THE KING'S DEATH.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 843, 15 June 1910, Page 6

THE KING'S DEATH.

SOJPRESSIVE SCENES.IN LONDONi A PEOPLE'S GRIEF ASUBDUED AND MELANCHOLY CITY The special correspondent of the "Sydney Morning Herald" gives the following 'interesting description of tiro solemn i scenes in London when the news of tlie death of King Edward VII was announced:— '

"The King is dead" whispered someone, and every man in the crowd instantly uncovered and stood bareheaded. It was a few minutes after midnight on Friday, May G. Dim figures had come hurrying across the courtyard of Buckingham Palace. They reached the gate. "What nowsr" asked an anxious voice. Tie reply came, and with it the dreaded fclimax of a terrible blow.

All the previous. afternoon since the grave words of the midday bulletin first startled London the come and go of the . people had been incessant. Streaming steadily across St. James's' Park they had been met by the no news of tho earlier announcement, and they had melted away or had lined along tlie railings to await the tidings of tlie evening. At half-past '6 those tidings' came, and men and 'women blanched under them. The midday bulletin had been.serious. It stated: i'Tho Kings symptoms have been worse (during the day. Mis Majesty's condition ids now critical." ' Tho grim words were read with shocked I astonishment.' The scraps of paper bearling them were suddenly beconio portents ' 'of calamity, for the 'message they bore (changed tho outlook of an Umpire. Then .came night, and with it a dramatic, souiIbro scene, over which breeding forcbodjing of the tragedy that was not far off. .' Gusts of wind and fierce rain, and drivj dng cloud and I he tttful gleam of stars i enveloped it. . The palace sentinols paced i leteadily to and fro. Every, window of ; '.the long rows that fill the palaco front : was alight, and a flash of scarlet livery constantly canio and went at an open kloor. Through the .drive rolled a profession of vehicles, and from the waiting (ine of them ladies in evening dress,,on •their, way to society functions, stepped ;i wit to learn that which turned their cars Ihomowardn. As the night wore on sigiis iof grave import were manifest. Members : «o! tbe 'RoyaX Family wove wen to drive' (Jinto the palace. The Archbishop of; Canterbury entered, and wo had seen him ! (come and go twice beforo that day. At . |l 0 minutes past 12 a Royal carriage drove •out, and the crowd caught a glimpse I of its occupants. They saluted, and were (saluted in return. That going at 6uch an 'hour hushed the people, though no one 'of them knew it, for Us full significance. !They knew it presently. Tho King was fdead. That carriage bore the new ruler til the Empire. A Place of Grief, . London became a place of grief. Tho low grave tones of the old city deepened linto soinbreness. Appropriately, the 'gloom of cheerless weather hung over it, jwhilo guns boomed close at hand, church Ibells tolled, and sorrow for the dead filled | its streets. Men aud women spoke sadly -. ; to each other as those who mourn a close j friend-. Tho sense of personal loss was j unmistakable. People lamented among . i themselves not sd much tho Sovereign (as. tho fellow-man. It is that knowledge ■ of King Edward, as a big-hearted man, Ifrank and friendly aud sympathetic with high and low alike, that has accounted (for the affection of the people for him j for so long. Now it gavo reason for their (Brief. Thousands of Hags drooped at ihalf-mast abovo the housetops, thousands of black-edged-, newspaper placards stood f about the pavements. The shop windows, j gay yesterday with' all the colour of [spring and approaching summer, to-day (were arrayed in sombre black. Few, indeed,' among the millions on tho streets, but wore some token of bereavement. If ■the ladies of the West End went garbed (in the luxurious mourning availablo to /them, at least the poor children of tho Blums could display their bits of black ' (ribbon. Any window that held a photo, iof tho dead King, was sure of its