MRS. ULYSSES S. GRANT LOOKS UPON THE BODY

At 2 o'clock today the doors to the room where General Grant died and where the body has since lain were opened wide for the first time in more than a week. They were not closed again for three hours. Probably 300 persons saw the body. Those who saw it for the first time were disappointed. Its appearance was not what they had been led to expect. The fault was not with their eyes; it was with the inefficiency of the embalmers work. Dark spots had appeared under the eyes, and there was discoloration on the forehead. The face had taken a darker hue. Its peaceful expression was disturbed. The fullness of the outline showed relapse. There was nothing gaunt about the face, but was grim. Even the family seemed to notice that it was growing pinched.

The lips had become discolored. the guard of last night who saw it then thought that it had been pleasing. Whether or not inclosure in the coffin away from changed changed it overnight or whether the change was a work of nature have been sadly asked by many today. Guards stood at the front of the porch all morning. People streamed through. The ring on the General's hand showed plainly. It is one Mrs. Grant gave him years ago and which he cherished. His sickness so emaciated him that the ring would not stay on. He carried it in a wallet the last months of his sickness. A packet of paper was put in his pocket last night before the glass was fitted over the coffin. the fact was current gossip. Few believed it because it came from a questionable source. Colonel Grant supposed himself alone in the room when the incident happened. It was meant to be purely a private matter. The person that saw what was done placed his eye where it had no business to be, and then was so unmindful about the propriety of it that he tattled about it.

The packet was placed in the General's pocket at Mrs. Grant's request. It contained a lock of her hair, and a good-bye note from her, the tributes of wifely devotion that concerned no one outside the family. Mrs. Grant's note acknowledged the receipt of the letter for her which was found in the General's pocket after death and which she regarded as a message from the grave, and contained in closing these words: "Farewell, until I meet you in another world." The little act of affection was made gossip by the peering of a person who was there as a menial and had no connection with the household.

Mrs. Grant visited the parlor in the morning. It was the first time she has been out of her room or downstairs in a week. A little before 10 o'clock, Harrison entered and said that the Colonel and Mrs. Grant were coming. Presently the widow entered the parlor on the arm of her son. She wore a mourning dress. On seeing the guard she stopped an instant. The colonel asked him to open the coffin. Then he led his mother back into the dining room. When the section was removed from the head of the coffin, the guard informed the Colonel and withdrew at once to the porch. The glass top still remained over the body. Mrs. Grant and the Colonel entered the room alone. The rest of the family were upstairs. No one was nearer to them than the guard on the porch.

The sound of Mrs. Grant's sobbing touched all those who heard it. There was no intrusion upon the sacred scene. It lasted less than ten minutes. She went to her room at once when it was over, and when the immediate outburst of grief was over, she found comfort in her devotions, which occupied her the rest of the day. Colonel Grant led his wife to the coffin after his mother had gone upstairs. Then the guard replaced the lid, which was not again opened until the visitors arrived. From morning until night the scenes at the coffin were quiet. Mrs. Grant sustained herself well. None of the rest of the family except those mentioned looked upon the body. The visitors were decorous. If there were relic seekers among them they restrained their propensities. The guards had been cautioned against such types. It is doubtful in view of the appearance of the body and the desire of the family for seclusion that the body will be exposed again to visitors until after Sunday.