Daily Los Angeles herald., 1882-06-14
Views of a Fifth Avenue Sexton.
New York Tribune.l

/ New York Tribune.
The sexton of fashionable church in
Fifth avenue said the other day in speak
ing of his business: eve consider
ourselves on little higher footing than
the undertakers who have stores. We
do the cream of the business, while they
get the tenement houses and a good deal
of the riff-raff. My own funerals gen.
orally run from $500 to $500, and in
some cases as high as $1,000. l have
few bad debts; you people don't want to
dispute about funerals of their friends.
But then | often have to wait long
time for my money. If man leaves
an estate we can't get our money for a
year, till the lawyers settle it. And tnen
they come to us with our bill and tell us
that we must take off fifteen or twenty
per cent. Do we do so? Certainly
But" with a wink ''we know enough
to put on that much extra when we first
send in our bill. My fees for opening the
church in the week are from $40 to S25.
Of course at weddings we generally get
more even than that, though l could
tell you of some very swell affairs
where the sexton got hardly anything
for his trouble. By the way, they have
got an ingenious device for avoiding
paying the sexton in churches where
there is daily service, by coming in
after one of the services and having the
knot tied. Those are cheap rackets.
The flower business is getting played
out at funerals, People got disgusted at
the extravaganza. Now it is considered
proper for the intimate friends only to
send few simple floral designs. had
the funeral of a prominent man not
long ago, and all the flowers at his
funeral could not have cost more than
$50. OF course it's good for our busi-
ness; but | don't mind saying to you
that families go to great and unneces-
sary expense in funerals. What's the
use of buying high priced casket just
to be seen for few hours? And then
look at the coaches that people will per-
sist in hiring for lot of deadheads to
ride in who don't care rush for the
deceased. In my opinion there ought
to be some reforms in this respect. An
other thing l am free to say that many
no, | will say some-of the sections
of our city churches are rude and un-
civil. You notice it at church, and
even at funerals which they are hired to
This is objectionable The
sexton should be man OF feeling; at all
events, courteous and polite in manner.
| don't mean to say that he is to appear
at funerals with professional tears in his
eyes. Any sort of sham grief is detesta-
BILE. But when he comes into the house
of mourning he should at least observe
the proprieties of the occasion, and re-
frain from doing anything that will jar
on the feelings. | once attended fu-
neral in a country house, where the sex
ton pronounced III stentorian tones, Just |
before the clergyman began: '1f the
friends of the corpse want good seats |
they had better hurry up and take them |
before Dominic Smith begins the exer-
,ises. You would think he was shout |
ng for Bowery museum. And such |
exhibitions of coarseness are not always |
confined to the country places, either.
our business is a responsible |
one; for we are admitted more or less to |
the inner secrets of the family"