crowd ,-of sympathetic, curious, and, in more than one slum street I saw groups of the ragged poor buying from tho barrow-men ■penny reproductions of tho familiar features. At all the West' End clubs aud : 'great houses blinds were drawn; the thereplaced their, pictures, with black- • placards, announcing the susof ' all engagements, and tlie 'restaurant orchestras were silenced... And incessantly across, the world camo mes-1 sages from far distant lands of sorrow felt, but little less than here at tho Empire's heart. The Last Farewell. , .Towards afternoon vast crowds congregated in St. James's Park that, they might pass the palace and gazo at the window of the room in which the dead King lay. Presently came the day's first iouch of colour in a battery ol Royal •Artillery with (heir guns, and thousands (of people followed them to the corner of [the park, where -hey were .to firo tho isalute of farewell to the dead King. .Aljinost simultaneously with the boom of •the first of the GS guns another crowd was assembling at St. James's Palace. 'Then there came in full official' dress (the Lords of the Privy Council and the . 'Lord Mayor and City Corporation officials ; for tho first council of tho new King, and presently his Majesty George V drovo through the silent throng. Thousands waited hereabout for some hours in expectation that the King would be proclaimed that afternoon, but gradually . -dispersed as it became known that that ceremony would not take place until : Monday. During the evening of Saturday London Streets were filled by (strangely-, subdued crowds, and the customary lights and laughter of the West •End bright scenes by night gavo place ;to the darkness of unlit lamps and closed i doors. In the Churches. | Sunday was a marvellous day by rea)sou of the throngs of people gathered in the chief churches of the metropolis, jand the unwonted, solemnity of the ser- ! vices, over which brooded the sorrow of ',& nation. At' St. Paul's Cathedral, where ! Jin. the afternoon Canon Scott Holland jpreached, the vast -building was filled j almost as soon as the morning service j was over, and thousands of people were irefused admission.' At the abbey tho i Archbishop of Canterbury delivered a 'magnificent sermon in the presence of ' ' other thousands, while the Bishop of . Ripon at the Temple was another of England's greatest preachers who uttered eloquent words to throngs of worshippers eager for his theme. But all over London and throughout the country and by all creeds alike, the national loss was the burden of the day's religious ceremonial. Thousands of preachers invoked it. The silent motion of millions of worshippers paid its tribute. , .' j The effect of King Edward's death on the social life of London is immense. ; The season has, just begun. For months to como each day had its long list of fixtures. Long programmes of public and private entertainments of every kind . had entered upon fulfilment. Already the daily round of banquets, parties, dances, race meetings, official demonstrations of many sorts, public displays, tlie whole • gamut of the lighter lifo of London, had reached vigorous activity, and the announcement of things to como was daily moro extensive. Chaos has overwhelmed them all. Many have been abandoned altogether, most have been postponed, and oven though some will yet eventuate the whole of the fixtures of this year's season .will be clouded by the memory of these days. The specially Royal fixtures are of necessity obliterated. An • event such as tho Ascot festival will be bereft of its essential characteristics. Most of the pageants, exhibitions.'and the Test of tho outdoor functions that were to make this a summer of memorable brilliancy will bo held, but their present 5 aspect is far other than that of a week ago. Course of Illness. : On the morning of his death, the King transacted business of State with Lord Knollys, his private secretary. You havo been "told by cablegram of his interview on Thursday with Lord Islington and Major Robinson, Queensland's Agent-

