Throughout the day workmen had been busy placing the great east room in condition for the reception of the body of the dead President. That immense room, in which President McKinley had participated in so many public functions, and had taken the hands of thousands of his countrymen, was transformed into a tomb for the time being, and all evidences of past festivities were removed. It was in this same room that the remains of Lincoln, Garfield, Secretary of State Gresham, and other distinguished public servants rested before final interment. It was also in this magnificent apartment that Nellie Grant was married to Algernon Sartoris of England while her father was President. As the shades of evening began to fall the guards around the White House were doubled. The gates were closed and policemen were stationed at the various entrances, with positive instructions to allow no one to pass except those on actual duty in an official capacity. In the meantime the interior of the east room had been robbed of its barren appearance by the placing of a number of potted plants and palms around the room and in the recesses of the windows. In addition to the floral decorations from the Executive greenhouses the tributes from foreign and domestic officials converted the room into a beautiful and fragrant floral bower. The display of floral tributes deposited in the east room was perhaps never equaled in the history of a public or private funeral in the United States. The predominating emblems were laurel wreaths, but they were so diversified in construction and ornamentation with colored flowers and ribbons that no two pieces were actually alike. One of the most striking set pieces was an immense shield, appropriately inscribed, and profusely decorated with purple ribbon, from “The American Army in the Philippines.” This floral tribute was made up on an order by cable at a cost of over $500. Another striking piece was an immense floral pedestal, surmounted by a floral wreath, standing twelve feet high. This came from the Commissioner of Pensions and his associates in the Pension bureau. There were magnificent wreaths from Mrs. Garret A. Hobart, the wife of the late Vice-President, also one from the government of Costa Rica, one from the President of Costa Rica, Rafael Iglesias. An immense laurel wreath, decorated with yellow, blue, and red ribbons, came from the Colombian Legation. There was also an immense wreath of orchids inscribed from the Municipality of Havana, Cuba. And there, sleeping the dreamless sleep of death, beneath a wilderness of blossoms from the loving hands of his countrymen, William McKinley passed his last night in the White House. [Illustration: CROWDS VIEWING THE REMAINS AT THE COURT HOUSE, CANTON.] [Illustration: TAKING THE CASKET INTO THE CHURCH AT CANTON.] CHAPTER XXXIV. FUNERAL SERVICES AND PROCESSION AT WASHINGTON.