Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-06-27


centre, obscured by the throng, lay a
cheap coffin OF stained pine upon two
carpenters horses. In it lay the body
of some dead criminal. Over the open
top bent a young woman whose face,
once handsome, was dlsfgured by the
marks of sin and alcohol. In a corner
OF the room was a keg Of beer on q
trestle, and a couple more untapped
beside it on.the floor. In second cor
ner, on a table, were bottles of raw
spirits labeled whisky and gin, and at
the head of the coffin, as il in satire of
Its animate and inanimaue surround
ings. were two candles and a well worn
crucifix. A man who seemed to be
bartender, mourner and undertaken in
one moved about the place, alternately
wiping dirty face with still dirtier
handkerchief. and serving beer and yet
more fiery liquids to those present. 1
asked him what the occasion was. He
removed cigar from his lips and said /:
"What, this here AFFAIR." 1t is a
$40 wake. You see the fellow in the
pine overcoat there was one of the boys.
He used to be green goods man,
and then after that he worked f1imfiam.
He was pinched by the police in Janu-
airy on suspicion. They could not prove
anything, as we scared the complain
ant away, but the Judge sent him up to
the island for sixty days His family
went back on him and the ward de-
| tectlve made it lively for him. He got
sick and he had knocked around too
much; SO he got worse, and died night
bsfore last. His family would not bury
him, and the church would not touch
him, because he was brought up a
fh.li nd hn dran
wouldn't let a priest come near him
when he turned his toes up. So we
| raised a pool and gave him this sendoff.
We boys Clipped in, and all the saloons
where we booze had to come down
with a couple of dollars apiece or a
keg of beer. We pay the undertaken
for the box, the lights and the room
rent, bring our beer and whisky, and
do the whole business without any
priest or missionary or nonsense.
docs it often happen? just you
bet it does. 1t happens here and at a
lot of other places l know in the neigh
borhood. There are crooks and crimi-
nails in hard luck, and girls who have
been thrown out because they could not
pay their room rent. These make the
most of them. Then there are fellows
who live In single room or lodging
house, or in the ten cent beds. When
they die the landlord bounces the body
to make room for new tenant.
They've got to go to Potter's Field or
else depend on the boys. And then
there are good many people who live
in two rooms and haven't the room to
have wake In. They send the corpse
around here and have good time.
''What does it cost? Well, it de-
pends upon the style. We pay the
undertaken anywhere from So up for
the coffin. and SO for the rent of the
cellar. The candles are usually thrown
in and the crucifix Is lent. That cru
cifix there is a lucky one and we try to
always have 1t at our wakes. There's
black crucifix I know that brings bad
luck every time it is used. Either the
people get into fight, or the coffin is
dumped, or something goes wrong.
Then the hearse and carriage cost
$40, and more carriages So or So apiece
and the grave 50 upward. This racket
stands us In all about SIS, and it's a
6rst class affair-Something We boys
are proud of. If you want more style
you can hire professional mourners; we
call them 'keeners.' They are old
Irish and Scotch women, and some
times English, who cry and howl and
and drink all night for a dollar and
their drinks.''
Daylight was beginning to make the
smoky lamplight a CHASTITY yellow. The
festivities Were at their height. The
mourners stood and sprawled about the
room in all conditions of intoxication.
a few were SO overcome that they lay
like logs upon the floor, hardly distin-
guishable in appearance from the in
mate of the colin. 1t was with a great
gasp of relief that L reached the str eet
and inhaled the cool, fresh air of the
early dawn.