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Perhaps of all the marks of reverence
and regret which signalized the observance of the day the most impressive
was the general cessation of activity of every kind at the hour
fixed for laying the dead statesman’s remains in the vault at West
Lawn Cemetery. At that hour the street cars and elevated trains
stopped wherever they happened to be, the wheels of vessels on the
rivers and lakes ceased to revolve, and even the telegraph ceased
to send its messages over a million and a quarter miles of wire
for the space of five minutes, while the bared heads and hushed
voices of the people in the streets bore tribute to their respect
and sorrow. “’Twas as the general pulse of life stood still and
nature made a pause.” At times in the past conveyances and armies
have paused for such a purpose, but this occasion appears to have
been the first on which the telegraph itself ceased to flash its
messages from point to point. Taken altogether, the observances
on Thursday were absolutely without parallel in history.
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