Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-10-28
OLD WORLD FUNERALS.
Observations of en American Un.f
 dertaker in Europe.
Countries Where Funerals Are in Charge of Government Officials-What 1t Costs to Embalm Isody in Russia
 England's Hired Mourners.

There arc few people who have travelled
 throughout Europe with the special inten-
 tlon of observing the customs prevailing
 Ill each country at funerals. w. R.
 Speare, the F street undertaken, has made
 several trips across the water with this
 special object, and it Is probable that he
 will make another visit there for the same
 purpose next year. A Washington Post
 reporter saw MT. Speare last evening.
 ''Ihe American customs in conducting
 funerals,' said he, ''are, in my opinion.
 far in advance of those of Europe. They
 are simpler, shorn of the many useless GUS
 toms that are in vogue abroad, and, what is
 especially desirable among Americans,
 in the hands of the family of the dead, who
 in Europe generally have but little to say
 about what shall be done or what the stylc
 or expense of the ceremony shall be.
 ''The most interesting of all the European
 countries in this respect is France. There
 the funeral as is also the case in Italy, is
 taken charge of by the government upon
 the death of a person until he has been laid
 away In the cemetery. Paris is the great
 center Ill which these things are most
 prominently seen. When death is re-
 ported to the police they at once notify the
 proper Government officials. There is &
 bureau in Paris to which all such matters
 are referred. It occupies the largest building
 1 have ever seen, and employs a force of
 clerks greater than are in our Post-Office
 Department.
 "This bureau, having taken charge of the
 matter, are al no loss in finding at once the
 social relations and wealth of the deceased, and according to the latter funeral is or dered. These are divided into eleven
 classes, the first costing over S5,GOO, the others graded down until they reach the
 tenth class, for which S12 is charged, the
 eleventh and last being the pauper's funeral,
 and at Government expense.
 ''The house occupied by the corpse is draped inside and outside, the friends of the dead having no power to control in any
 particular these proceedings. except that the
 cmbalming of the corpse is optional and costs $500.
 ''The friends of the deceased may be rich or poor, and may desire either to curtail the expense or give a more costly burial, but their power is of no avail. Generally the caskets of France may ba :2:d to be very fiimsy, usually being coye-. :. with drapery. The casket used for t;ls poorest class IS about as strong as a cigar UcN. The g paid for this ceremony gives tue use of 9 hearse, which has a coE!p2rt-lloIt for the casket, behind which there iG room for about four persons to ride.
 ''The undertailers arc employed by tho Government, and are military officers who usually rank as Major or Captain, the rank, of course, differing for the various grades of funerals. Thy are dressed in black velvet, wear cockades aud swords and have 6 good deal of gold lace their uniforms. The funeral beng over, q bill is rendered and payment SoughS through Government officer of the particular place in winch the death occurred. IL must be paid, or the goods of the deceased are attached The bureau is the source Of d very considerable Al, .a permissible for any else to undertake to engage In the work Of bJ,rying the dead. "In Italy the government also inonopolizes this business, dividing the business pro- vlded into eleven classes. In the latter country the decorStions and every thing used in the ceremony is black. The custom is varied in Italy only in the cases of chil- dren, for whom white hearses are provided, the corpse being followed by procession of little girls dressed in white, carrying can dies and singing they pass along the streets. There are sOMc very elegant | funerals at Rome, but those styled first-class cost about S3C00 or more.
 s'The country of hired Eourners is En- gland. There the heaviest drapery pre- vails, while the funeral cars,' as they are called, ill which the caslets are carried, are ! immense vehicles, exceeding lE size our omnibuses. Many of them cost fully S4,OO0. The mourners that arc hired follow the hearse, and arc very noisy in their pre- tended grief. The hearse and the four horses drawing it are black. A lantern is carried on each corner Of the 'fnreral car' 'Many of the caskets of Russia are the finest that are made. They of metal, and ono saw at St. Petersburg cost s, 800 The hearse of Russia is even larger than l that of England, the floor on which the cas- ket rests being about seven feet from the ground. There also the heaviest drapery prevails. In England, Germany and Russia l the funeral of the dead is carried on by pri- l vate individuals, with the exception that in Russia the work of the embalmer is in the hands of the government. There, as gen | erally throughout Europe, 1t costs $500 10 ] embalm body, the process being, as is supposed, that of the Egyptians and is held a secret''