Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1878-04-25
FUNERAL FLOWERS.

Within few days two funerals have
taken place in New Y 0rk which EN-
phasiZe the tastes and tendencies of
different classes of people in conducting
such ceremonies. The first represented
the last rites paid to the memory of
Mrs. Spencer. wife OF the once famous
circus man, Sylyanns Spencer. For
years she had drealped with pleasure
of the maguiticence OF her obSequies, as
planned by herself. Her casket was
designed and made long before her
DEATH 1t was an exact imitation of
that which contained the mortal re-
mains of A. Il. Stewart. The handles
were of solid silver, and the plate bear
ing her name and aye was of solid gold,
quantity carved. was lined with
purple SILK veiveU, ana the dftping was
of gold bullion fringe. She made it
rule to attend all the costly and mag
niticent funerals that occurred i'll the
city, that she might call the most snowy
feature of each to distinguish her own.
Having noted the tendency to eXtrava-
gance i'll flowers, she determined to
OutdO all who had gone before, and
made provision that she should be
buried in the rarest products of the
hot-house and greenery. More than
81 900 worth of beautiful flowers were
piled about her coffin in church the
altar, the chancel and the caSket were
covered with these tributes purchased
by her orders. When her grave was
closed, the crosses, monuments and
baskets of tuberoseS, callaS, and other
floral gems, were piled mountain high
upon the mound. In her will she lett
most of her money for the purpose of
decorating her resting-place for all
time. Inasmuch as she leaves relatives.
ii is far more probable that her memory
will be perpetuated in the records Of
the Probate Court than in ever-blOom-
ing flowers.
On the day of Mrs. Spencer's funeral
the New York papers contained the
notice of the death of Mrs Robert
bonner, wife OF the widely-known pub
ilsnel " ~ oliF Ledgeer Of that city. Fol
t6"en S Si,nnla my Int - announcement were
I'm accordance IH915icant words:
the deceased, frietds are kindly re-
quested to refrain from sending
flowers"
1t is safe to assume that the obsequieS
were none the less respectful or the
grief of friends less real because of the
above. In wealth, social position. and
all that goes to command attention.
the BonnerS certainly had the advan-
tage of the, e,SpencerS, and unquestionably
could have outdone them in the matter
of floral display That they went to
the other extreme is creditable to them.
and is an example worthy of imitation.
The custom of sending flowers to deck
the bier of a departed friend and ac-
quaintance has been greatly abused of
late years. Originally it was intended
as beautiful token of atfectionate
grief, and, as such, had a sacred mean
ing. But it has been profaned by the
excess to which it has been carried 1t
has grown into bad fashion so fast
that in many communities funerals in
good society have simply become COM
petitive exhibitions of floral offerings.
The social standing of a family is
graded in the vulgar mind by the
number of baskets and bouquets piled
about the casket in which somebody's
darling lies cold and unconscious of the
fact that after ali he S only part of a
competitive display of flowers. This
matter has been car az o. giving wpdding
she sIftt tWin vi iabSnrdit4y Strangers. Both
customs are only abuses of what Origi-
nally were marks of esteem and affec-
tion.
A reform in the floral part of funeral
ceremonies is needed. Abuse has rob-
bed it of its original meaning, and hence
its true value as token of respect and
affection has disappeared. Why should
hollow unmeaning pretense be kept
up in such matters The real grief
that attends the death of almost every
member of the human family is too
sacred for merely Ostentatious display.
Costly coffins, splendid trappings, and
heaps of flowers contain nothing that is
soothing to heart wrung by what
seems, for the time at least, an irrepar-
able loss. Nothing short of a spirit of
barbarism, or what is as bad, the
mandate of chrome civilization, could