New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-05-22
ABOUT UNDERWRITERS.

every week. and vet this fact attracts compare
tvelg little interest except among the friends OF
the dead ard the undeitakers. The rest of the
great cty goes on with its loves and its hates, It's
lows and its sorrows, unmlndiul OF the lact tntt
scores of funeral professions wend thclr way e'c"
dav over its ferries to some OF the supnfoah ccho
,orios And not only does the world III general
,'rsne it, bns,ness without regard to death, but
even death itself has built up large ana Important
business The taking under Ol these OouIeS W
their final Iestng-place, mother earIl, mas E;iru
into being the undertakes" ana Kindred caliihss
The undertaken might with some justice say lhdi'
while he has by means been lelt out oil literature
his virtues have not been duly recoghIIeu tHsLon
The undertaken OF the novel Is generally either u
sleek-lookng Chadband- sort OF person. win solt
voice and cat-hke tread, or second eulllo'i Vi
Mark Taplev whose chief pastime Is to hum me
last comic song he nails up the cOtnn. thuouDU
edlv both FIXTURES are carlcatures. UndertakeIs
are very much like other peOple-made MP OF EoOh'
bad and Indifferent Their connection WIN tne
churches as sections recalls the fact that III the carry
Christian Church they were known as cOPtdtp OF
fossidrii and belonged to the clergy. being counted
among the minor orders This historical tact may
serve to console the undcrtaker oil to-uay lor tno
satire OF Thackeray or Dickens.
DUTIES OF TIE stXTCS.
Tn This country the undertaken combines func-
tions which IN England belong to different persons
lie is the sexton and usher OF the church oIllces
vergers, and "A class of people known as pew
openers There no offices here analogous 10 inc
parish clerk and the beadle with his gandy UNI
form and pompous ways. But the American sexton
may be regarded filling these Offices also III so ar
as he is the executive officer, on actVe duty while
the clergyman is handicapped by the service from
seeing to things himself And VOC he TO the small
boy who is luckess enough 10 disturb the meeting
when he is around. 1t Is also SAID that ne holds
quasi-otical position IN many Guy EPIscopti
churches in which there daily services. by act
ing as chief and only responder on DAYS wneh dnly
or bad weather keeps The few habltual attendants
from going to service. 1t Is customary to imagine
IL. no he
large city churches not IT, speak oil the TACT tnaI
there NAV he half dozen bells, the sexton Is much
too important man to DO sucn inenlal Work,
While the chimes ringing their invitation TO
Worship he may he seen IN the Vestlbule OF the
church ready to usher in strangers. Ana IN dong
so he shows n facility in estimating the worship
pcr's worldly worth and position that does honor TO
his head if not his heart. see MN a. MIS- MllIohS
the dashing young widow from the Avenue. con es
in how eagerly ne meets her. how gracefully he
hows to her as he leads her to the best pew IN the
chnrch-that Of the De Smiths, VINO are IN florlda
Tor the winter. Perhaps Mrs. Millions has grown
tired of the Church of the Earthly CohIlct, anu
like the wcaried qneen-bee. has luttercd here to
rest and that means not only more money III me
Golfers of the church. but = ,OoO funeral Tor tne
undertaken in case of her death. SO why sh0ud
she not nave the best seat IN the church, ms
Is one picture. The other is that Of poor woman
in shabby garments, evidently from the tenement
house districts, who with a scared look ASKS the
great man for a seat. 4" All full to-day, ma am !;
but we've got a CHAPEL in Avcnue-D where tho
seats are all Tree. You had better 90 mere ENl-
IDENTIFY 80 funeral is not much OF an object To
this undertaken.
The social duties of the undertaken who is also
sex ton are in their way very important. Everyone
in New York knew the late Nh. Brown. of Grace
Church and what an autocratc power he welded
IN the world where weddings anal receptions are
regarded rs the chief end of man and woman. NO
body but Brown could give such affairs the rcqni
SITE tone" But though he is gone The mantle of
his inspiration seems to have fallen on other
shoulders. There is no necessary man IN the word.
