The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry CroninHunt, Henry M.
History
The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin
Hunt, Henry M.
Cronin, Patrick Henry, 1846-1889; Trials (Assassination) -- Illinois -- Chicago
All through the night of May 25th the casket containing the body of the
victim reposed on the catafalque in the First Cavalry Armory. At each
corner of the catafalque a sentry, in the uniform of the Hibernian
Rifles, stood immovable as a statue. It was a lonely vigil, and it was
not broken until six o'clock of the Sabbath morning. Even at that early
hour, while the church bells were ringing out their summons to those
accustomed to attend the first or daylight mass, a large crowd had
gathered outside of the Armory. Half an hour later a squad of the
Central Police detail, under command of Lieutenant Wilson, arrived at
the building. The officers were drawn up in two lines on either side of
the entrance, the doors were thrown open, and the people in waiting
commenced to enter. And so for hours a living stream poured into the
building, and past the catafalque, with its draping of American flags,
its burning candles and golden crucifix, and its tributes of ferns and
roses, hyacinths and daisies which reposed at the head and feet of the
casket. They came in so rapidly that the attempt to keep a count was
soon abandoned. There were old men and young; girls and white-haired
matrons. Children hardly able to toddle led the aged men, walking with
faltering, uncertain steps. Parents took their little ones, and the
little ones their grandparents. Laborers walked beside bankers,
mechanics ascended the platform elbow to elbow with citizens of national
eminence, and together they looked down on the face of the victim of a
murder that was without parallel in the history of the country. There
were many rough and tough looking men in the throng, but their heads
were bowed and their footsteps light as they passed by the coffin. There
was no need to caution any one to be quiet. The air of solemnity and
quiet hushed the least respectful, and those possessed of the least
feeling. It was a memorable scene.
A GREAT PROCESSION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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