The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1888-12-21
STYLES IN FUNERALS.
"Reminiscences of an Old Washing.
ton Undertaken.

"Yes,n said Lcmuel williams. the veteran
undertaken Of the West end, in answer % a
Washington Star reporters question. 'therc
have been many changes in the business
since / have been In H. / commenced the
business working with an older brother, and
may say ! learned no TRACE. for h came 90
me naturally. This was early Ia the los.
The style Of coffin then IN vogue was the
sharp-pointed top, fitting the form more
closely than the present boX-lilc cnsset.
The pieces ut head and foot were nve-sided.
With the bottom eleven pieces Of wood were
required 10 construct a coffin. The joints ON
the sides were whore tho breast OF the corpse
would come, and at this point was the JOINT
In the top I'D. Then there were no fattop
collins, excepting those made for the pau
pcrs, and those were made Ia the same
shape ut the others, with the exception Of
the top. Our lumber was kept In the rough
aud such a thing as a ready-mude coffin was
rare. When an order was received the
wood was selected and two or three men
would go 10 work, having no respect 70
hours, and make the coffin. We had no plan.
ing or saw-mills then, and all the work was
done hy haud. The hours FOR labor were in
summer from sun TO sun, ana Ia winter till
nine o'clock o. night, but often we worked
oven later, as necessity required. / ann as.
tonished sometimes 10 think of what / nave
gone through, both in the shop and In attend
ing funerals. We then did not'huvc bust.
ness wagons. When a coffin was finished
two OF US would shoulder IL and carry II TO
the chamber Of death. There were no pat
cut ~lce-bONcs, and II was seldom that lee
was used at all. The custom was then, rs
II - now 10 q great extent, 90 allow one full
day 10 intervene between the date Of death
and the date OF burial, and should the
weather be warm the corpse would be al
most certain to become offensive.
"Then the undertaken always rode on
horseback" he went on, " and, IL the
weather was stormy, he was expected to
face H. The collins were lined with cotton,
m the body Of il, and NJ the top was a lin
ing Of cambria 20 fold over the corpse.
For a walnut coffin. including attendance at
the funeral. we then received SIG. and for a
mahogany one, from ,2j 10 $50. There was
then no display or ornumcutation made,
and flowers had not come into vogue. In
place OF handles black ropo-black for the
old and white for the youuE-was used, ar
ranged In neat coils with the tasscls at the
end IN the center. The coffin ease was not
then used. aud mother earth came in closer
contact with the body. An ubI0ug eXcava-
ton was made for the grave as at present,
aud at the bottom the earth WAS cut out so
rs 10 closely fit the coffin, which, when
placed in the aperture. was covered by
boards. upon which the earth was thrown,
generally by the pail bearers. These rope
handles were far more convenient than
those used today. II was customary TO
carry the corpse on the bier 10 the foot of
the grave. Instead OF placing bars across
the grave, and placing the ropes by which
the corpse Is 10 be lowered underneath the
coffin, the coffin could be lowered by the
ro~pe-haudles. II was then extremely rare
that q corpse was buried In Il full suit Of
ordinary clothes. Shrouds were almost ex-
clusively used, and these were generally
made by the family or friends Of the de
ceased. II was formerly the custom to have
watchers because of a belief that a corpse
would be scented by cats or rats, and II
they were not kept away 1t would be
mutilated, but this p%recautiOn where the
ice-chest is used Is no longer necessary
As | have stated before, the use Of flowers
at funerals wal almost unknown. Fifty
years ago some friend would place on or
near the corpse q small bouquet in water,
and from this the custom has grown Of sur
rounding the corpse with floral tributes.
II not ~infrequcntly occurs now at funerals
that n carriage ia required to convey the
flowers 10 the cemetery
ado you think that the flower business is
sometimes overdoneln asked the reporter.
''Those who contribute Them ssid Mr..
Williams, "do not think so, and perhaps If
they had witnessed some funerals of forty
or fifty years ago they would say that the
sash business was then OVERRIDING. Then the
minister, pall-bearors, undertaken and
driversa all wore sashes over shoulders and
on hats. You may judge Of the quality
sometimes used from the fact hat at the
funeral Of Commodore Crane in March, 1916,
the dry goods merchants bill for sashes
was over SlO0. ! suppose that even new
fashions and customs relating to the dead
must come and | have seen q number Of
changes. The old-style pointed coffin is sell
dom seen now. and | NAV say that IT went