4 FIFTH-AvE VIEW
.o..o,, &C n al, la church Fifth-avp
said the other day IN speaking of his business: We
consider ourselves on Il little higher tootug than
the uudertakers who have stores. we do the
cream of tie business. while they GET the tenement
house bus ness and a great deal OF the rIfrait MY
own funerals generally run from $500 to 5000. ana
in some eases as high rs > 900. | have few bad
debts: Won see people don't want to dispute abont
the funerals of their friends But then / often
have to wait a long time for my money. ii man
leaves an estate, can't get our money for year,
till the lawyers settle IT, Aud then they come to
ms with on bill and tell us that we must take on
10 or 20 per cent. DO we do $50 I Certainly. Bnt,
with a wink /" we know enongh To put on tiat
much extra when first send IN onr hlllS. My
fees for opening the church III the week are from
$40 to 5,25. OF course at weddings we generally
Get more ven than that, though could tell yon os
some very swell affairs where the sexton got hardly
ANYTHING for his trouble. By the way, they nave
got an ingenious device Tor avoiding pay ing the
sexton i'm churches where there rs daily service.
by coming in after one Of the services. and having
the knot tied. Those are the cheap rackctS J ne
flower business is getting played out AT funerals.
People got Disguised AT the extravaganza. Now II
is considered proper for the intimate friends only To
send a few simple floral designs mad iuneral oil
a prominent man not long ago. and ali he ii"werS
at his funeral would not have cost more than roo
OF course its good for our business; but don't
mind saving to Won that families 60 TO great and
unnecessary expense in funerals. W hat the use OF
buying high priced caSkct just to be seen for lew
hours And then look ut the coaches that people
will persist in hiring for lot OF deadheadS 10 rlde
i'm who didn't care rush for the deceased In my
opinion there ought to be some reform IN tins re-
spect Another thing: | am free TO say that many
no | will say some-Of the sext0ns of our city
churches are rude and uncivi iou notice 1t not
only in church. but even ut funerals which they
are hired 10 conduct. This IS unpardonabe. The
sexton should tc "A man OF feeling; ut al events
Courteous and pote in manner. ! don't mean 10
saw that he is to appear nj funerals with probes
siona tears IN his eyes. Any soft OF sham gIiei Is
drtrsiahe. But when he comes into the house OF
mourning I've should at least observe The proprlrtieS
of the occasion. ana refrain from dong any thing
that will jar Oh the feelings. | once attended "a
funeral in a country house where the sexton pro-
nounccd ~ stcnCrian tones, just before the clergy
man began: II the friends of the corpse want
good seats they had better hurry mp and take them
before Dominic Smith begins the exercises. You
wonld think he was shouting Tor BoWery
museum. And such exhibitions OF coarseneSs are
not always confined to the cogniiy either. Alto
acther ON business is a responsible one; for we are
admitted more or less into the inner secrets OF the
family"
"OnrnopoX UNDERTAKES.
Another undertaken. who keeps a store but is not
q sexton gave slightly different version from the
0bove: Yes we are regular orthodox under
takers: not funklcs hanging by the skirts of the
church We don't 90 INTO the wedding and recep-
ton business simply do - Legitimate undcrtak-
inc business. And we don't put on lancy prices
either NV funerals run from $40 up, according to
tie wishes of the friends 1t is not the fault OF the
undertaken if funeral Is too expensive. The
family should tell hun beforehand how expensive
they want it 10 be- ] have had very cheap
and very expensive funerals. | had one at 5000
not long since another AT 81 ,77J the highest |
ever had was 5000. OF course that includes
everything. The most expensive funeral. rra-
lively that ever had was that of a man who lived
in two little rooms upstairs IN an alleyway on the
west side of the city. He had saved some money
and left directions for his funeral. Ii cost Just
$3.50. oh. there il no accounting for tastes. I'M
dertakng is Overdone in this city. just look at the
figures There are 400 church undortakers. 200
deputies ami 40 regular undertakes. or $50 in