Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-11-13


The business oil manufacturing
wooden cofiips has fully kept pace with
the advances in other departments of
Woodworking. Yours ago every noigi-
borhood and village had its local un-
dertaker. who kept q small stock of
coffin stuff. and made collins for his
customers when ordered. As gener-
nj rulc in this country tho best collins
were made of black walnut, finished on
the outside simply with beeswax and q
hot sadiron. The cheapest coliinl was
made of pine, poplar, and other light
wood, with fiat tops, andmeroly stained
black. An undortakarwh could make
neat walnut coffin with raised lid
was considered boss workman.
During the war the demand for cof-
fins placed the business of their inanu-
facture in the hands of contractors,
who erected factories and equipped
them with special machinery. The bus
mess was found SO profitable that tho
factories were not only continued after
the war, but greatly enlarged, and their
numbers have constantly inereds0d
since There are in the United States
about forty collin factories. located
principally west of the Alleghenies,
where suitable lumber is moro plenti-
tut and cheaper than in the cast. The
largest concern is located in Cincin-
matt, and another ut st. Louis which
has flooring space of $4,000 square
feet and employs one hundred men,
besides several women, who are en-
ployed in making burial clothes and
shrouds. q business that is of recent
date and whichsis rapidly growing.
The colin manufacturers of the Uni
ted States are banded together under
the name of the National Burial assoc
citation. They meet four times a year
IN different cities, and probably they
can control the price OF their products
better than any other sitniler Organiza-
ton. A few years, ago there was quite
a rage for metallic burial cases, but of
late the preference is for. wooden. cof-
fins. A considerable number Of Amer
iican collins are shipped aboard, mostly
to England, South Africa, Cuba. and
the South African States. Those made
for export are the ssknock- -down'' style.
and are put together at their placeskof
destination, except those shipped TO
England. They are made Of white oak,
perfectly yair-tight, tongued and grooved,
and the lid. fitted with q rubber tango.
Walnut is mostly used for the best
class collins, but some very finely pol
ished ones are made of s~ecl-gum.
When finished up iinely 10 resembles
cherry somewhat and is called satin
walnut Poplar is used to greater
extent in the business than any other
wood. 1t is cheap, easily worked, and
adapted to the requirement Of the bus
mess. 7ta8' at
j Neither tho kind Of wood Of which q
colin is made nor its probable .durabil-
ity affects its price to much extent, for
she price depends upon the style OF I'm
ish, and ranges from ~. or S3 up t0tho
full extent of the customers ability to
pay. Much Of the wealth and labor Of
the country is annually buried IN the
soil through fashion that calls for
ridiculously expensive funerals. An
impression prevails that the coffin bus
iness is free from the fluctuations that
affect other Lines, but il is erroneous.
Like all others, it is good when times
are good, and dull when times are hard.
Neither does IL receive a boom when
cholera, yellow fever " other epidem-
les prevail, as might NATURALLY be ex-
pected. The demand for childrok's
collins is greater in the summer, but
the seasons have very little effect upon
the demand for adults collins. During
hard times. when money Is scarce. the
trade in high-priccd collins falls 0ff,
but. on the whole, business is governed
pretty much by the same rule as 9TH
ers. The coffin factories are among
the best and most reliable, customers
the lumbermen have, and use . very
considerable part of the poplar cnt of
southern mills. - Sou thefR Lstnaberanugs.
praeidanf Clavelandss : eve never. ven.