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Show IRON TONGUES MOAN A REQUIEM FOB CHICAGO'S DEAD Snowsterm Makes a Winding Sheet for City. SOLEMN DIRGES ON WINDS Bolls Toll far an Hour In Chicago Chi-cago While City Mourns. Priests and Ministers Go From Funeral Fu-neral to Funeral, and Offer Consolation Con-solation to the Living. Chicago, Jan. 2. Church bells tolling at noon, business activity .checked, many celebrations postponed and long lines of funerals making their way to the outlying districts where the cemeteries ceme-teries are situated these circumstances today evidenced Chicago's outward grief for the victims of the Iroquois theater disaster. PrlestR and ministers of the gospel went from funeral to funeral fu-neral today, as they will tomorrow and Monday. The unidentified dead will be kept as long av possible at the morgues. If no one comes to lay claim to the bodies they will be burled at the city's expense. By common assent of the clergy, "Lead. Kindly Light," the hymp vWrltten by Cnrdlnal Newman, is being sung at all the funerals. BUSINESS PLACES CLOSE. The city hall, except absolutely necessary nec-essary departments, was closed today.. The Board of Trade closwd an hour earlier than usual, and a number of mercantile and manufacturing establishments estab-lishments also closed early. The large department stores closed at noon. ThIrty:four teachers in the public schools are known to have lost their lives in the fire, and the schools will be cloyed Monday In their memory. REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD. When It was 12 o'clock the chimes of a North Side church tolled a dirge and the northeast wind carried It over the city. Before the first notes bad died away another chime further south sounded a mournful Intonation. Then a hundred bells broke forth In a mighty diapason, whose Iron moans seemed to reach the gray clouds and echo back again In solemn concord. The bells tolled for an hour. As the loneo of the city's dirge in the scattered towers spread over the city, more persons paused and listened In sorrow and awe than on any occasion In the minds of the people. Many stood with bare heads as on the day of the burial of President McKlnley. A snowstorm which prevailed ndded to the solemnity. An Intense quietness In the atmosphere Itself, a holiday ap-. pearancc nnd the numerous funeral corteges cor-teges as they passed slowly through the storm, while the church bells were slowly tolling, combined to make the occarion one ns peculiarly cheerless as It was solemn and Impressive. EXPRESSIONS OF GRIEF. The tolling of tho bells was in response re-sponse to an expressed wish of Mayor Harrison. The Mayor said: "Tolling the church bells throughout the city on Chicago's day of mourning for the dend who perished in the fire at the Iroquois theater would be an appropriate ap-propriate expression of grief. The suggestion sug-gestion was made to me by a clergyman, clergy-man, and I wish it to be published so that pastors may carry it out. I strongly urge them to begin the tolling of bells at noon and to let the mournful mourn-ful sound continue for an hour. Such an expression of sorrow would bring to tho hearts and minds of every one the memory of Chicago's terrible loss." |
