, police, and members of the Young Alon’s, Association lined the three mile coast road, along which, after nightfall, the horse-drawn hearse, followed by the procession of officials soldiers, guards, and civilians, bearing the ex-ruler, moved slowly through a succession of fishing villages to Dzushi, where the body was entrained for Tokio. This roadway was also laid deep with sand to silence the noise of the wheels. The villages from the countryside gathered for the farewell as the noiseless procession passed. Plans for the Funeral. The funeral train, carrying the Dowager Empress and the remains of the late Emperor, reached the city after dark. The Emperor and Empress and all officialdom met the train, which proceeded to a special station built within the grounds surrounding the great Meiji Shrine. The body was thence removed to the old Imperial Palace. The funeral is to be held in the middle of February, the interment taking place at Osaka, near Tokio. The Diet passed a vote of condolence and voted 2,500,000 yen to cover the expenses of the funeral. The coronation of the new Emperor has been fixed for January, 1928. The New Emperor. The young Emperor, Hirohito, made his state entry into the capital this afternoon, receiving every mark of deep sympathy and homage from the masses along the route.