Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-10-03
A GUATEMALAN FUNERAL.
fome Of the Peculiar Customs Of Centr
American Caribx

iome Of the Peculiar Customs of Central
| American Caribx
heard a jingle Of bells this after
noon, and. supposing fire had broken
out, was about to start for the scene
of the conhagration. when the land
lady informed me that it was only a
funeral and said it would pass the
house. A few minutes later, hearing
sort of wild music, mingled with
shouts and laughter. ran to the door
| just in time to see couple OF half
drunken men, shoeless and hatlsss,
coming along at brisk pace, bear
p. ing coffin on their shoulders. 1t
was simply q rough box wrapped in a
piece of striped calico, and swayed
from side to side as the bearers rolled
along. Following was woman, the
widow, was told. carrying rude cross
covered with flowers and laughing i'm
moderately. Next to the hilarious
chief mourner came the band, con-
sisting of one accordion, two fiddles, a
tin horn and drum, all run to their
full capacity.
Next came a mixed crowd of men,
women and children. The men were
attired in the usual costume Of the
country, pair of cotton drawers and
shirt, worn outside. The women wore
single garment, sleeveless and low
necked, coming barely 10 the knees.
The children were arrayed in their in
nocence only. All were smoking.
laughing, or dancing by turls. Alto
gether il was the most cheerful funeral
/ had ever witnessed.
had returned to the table when my
attention was once more called to the
street by chorus of wild yells and
uprOarious merriment. Stepping out
/ discovered the cause. One Of the
bearers had stumbled and fallen,
throwing the coffin to the ground with
such force that one side was partly
broken out, exposing one arm and a
CHASTITY hand half closed. But it was
a contented, WELL behaved corpse. and
took the whole thing as joke. Pres
entity the bearer staggered to his feet,
the coffin was replaced. and the pro-
cession moved merrily on.
The landlord, however, insists this
was very tame affair. and assures
me that the burial services OF the rich
are very much liveIier. In such cases
the body is dressed up in the best
shirt the estate affords. 1t is then
carefully tied in chair in an upright
position, and thus carried to the
graveyard, while the whole town
turns out to do him honor by dis
charging crackers, rockets and a
variety of native fireworks, while the |
drinking is general and the Joy I'M
bounded! l hope to be able to record |
a frst-class affair soon. The owner
of three huts and pair of mules is
quite low, and we are waiting patient |
" for him to die. The natives also |
exhibit good deal of anxiety. and
every little while one of them will steal |
up to the window to note progress and
to the eager crowd.
As usual in times of great public
excitement the news is very contra
dictory. A little while ago it was an
nounced that he was almost gone. A
confused murmur ran through the as
sembly and an occasional shout, with
a random cracker or two, was heard.
The next report, however, was most
The watcher was seen
fleeing as for his life and the sick man
following close in his wake with a huge
club The last bulletin was more ia
the doctor having arrived
with his whole stock in trade. and
those who are posted predict that the
sick man will be ready for burial to-
morrow.
These are the Caribs, the direct de-
scendants of those wild, fierce tribes
discovered by Columbus on his first
voyage and found inhabiting the
southern islands of the West Indies
entirely in appearance. Gus
IONS and disposition from the sur
nations. to whom they were
, constant Observation-Disclosures Cor.
Pittsburgh Post.