General, and how that bis Majesty left his bedroom to receive those gentlemen in the audience- chamber. When he returned to his private apartments after that audience tho King had fresh fits of coughing, and it was from that timo his illness took a rapid turn for tho .worse. For two or thrco years King Edward's health was on the wane, slowly and almost imperceptibly, but his reserve of strength gradually gave out, so that he was unable to stand tho shock of serious illness, as in tho days when ho recovered from an operation for appendicitis in 1902. There was a thickening of tho palate and of tho throat through over-smoking, and tho lung cells lost their normal .elasticity, while attacks of bronchial catarrh wore not infrequent. Tho past winter was rather trying to tho King, and as Biarritz always did him much good ho started for that place on March 7. Ho broke tho journey at Paris, where ho had a severo attack of indigestion and shortness of breath. A Chill Contracted. When he reached Biarritz it was clear that he had contracted a chill, which developed into bronchitis. Then his temperature increased, and difficult respiration and lung troubles-, occasioned iin small anxiety. For ten days he was confined to his room, and mostly to his bed. The later weeks of his stay at Biarritz were weeks ol recovery, during which he made many motor excursions, and-took active walks, as he always had done at Biarritz. . He bore the journey home well, and at once took up the thread of his full active life on April 27. On Saturday, April 30, lie went to Sandriugham, where he desired to see improvements in tho garden and grounds, . the completion of which lie much desired before Queen Alexandra returned. While at Sandriugham ho went to the village church on the Sunday morning. After that ho spout several hours inspecting new works. On the. following day (Monday of last week) when he returned to London ho felt distinctly out of sorts. He, however, fulfilled a social engagement at a private house in Grosvenor Crescent. Newspaper statements went to show that lie desired to see some ladies who were interested in hospital work. It is understood that his visit was made to Miss Agnes ("Sister"), who is promoter or chief organiser at the institution known as King Edward's Hospital for Officers. On returning to the palace that evening his Majesty was seen by hin physi-. cians, who found him to be feverish, with aggravated symptoms of bronchitis. He passed a 'disturbed night, but was better oh Tuesday morning, May 3.' . Physicians' Advice Unheeded. . Contrary to t\xe -uvftent desire ol Vis physicians, he icceivcd a number"" of official visitors, and gavo audience at 7 o'clock that evening. Ho told the medical men that ho felt ill, and he obviously suffered no little from shortness of breath. On Wednesday morning, after a bad night, his Majesty complained of throat irritation, and a specialist who had sceii the King on former occasions examined him and found him to be suffering from throat catarrh. During Wednesday morning his Majesty again gave several important audiences. As tho day advanced he had difficulty in breathing, aud his cough 'told severely on His Majesty's strength. That night one of tho Court physicians remained at the palace. Thursday morning brought no improvement, yet the King persisted in transacting business. ■ and received Lord Islington and Major Robinson, as above described. Tho latter states that the King was very husky, and tho effects of his racking cough and severe cold could be seen plainly. At noon there was a bluish colour of tho skin, due to ineffective heart action. In the later part of the afternoon Queen Alexandra arrived from the Continent. According to one account, she received a telegram at Calais stating that the King was unwell. Tho official medical report states, however, that she was unaware of His Majesty's illness till she reached London, when the first thing she noticed was.that tho King was not present to meet tier, as ho usuallly did when she returned from her travels. Bulletins Issued, It was that (Thursday) night that tho physicians issued their first bulletin, which tho King himself modified before it left the palace. In the early hours of Friday morning His Majesty "had fresh difficulties in his breathing and with his heart, while ho was distressed with his many fits of coughing. Nevertheless, lie transacted business with his private secretary, but throughout the Queen was in almost constant attendance upon him. By noon His Majesty had become extremely ill; and at 3 p.m. consciousness began to_ fail. Ho rapidly got worse as the evening advanced, and consciousness never completely • returned between 6 o'clock and the hour of death. All the members of tho. Royal Ramily not living in the palace were sent for. 'Che Princess of wales, who had teen with Queen Alexandra most of the day, had returned • to Marlborough House. Princess Christian, tho Duchess of Fife, the Duchess of Albany, and somo of the Teck family; in fact, all tho family who were not abroad, were present in the death chamber when his .Majesty passed away. Describing, the final scene in his sermon at a special service in St. Paul's on tho following day, the Bishop of London said: "Nothing could havo been more Christian than the passing of tho late King. He who had faced death already twice, faced it for the third timo. unflinchingly. The quiet family gathering round.the bedside, tho last prayer said by tho Archbishop one minute beforo the King died, the blessing pronounced when all was over, tho simple and clear and genuine reliance on Divine help ex? pressed both by the late and tho present King, were all acknowledgements that there is indeed a blessed and only Potentate aud King of Kings." The medical men issued their last bulletin announcing the end at 11.50 p.m. This fixed the hour of death at 11.15 p.m., and that same hour was repeated in the Court circular and in tho new King's • message to the Lord Mayor of London. The public outside the palaco were awaro that the King's plight was very bad, but were quite unprepared for such a sudden termination of Royal life. Everybody expected that the King's wonderful constitution would support him for at least a few days. Hence there wero' not even any preliminary rumours of death. • The One Great Luxury. The King's one- great luxury was smoking. He got through an incrediblo number of cigars daily.- Ho always had one brand for his own use, which was specially supplied to him from Havana. Owing to' his smoking habit ho contracted what is known as smoker's throat, which added to the complications of his last -illness. Like all tho Hanoverians, the late King was t a good trencherman. Though his demise was apparently sudden, and certainly unexpected, those around him had observed that he was not so healthy as ho used to be, and his throat attacks, complicated with occasional bouts of Droncljitis, lessened -his vitality. The chill and bronchitis at Biarritz last, March gave him a severe shaking on that occasion; and during his last illness the King was nursed by Miss Fletcher, the same lady who nursed him through his appendicitis, trouble.. The official report of the King's physician incidentally stated that long before going to Biarritz the King underwent a vaccination treatment to secure him for some time from catarrhal attacks. This statement has puzzled ninny persons. The vaccino was {he.new form of treatment discovered by Drs. Lathom and Ilnrold Spitta, of St. George's Hospital. There was no inoculation in the King's case. A culture was prepared from tho patient's mouth, and his Majesty took a wineglass of milk with a small quantity of the microbe once a week. It was so successful that there was no bronchitis | or other derangement of health for fifteen , months.