DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, Sept. 14.
To the Secretary of the Navy:
Out of respect to the memory of the President, the executive departments will be closed to-day and on the day of the funeral.
JOHN HAY.
A similar order was communicated to all the heads and acting heads of the executive departments in Washington by government telegraph. They in turn issued the necessary orders for the closing of their respective departments, not only in Washington, but throughout the country. In a short time the large buildings were deserted, except by a few clerks detailed to aid their chiefs in the promulgation of necessary orders.
In addition to issuing the order closing the Navy Department, Acting Secretary Hackett dispatched the following order to every commander-in-chief, to every navy yard, and to every United States ship, stating simply:
It is with profound sorrow that the department announces to you the death of President McKinley at 2:15, September 14.
The Acting Secretary also issued the following order to the naval branch of the United States:
[SPECIAL ORDER No. 12.]
NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, Sept. 14, 1901.