BURIED WITH HIS DOG.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 11, 7 July 1911, Page 3

BURIED WITH HIS DOG.

SCENES AT LAFAYETTE'S FUNERAL. Edinburgh, May 13. The ashes of Lafayette, the central I figure in the Edinburgh music-hall fire disaster, were interred in the Piershill Cemetery yesterday. Sympathy with the tragic fate of the victims, combined with the curiosity na'urally excited by a funeral so unusual, attracted an enormous crowd to witness tne funeral procession as it passed along the four-mile route to the cemetery. The procession did not start from the mortuary until after three, but by noon the spectators had started to take up favorable positions. A crowd of some thousands surged around the cemetery gates, and several people fainted in the struggle. The remains had been cremated the previous day in Glasgow, and the oaken urn, enclosed in a brass box, was all that was placed upon the hearse. |

Following the funeral carriage with the urn came seven carriages, containing I many magnificent floral tributes from artists and theatrical societies. One from Harry Houdini, the handcuff expert, was an enormous design of the dog Beauty, made up of thousands of forget-me-nots] and bore the inscription, "In memory of my friend Lafayette, from the friend who gave him his best friend, Beauty." After the carriages with their loads of flowers, came Lafayette's enormous motor car, two of the negro members of the troupe standing on the lugcace carrier. ° -

There was some doubt about a funeral service being conducted at the graveside, as considerable objection was raised to the sacred rites being solemnised ovei a grave wherein rested a dog. These difficulties, however, were surmounted. The graveside ceremony was a short one, and the urn was then placed between the front paws of the <iog, which lay m an oaken coffin.

Lafayette's desire to be buried with his beloved dog was thus carried out in accordance with his instructions. A benefit performance in aid of the sufferers by the fire is to be given at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, next Saturday afternoon.