The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-10-08
A SOLID FUNERAL.
MADE UP WITH SOME REGARD TO
SYMMETRY OF CONSTRUCTION.

Several Important Points to Observe in
the Arrangement of the Procession.
Differences In the Funerals Of Various
Nationalities-The American.
That's what I call q solid funeral" OBJ
served n Grand street funeral director, as he
stood at his window one afternoon and
watched a passing procession with the eye OF
q connoisseur.
MAY / ask what you mean by solid
funeralf" inquired reporter who stood
close at hand.
The funeral director smiled with the whole
sOuled and expansive smile peculiar to funeral
directors Il suppose you never noticed any
especial difference in funerals" he said.
"Well, that's the way with most people. 1t
is remarkable how much people in general
don't l-now about such things. Not one man
in thousand has the remotest idea how a
funeral should be put together, beyond the
necessity of a corpse, hearse to carry it, and
some carriages to follow the hearse. That's
actually all the vast majority of people think
is required for a first-class funeral Why,
sometimes / think persons don't care about
being buried at ALL"
Probably some wouldn't if the matter were
left entirely to their discretion. But you
haven't told me what a solid funeral
means"
"Well, a solid funerals mighty good kind
of funeral to have. In the first place you
must understand that n funeral can be made
up with as much artistic skill as fine piece
of architecture, or it can be thrown together
carelessly rs crazy quilt. A solid funeral
is one that is made up with some regard to
symmetry of construction, like the one that
just passed here. OF course, you didn't take
in the fine points, but that was n funeral any
man might be proud to have"
SYMMETRY OF CONSTRUCTION.
First came the hearse, then the double
carriages, then the few single vehicles; the
best and most elaborate conveyances at the
head and the smaller ones in the rear, exactly
on the same principle that a skillful mason,
building a pyramid puts the largest blocks
at the base and tapers off in gradual and reg
ular layers to the smallest. That's one i'm
portant fact. Then if you had known any
thing about well regulated funerals you would
have noticed that all the vehicles in that flu
neral were the same distance apart. That's
another important point Only a funeral
director who knows his business thinks of
those little things. They are just as much a
part of his duties nowadays as preparing the
body and furnishing the coffin. Every car
riage has to be assigned to its place in the line
by number beforehand, and the drivers all
have to be instructed to keep the same dis
lance between the carriages. That prevents
the procession from having a struggling, dis
connected look. When there are bands or
delegations from societies secret orders,
they must, OF course, be properly located in
the line, generally preceding the hearse.
@This attention to details is what gives a
funeral the air of artistic symmetry and solid
ity, without which funeral is a truly mourn
full spectacle. Some funerals, with plenty Of
material for creditable turn out, / have
seen absolutely ruined by lack of proper
direction. For really stylish funeral there
should be at least dozen double carriages,
and eight or ten single carriages, as many
more of each Kind as can be had the better,
especially double carriages. Some directors
now insist that all shall be double, but most
of us haven't got quite so particular as that
yet. A funeral of the kind describe, prop
erly constructed, wouldn't look out Of place
in Fifth avenue Murray hill. No mourn
err however fashionable, need be ashamed
of it
DIFFERENCES IN FUNERALS.
And, speaking about the differences in
funerals, let ME tell you a good deal depends
ON the nationality of the deceased. There's
as much character in funerals there is in
faces. a German funeral usually has a ten
dency to be solid. 1t is compact and slow
going. An Irish funeral is just the reverse.
IL HioNt> bfi>hiy uiLiooC Jiuutity, CoiIipSaIeu
with the German procession. Its surround
ing atmosphere is one of hope rather than Of
morbid depression The same spirit which
makes the best of mourning at wake is
noticeable in the Irish funeral. Then, too,
Irish funerals are not marked by solidity.
The vehicles are generally tossed in, as it
were, haphazard, first come first served; and
they will frequently be of every known style
and make, from the most elegant landau to
the ramshackle express wagons, with occa-
sionally man on horseback here and there
in the line.
This, of course, doesn't apply to funerals
under the auspices of the Catholic church or
the various Hibernian societies. Irish funer-
ais of that class are always carefully, even
conducted. So also are high
grade German funerals, in which the best
bands are often to be found. The Germans
are particularly fond of the somber music Of
the dead marches on such occasions, while
IriShmen care more for banners and insignia.
French funerals are ordinarily small, and the
are performed with much
haste rs decency Will permit. Italians have
little more patience for the details Of death
than the French. Their funerals, in this
at least, are usually Insignificant and
The typical American funerals The
American funeral is the hardest of all to
classify. Sometimes it is thing, some
times another. The solid funeral which
passed here n few moments ago was an Amer
lean funeral OF late years the American
funeral has been growing more and more
symmetrical and artistic. The advance in
methods and change in customs have done
much to improve the American funeral, and
viii eventually result in well regulated funer-
ais for all classes
what are the advance in methods and
change IN customs to which you refer"
The advanced methods of handling the
dead, and the change from the old-fashioned
custom of having one or more of the imme-
date relatives supervise the arrangements,
sometimes even SO far rs preparing the body
and buying the coffin. Now all that is left to
the funeral director; in fact, everything con-
nected with The funeral, from furnishing the
collin TO furnishing the carriages, and from
dressing the deceased to ordering the grave
dug New York Mail and Express