Was Sent to Buffalo Early Sunday Morning

Casket in Which the President’s Remains Are to Be Buried Was Made in Rochester.

     At an early hour yesterday morning the richly embellished casket in which the remains of William McKinley, the martyred chief of the nation, will be borne to their last resting place among the people he loved so well, his fellow townsmen of Canton, O., was driven from the National Casket Company’s factory at the corner of Court and Exchange streets and placed in the car at the New York Central station which transported it to Buffalo.
     All through the night the busy tap, tap of the casket makers, a party of twelve expert workmen, had molded into form the receptacle of the president’s remains. It was a special piece of work and one that required the utmost tension of the skill of the tried workmen. Each went to his separate and special part of the work, the fitting process for the component pieces of the case, the arrangement of the pieces and the final rounding into form by way of decoration, at 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon.
     The incentive to all this busy preparation was given at that hour by Benjamin E. Chase, treasurer of the company, who went to Buffalo Saturday morning at the request of the McKinley family. He went to the Buffalo branch of the company and had been seated but a few moments when Senator Mark Hanna, who seems to have taken the burden of arranging the details for the funeral, drove up and together, he and Mr. Chase, agreed on the makeup of the casket.
     Mr. Chase at once communicated with the factory in Rochester by telephone and work on the casket was begun. He returned later in the day and gave his personal supervision to the finishing details. The finished casket is the finest piece of constructive workmanship within the scope of the company’s workmen. A report has gained credence in Syracuse and Utica, and has been published in the papers of those cities, to the effect that an Oneida firm was to furnish the casket for the president’s remains. This was incorrect.
     The magnificent receptacle for the president’s remains is known as a state casket. It has a red cedar shell, a wood whose durability is the greatest, has an oval cut top and ornamental cloth-covered corners and moldings. The case is lined with cream satin tufted lining. Fitting the lining is the inside solid copper lining overlaid with glass which will be hermetically sealed and make possible the preservation of the body for many years after it is laid away. Patent attachments will firmly screw the rubber edges of the copper lining into place. At the head of the casket is a cream satin tufted pillow that has been shaped to conform to the president’s head. The exterior of the casket is covered with the finest quality of plain black broadcloth. On the edges are beautiful scroll work designs.
     Everything necessary in the construction of the casket except the attachment of the handles and the silver plate, with the customary inscription, was performed at the Rochester factory. The casket weighs nearly 700 pounds. It is six feet in length, twenty-two inches wide and eighteen inches deep. The cost has not yet been estimated. Cost was not considered in its design and construction, but it requires a large sum to manufacture it.
     It will have a long journey. When it arrived in Buffalo yesterday morning it was taken to the undertaking establishment of Drouillard & Koch, who have had charge of the remains of the president. The body, which had been embalmed, was placed in the casket and taken to the city hall, where it lay in state yesterday afternoon for the inspection of the populace.
     The second stage of the casket’s journeying is to be taken up this morning at 7 o’clock, when the remains will be taken from Buffalo to Washington in charge of Mr. Drouillard, who will take care of the body until it is sent on to Canton. The casket is inclosed [sic] in a red cedar case which will hide it from view during the journeying.