LONDON — With the guns of Nelson's old flagship Victory booming forth a farewell salute of nineteen guns, the body of Mr. Whitelaw Reid, American Ambassador to the Court of St. James', resting in a coffin covered by the Stars and Stripes in the "chapelle ardente" on H.M.S. Natal, left these shores yesterday [Dec. 21] afternoon for his native land.
Soon after five o'clock in the afternoon, the Presidential train reached Cherbourg from Paris and the firing of the salute of 101 guns at once began in the forts.
The salute of 21 guns began and as the vibration of the last one ceased the crowd cried: "The torch!" At the east end of the stadium one saw an athlete in white holding aloft the torch.
They no doubt cheered when researchers noted the Dec. 2 anniversary of the bronze statue, whose completion was celebrated with a salute of 35 guns being fired at the 12 forts surrounding Washington during the Civil War.
Today, the national salute of 21 guns is fired in honor of a national flag, the sovereign or chief of state of a foreign nation, a member of a reigning royal family, and the president, ex-president and president-elect of the United States.
Royal births are usually celebrated with a royal salute of 41 guns and with an official notice attached to the railings of Buckingham Palace, but the news is also likely to be officially posted on the monarchy's websites, on Facebook and Twitter accounts.
An Imperial salute of thirty-one guns was fired simultaneously by the four battleships.
1936 41-Gun Salute in London A royal salute of forty-one guns was fired at Buckingham Palace this noon in honor of the forty-first birthday of George VI.
All but four of her 47 mm Hotchkiss guns were removed before she was completed and the remaining guns were used as saluting guns.
Her masts and fighting tops were replaced by pole masts and all of her light guns and torpedo tubes were removed with the exception of two 47-millimetre guns retained for use as saluting guns.
The ship also had six 20-pounder Armstrong guns for use as saluting guns.
