Los Angeles daily herald., 1875-07-06
gus Auselss Asrald.
A FUNERAL FEAST.
Among the Pennsylvanis Germans.

by the expense lavished on the funer-
al. The Germans uni rversally con-
slider it the greatest mark of respect
they eau offer to attend the funeral,
and the most pressing business OF the
farm will be suspended for the pur.
pose. In this case, as we approached
the house, for the distance OF one
fourth of mile carriages were hitch
ed as closely as they could stand
along the public roadside, folds were
thrown open, and the interior fences
used for the same purpose. The large
double house, porches, balconies and
grounds were packed with people.
1t being known that my husband was
to be there in an official character, q
way with much difficulty was made
for us into the interior of the house.
Religious services were held In Ger
man and English, and then the body
was conveyed to its last resting place
on the farm. all wealthy families
having private burial grounds. Ac-
cording to q beautiful custom among
the Germans, just before proceeding
to the burial, the corpse was removed
lust outside the threshold, and with
the warm sunshine of heaven once
more resting on the pale face, the
last kiss was given, the last farewell
taken. During the absence at the
graves, the rooms were cleared ana
tables set everywhere, one private
table always appropriated to the I'M
mediate family, they being treated on
the occasion as guests. The other
tables were filled promiscuously by
whoever chose to take seat. AS
soon as anyone had eaten they
vacated their seat, which was imme-
diately filled by some other person,
When seen by attendants a change
of plate was made, but sometimes the
debris of the first eater was just showed
to one side of the plate.
1t was estimated that one thousand
people ate on this occasion. The cell
lar, extending under the house, was
arched overhead and whitewashed,
and in its freshness and cleanliness
looked the very perfection of good
housekeeping. Around it were sus-
pended swinging shelves, and on the
floor tables set forming aisles; these
were all filled with provisions as close
ly as they could be set. In another
part were tubs containing hundreds
of pounds of golden butter prints. In
the kitchen and summer kitchen, al
ways an adjunct of wealthy farmers
establishment, in fire-places hung
huge copper cauldrons, such as are
used for making apple butter, of the
capacity of two barrels, filled with
coffee, and as it was used they were
replenished by the coffee-makers. A
farmers smoke house always contains
a great quantity of choice meat; be-
sides in this case bullock had been
slaughtered and boiled, the day before.
During eating there was a constant
replenishing of the provisions. The
attendants on these occasions are
the wives and daughters of neighbor-
ing farmers, and their services are
gratuitous. The surplus provisions
in this case were given to the poor,
rUau WIUn Well-ulleu baskets.
This might be considered a more
than ordinary funeral, but this is the
style of them. In the case of the
death of the father of this family, who
had been a sort of patriarch among
his people, asked the managers OF
the funeral how much provision they
had made for it. "Well' they said,
"if it had not been for the long spell
of rain and sleet, making the roads
very bad, it would have been big
funeral, so they had only made a
provision for 700 or S00;" and at the
funeral of child of a neighbor, whose
age was about seven years, the baker,
on my inquiry, told me she had made
fxyI Innvac Of hrooI hofah Of
light cake and $50 pies. When fu-
neral takes place in the summer, and
the house is not of sufficient capacity
to hold the tables, the threshing-foor
of the barn is used, or some sheltered
out-of-door place, such as an orchard
or under the shade of trees. The table
furniture for the occasion is either
borrowed from neighbors or hired
from store.
There are several superstitions con-
nected with death and funerals In the
country which are a strange blending
of the ludicrous with the mournful.
One is that if the mother of a family
is dying, the vinegar barrel must be
shaken at the time to prevent the
mother in 1t from dying. Said q
Aioh OhCCt III SOoCi C0lnC5ty W L
was so sorry Mr.. d. was not in the
room when his wife died.u "Where
was hen inquired I, "Oh! in the cell
lar a shakin' the vinegar barrel, but
if he had just told me, would have
done it and let him been in the room
to see her take her last BREATH" We
will charitably hope the object of this
superstition was to divert the husband
from his grief, and not the fear that
his next winters pickles would lack
acidity. Another is that the last
person that goes out of the house at q
funeral, will be the next one to die,
and as the audience begins to thin
you may see people slip very nimbly
out of back or kitchen door to avoid
being that "last one.u What this
arose from I do not know unless
they feared the practical application
of 'deyil take the hindmost. .n-Phila-
delohia Press.