Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-08-21


with his grsvest demeanor into a Second
street unjertaker's shop.
Yes" he replied, in the CHEEKY Kramer
usual with his profession; that long, slim
fellow over there would suit you. Ii is not
in the latest fashion, but In put it down
low, beiu' a. IFS you"
"fhen there is a ia shion In collins as well
as in everything elss?"
'fOh. YES. II does not change SO often,
still the style is never the same for any great
length OF time. The plaiD, black walnut
you know the regulation shspe-used to be
all the rage, but the latest agony ia made
with the ends oval, the hesd a little larger
than the foot and rspering gradually down.
Nearly half the lid is OF glass, 80 placed as
TO show YOU like ihis"-added the underta-
ker, making an imaginative, but
HORRIBLY SUGGESTIVE CIRCLE
with his haDds about the reporters face.
"Wnst kind Of coffins sre mostly used?"
"Poplar, stained to initiate walnut. For q
great many years nothing was used except
walout, and all our calls now when cbesp
coffins are wanted sre for walnut, when really
the stained wood is mean. IT ia much
cheaper, and We sell ten poplar collins to
one m ade Of walnut. A great many of the
outer boxes are now made of cedar, which is
more lasting thSn anything else, but this is
only when the finer cofins are used. The
metallic is the ~cosiliest of al, The price rang
ing from SIS to $3.50, but they are very
heavy, and the first question asked by one
requested TO act az a pall-bearer is if the
cofin is metallic Some persons have 70 great
a horror of them that they leave special In
structions that their remains snall be placed
in a wooden casket. l knew OF one old fe'-
low who was a little eccentric, and who de-
termined 10 have a coffin made according to
| HE oUn AirartI0n He InafFuPtAd a darkv
who worked for him to go to the undergrad
and get the hardest and most durable wood
he could find. He returned with a number of
"FAT PIN PLANKs
but had no sooner delivered his load than be
was pounced upon and kicked half way across
the street by the old man, who explained TO
his friends that the id darby wanted him
TO burn before he got within half a mile of
h-l.' But the d.Tky was right, 30 far as
| durability is concerusd. Yet we never have
orders for pine cofius from people who are
able 10 pay for anything e'se. A Gotta is
sold plain, ard trimmings are pat on accord
ing to order, the prIcs depending upon the
style Of the handles and plate. There are
some queer fancies in this regard. One cus-
toner wanted a skull and crossbones carved
on the plate of his wife's coffin, AID another
wanted two or three verses of doggerel en-
graved. Some have a queer fancy rs 10 the
manner in which the boiy shall be inferred,
preferriDg to have i. lie dir, city esst and
west or north and south. Arrangements are
nearly always made by a ~neighbor, h5wever."
"Apd the fashion in plumes?"
sit has undergone a great many changer,
and really very little is now said about them.
1t creates no remark for a hesrse to 60 out
WITHOUT pLUMEs.
The old habit of pure white for young per-
sons, white ard black for middle aged, and
black for old people is nos greatly disre-
garded, in Memphis at least"
"How about the horses?"
THAT, too, is often q matter OF indiffer-
euce. Sometimes we are asked for gray
horses. and Others for black, and a few even
go 30 far as TO ask for four horses. This dis
position for display is rare, however. A GET
tlemsn came in once, and taking me ABIDE
after all the other arrangements were made,
said a pressure had been brought 10 bear on
him for four horses. 81 don's like it," be
said; "1'm afraid l will make myself too
conspicuous, and people will accuse me of
being Too fon Of display. But the friends
and acquaintance OF my late wife insist
upon il, and though it in much against my
will / feel / mus, conseni." So he made ar
engagements for four horses. A request for
six horses is phenomenal. / do not 10 Re.
member one. In the matter OF furnishing
conveyance, a different custom prevails in
diff rent places and among different people.
In Memphis, with The natives 1t is usual for
the relatives Of the deceased
ITO mi CARRIAGES
at their own expense. With the foreigners
here, however, the rule is for each attendant
TO furnish his W conveyance. OF course,
there are numerous exceptions.
"We have some queer customers. A man
came in the other day who wanted to make
arrangements for The burial Of his baby.
How do you manage about these thinge?' be
asked. / inquired what things he mean,
and be answered, 'Oh, about this burying
business. How do you fix about the lot and
g~rave-digger, aud the other necessaries% He
was not cold -blooded, but simply ignorant.
l told him would arrange everything for
him, and he went out, but came back pres-
emily and asked me 10 take a pot OF pretty
flowers out too, that he was 80 worried he
knew he would forget it. A lady came here
from New York not along ago TO have her
brother buried, and when l asked her if she
wanted a metallic case. she replied, 90, no,
Just a plain wooden cofin. What's the use;
he is dead; it is useless extravaganza and
when it came to selecting a lot, shs asked
which was the chespest place. l suggf sted
the potter's-6eld, but she said no, she did not
ucclfct Ii bOOy VI LuSTc-bOtt udl II
"MADE n DIFFERENCE,
but she believed she would rather not. Peo-
pie might talk. She believed that when he
was dead that was the last of him, and it
made little difference about what became OF
the body"
"Do many Of those who die express, before
expiring, their desire to be kept any length
of lime"
"Yes, it is not unfrequent, esp -cially
among the negroes. They express a fesr that
they will be buried alive"
as there any ~favorite hour for funeral-?"
"Not definitely, though nearly all burials
are made in the evening. While l think Of
it, / might tell you of something that struck
me very forcibly at the time. Two yolng
men came one day in 1878 and ordered a
cofhn for their mother. A few days after
ward they came and made arrangements for
q sister, then an aunt, then another sister,
and finally one came alone and asked me If 1
remembered his compsnion. l said l did,
and he told me he was dead. Then l missed
the last one, and upon inquiry found that
"HE, TOO, WAS DEAD,
AMI had b9en buried as a pauper l knew
another young man who told me one day be
thought his grandmother would die, and said
he would call in the evening and arrange
for the funeral. / did rot zee him agsin
until 1 was called to bury him. The mes
senger said an order on me from the teller OF
| one of the banks for a burial had been found
on hif person, and wanted to know if L
would accept it. l buried the young man,
and when 1 presented it learned it bad been
given for the grandmother, who, however,
had recovered"
"Do you never fear that some day you
business will become one Of the lost SIS we'll
az dead professions"
"You mean by cremation? Well, l tell
you there wss never a stronger feeling in
favor of anything thar there is of
CREMATION.
Its advocates are growing in number daily.
l have been surprised when talking with men
who / had no idea entertained such notions,
to hear them declare openly 10 favor Of it
and give good reasons-mainly that it is q
good sanitary measure. Or some one will
say, perhaps with more real feeling than he
means to show, The old boy won't have such
an easy time burning me then. PHI have the
job done for him when my relatives can
stand by"
A gentleman said yesterday he thought it
was by far the most poetic mode. Nothing
could be grander in its way Than the awful
funeral pyre of the ancient Romans. And
sshes preserved in 8 lovely vase were better
than ones bsoy Wondering in the ground.
uuynn nnxu.