Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/226

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

very first word that indicated a disturbance and squelch the offender on the spot. As a reserve force in case anything should happen, Capt. Reilly had twenty-five men in their rooms at the station-house ready to march on the double quick.

The first of the party who arrived at the house to attend the funeral were three women in deep mourning, an elderly man and two young men. They came about noon. They were Mr. Gould's sisters, Mrs. Northrup and Mrs. Palen, and Mrs. Northrup's daughter and two sons, and Mr. Abraham Gould, Mr. Jay Gould's brother. They came from Philadelphia on an early train, and went direct to the house. The police vigilance to prevent the gathering of any crowd was kept up until 1 o'clock, when Capt. Reilly arrived. He said that people might gather half a dozen deep on the west side curb and above and below the house on the east side, but wide passages must be kept open. Sergeant Kelly and Roundsman Bingham were put on duty on the steps of the Gould house. Dr. Munn talked with them a few moments in the vestibule. He told them they were to question everybody and were not to let anybody pass who did not convince them of his right to enter the house. They were also to keep the steps clear. Five minutes after Capt. Reilly issued his order to let the little crowd gather, every inch of space he had allotted to them was taken. At first it was a crowd composed exclusively of poor people. They were poorly dressed and many of them looked poorly fed. Curiosity