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Show JAPAN'S DOWAGER EIPRESSJS DEAD Royal Family Present When Death Comes Suddenly at Imperial Villa. WIDOW OF MUTSUITO Passed Through Troubled Per- j iod of Transformation of Island Empire. Toklo, April 9. The Dow.ager.Eni,-press Dow.ager.Eni,-press ' Haruko died at the " Imperial villa at Namazu today. Following the usual custom In the case of a death in the Imperial family, fam-ily, the official announcement of the event will not be made until the body has been transferred to the capital, probably tomorrow. Imperial Family Present. Her majesty died suddenly In the presence of Emperor Yoshihlto, the empress and the other members of the royal family, who had been summoned sum-moned from the capital. The imperial patient had developed deceptive symptoms. She displayed Increased vigor and asked for food. A short time afterward. Her Majesty became unconscious. The doctors in attondancc applied restorative but without avail. Her Majesty had been suffering for a considerable period from angina pretorls but the official diagnosis declared de-clared that bright's disease was the direct cause of death. Widow of Mutsuito. The Dowager Empress Haruko was the widow of Emperor Mutsuito, who died on July 30, 1912. She was born on May 28, 1850, and was the daughter daugh-ter of a nobleman, Ichljo Tadado. In 1869 she married the late emperor and was declared empress. Haruko, by the side of her husband, hus-band, passed through the troubled period of the transformation of Japan at the beginning of Mutsuito's reign. She saw him transfer his capital from Kioto to Yedo, which was later renamed re-named Tokio. She watched with curious cu-rious interest the opening of the country to foreign commerce, Its departure de-parture from old world customs and its adoption of western civilization. She awaited in the imperial palace news of the Japanese armies at war first with China and then with Russia, Rus-sia, and saw the complete evolution of Japan into a world power. Simple in Tastes. Haruko was simple in her tastes. She presided over court functions with great dignity, on mos,t occasions wearing western dress, especially when she came into contact with Americans or Europeans. When the function was purely Japanese she occasionally returned to the picturesque pictur-esque costume of her youth. The Dowager Empress was greatly affected by the death of Mutsuito, suffering for many months from an affection of the heart. Prayers in Death Chamber. The emperor and empress and their aides returned to Toklo this evening. eve-ning. They had made only a brief stay at Namazu where they prayed for an hour In the death chamber. All theatres have been closed and entertainments cancelled and It is considered prpbablc that the emperor's emper-or's coronation, which had been arranged ar-ranged for November 10, will be postponed. post-poned. The ministerial crisis was cast into the background by the death of the Dowager Empress, and the new cabinet cabi-net has not yet been formed. The court officials proceeded immediately im-mediately to make arrangements for the state1 funeral. |