Japan in Mourning

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10711, 16 September 1912, Page 5

Japan in Mourning

j (Received September .14, 9.50 a.m.) TOXfO. Septemoer 13. The funeral ceremonies Lave opened. There are enormous crowds. The Emperor has decreed an am nesty, and granted a million yen two hundred thousand (£11,606) to Korea. FLAGS ON BRITISH WARSHIPS . AT HALF-MAST. (Received September 14, 9.25 a.m.) LONDON, September 13. Flags on British warships are at half-mast on the occasion of the late Emperor of Japan's funeral. A NOBLE CEREMONY. (Received Last Night 5.5 o'clock.) TOKIO, September 13. Foreign sailorg participated in tlu procession, which was a mile in length Tho Hall of Aoyaina accommodated 10,000 6oldiers, sailors and civilians. The new Emperor wore the uniform of a General. Prince Arthur of Connaught, Prince Henry of Prussia and other Envoy? occupied prominent positions in the Hall.

The Empress Dowager, the Empress and Court Ladies wore hemp cloths. The coffin, which consisted of several inner and outer caskets, measured ten feet by five, weighing a ton and a half. It was covered with cloth. The car wheels emitted seven, melancholy sounds as"it revolved. When the coffin was placed on tho car, the Imperial sword was laid at tho head, and the torches lit. THE ROYAL GUARD. The military guard consisted -.f 25,000 men, and the naval guard •■■f 10,000. There were many attendants bearing white and yellow banners, bows and arrows, shields and halberds. The musicians were playing on ancient instruments. The torch-bearers numbered 800. MAGNIFICENT DECORATIONS. The decorations on the streets cost £25,000. Going through the grounds the procession pa-sod between giant mourning trees, hung with black and white streamers, with torches between, and arc lights every sixty feet. A CITY IN MOURNTNC-! The Venetian masts were swathed in black and yellow, and every holism displayed mourning. Lanterns wero distributed "to the poorest. .D The pall bearers included GenenU Koroki, Oku and Togo, Count Saito, and Admiral Jjuin. The fact that Baron Katsura rode in the same carriage as the Emperor was much commented upon. A STRIKING SCENE.

The most striking moment in the ceremony was when the Emperor knelt down alono and prayed silently, and then read an address of lamentation. The Empress next advanced and offered a prayer. The Princes and Princesses paid their respects, a'ncl long patriotic addresses were read. Tlie notabilities and their wives paid homage successively. The Imperial personages then re tired. The squadron in Tokio Bay sainted. Tho official pecry and other notables met the train, on its. arrival, at the Imperial' Estate, a't Momovama. AN IMPOSING PROCESSION. The car drawn bv five oxen carried tlie Mikado's coffin from the Palace to Aoyamma. A parade 'was held on the ground in the evening by hundreds of retainers, bearing ancient symbols. The streets were ablaze with funeral torches and lanterns. In the presence of a dense, silent crowd, and 500 British bluejackets, the Empress with dishevelled, hair, saluted the car. THE SUPREME MOMENT. The service culminated at midnight, with the Emperor's lamentation and the Empress Imperial paying homage to the dead. A gun announced the supremto moment to the nation, all work being suspended. Three minutes' later the coffin wis entrained for Kvoti.

SUICIDE OF GENERAL NOCI. SUPREME ACT OTT DEVOTION. General Nogi, who occupied a modest home at Akasaki, cut his thront with a short sword. His wife similarly stabbed herself in the stomach at tho moment the gun was fired. General Nogi yesterday had himself photographed together with hiss

FUNERAL OF THE LATE EMPEROR IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CERt?<l3Ni£i r SUICiftK OF GENERAL JS OG.I AND HIS A\ll'E. SUPREME ACT OF DEVOTION.

wife. H c attended the ceremony at tho Palace and viewed the. coffin lying in state. He afterwards wrote letters, on'e being forwarded to Prince Arthur of Connaught, particularly aoologising for his countrymen m regard to suicide which ho characterised as a magnificent act devotion. Both were dressed in full Japanese dress.

They drank a farewell draught of wir.o from cups presented by the Emperor, whose draped portrait hung on the wall. A letter addressed to the Emperor was found beside tho bodies. A student who resided witli General Nogi found them both breathing their last. A DEEP SENSATION. Everywhere there is the deepest sensation and profoundept grief. " (General Count Ivi-Ten Nogi was born in 1849. He served in the Satsama Rebillion, in which he was twice severely wounded. He also saw action in the Chino-Japanese War, and commanded the 3rd Army in the Russo-Japanese War. He captured Port Arthur, and was the only i Choshu General in command during the war. He was created a Barorr in 1895.) 1 . .