snip I would suspect that it means the funeral procession will be in automobiles not carriages with horses. end snip Why did I not think of that. Now that you explain it should have been quite obvious to me but where I made my mistake was in not imagining how things were done in 1918. Nowadays to see a funeral procession with horses is quite uncommon but it does happen (in Liverpool) on the very odd occasion. Searching further for details of William E Lacy's death I discovered that he was one of the unfortunate people who died during the Spanish Flu pandemic. I was even lucky enough to find his name listed in the following newspaper - Public Ledger, October 15, 1918 under the heading of "All Walks of Life Invaded by Plague. Doctors, Soldiers, Business Men and City Employes (sic) on Death Roll. Toll of Victims Wide" Eileen