Forbids Drapery of Buildings

Law Passed by Congress in 1893 Prohibits Custom in Event of Death of Official.

     Washington, D. C., Sept. 13.—[Special.]—None of the public buildings will be draped in mourning for President McKinley as they were for Presidents Lincoln and Garfield. On March 3, 1893, the day before President Harrison was succeeded by President Cleveland, Congress enacted the following law, approved by the President on the date given.
     “That hereafter no building owned or used for public purposes by the Government of the United States shall be draped in mourning, and no part of the public fund shall be used for such purpose.”
     This law was enacted in consequence of the frequent draping of public buildings on account of the deaths of former Cabinet officers. Congress decided to apply it to the cases of officials who died in office as well as those whose terms had expired.