Tokio In Suspense Awaits Ruler's End.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 27, 1912:
Profound Hush Falls on the Capital with the Realization That Mikado's Death Is Very Near.
LITTLE HOPE IN BULLETINS
Thousands Gather About the Palace, Some Praying, Some Silent, and All Showing Profound Grief.
    TOKIO, Saturday, July 27.— After twenty-four hours of great anxiety at the palace and extreme public tension in the face of the impending death or the Emperor, morning came with the ruler still alive. That the end is near is thought certain, but the statements from the attending physicians have been generally brief and unsatisfactory.
    The noon bulletin issued to-day, however, showed a slight change for the better. It read:
    After a period of restlessness earlier in the day, his Majesty is resting easy. His temperature taken at 9 o'clock this morning was 98.7, pulse 100, and respiration easy. The general condition of the patient is somewhat improved.
    Earlier this morning the attending physicians declared the critical stage in the Emperor's illness was gradually increasing. The 8:30 A.M. bulletin said that His Majesty's temperature was 100.5, pulse 100, and respiration 28.
    At that hour a minister of the household said that artificial methods to prolong the life of the Emperor were being continued and that an injection of salt solution would be tried during the day.
    The suspense in the capital was intense all day yesterday and far into the evening. A remarkable hush prevailed over the city. Even during the busiest hours of the day almost the only sound heard was the occasional cry of newspaper boys selling extra editions. Outside the palace in the extreme heat of mid-day a patient crowd waited with bowed heads for news of his Majesty's condition.
    Prince Aritomo Yamagata, President of the Privy Council; Marquis Kiumochi Saionji, the Premier, and Count Chiaki Watanabe, Minister of the Imperial Household, held a conference in the morning, during which they made preparations for eventualities. The Crown Prince, after a long stay in the imperial sickroom, returned to his residence soon after noon.
    The regular bulletin issued at noon showed that the condition of the Emperor had become worse. It was plainly evident that his Majesty was thought to have reached a condition of extreme gravity and that the physicians were doing their utmost to sustain the remaining feeble spark of life.
    The nature of his Majesty's malady, which is indicated as acute nephritis, complicated by uremic poisoning, and which began to cause serious alarm a week ago, prevented the imperial patient taking sufficient nourishment, and he was constantly growing Weaker.
    The bulletins had hitherto maintained a hopeful tone, and it was hoped that his Majesty would rally again, but instead he appeared to have suffered a relapse, and it was feared that his heart could not stand the strain.
    A bulletin issued at 8 o'clock in the evening contained merely the words, "No change." This only served to increase the feeling of anxiety.
    At 10 o'clock at night the great park outside the entrances to the palace grounds presented a remarkable scene. Thousands of people were gathered under the dwarf pine trees, some of them silent, many praying, and all showing sorrowful anxiety.
    Among the upper branches of the magnificent pine trees surrounding the palace, high above the outer park, several paper lanterns, showing recognition of the homage of the multitude, occasionally swung, as if showing that the vital spark still lingered and conveying a message of hope to the people.