St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-26
RITES OF CONFUCIUS
Celebrated Over the Remains
of the Celestial Ham
Wah.
Provisioned for a Journey,
His Body Placed in
the Grave.
Curious ~Ceremonials Which
Marked the Heather
Burial. ] Il
A Pagan Soul En- Route to
Join the Band Of Con-
fucius. /.

Ham Wah, the Chinaman who COLI
lected American dollars for spelling
American clothes in the wash house at
IL East Tenth street, is dead and buried.
Hams body was planted in Oakland
cemetery yesterday afternoon in ac-
cordance with the odd rites of his
c%ountrymen, and it is to be supposed
that his heather spirit is pattering
along in turned-up shoes into the pagan
hereafter. Just, where that is, is a
matter that need not be considered in
these columns, sit concerns only the
dead man, his cOuntrymen, and the
Young Mems Christian Endeavor So
ciety, which. by the way, Ham had little
time for, before he fell into the hands
of the American undertaken. At 2
o'clock yesterday afternoon about forty
heather Cinnamon had gathered at the
laundry where Ham Wah died, most Of
them grieving deeply atthe deathof one
of their number in a strange land.
They were undisturbed in their
sorrow. Many times forty noisy Chris
tian hoodlums and gaping men, WOnl-
en- and children had gathered IN frontof
the door, the more rude even crowding
upon the steps and peering through the
laundry windows. When a hearse was
driven before the door the remains were
borne from the house by twelve Celes-
tials, who took position on either
side of the hearse, after depOsiting their
burden. Then the rest of them tumbled
into ten hacks that were in waiting, and
the procession moved up Cedar street
towards Oakland. At the cemetery the
Chinese burial ceremony was per-
formed. San King, a high mogul
among the ST. Paul China boys and a
blood relative of the deceased, acted as
chief mOurner. Before lowering the
coffin into the ground San placed a
small bundle at either end of the grave,
scattering about also a small quantity of
rice. The bundles each contained an
%oddlookfng sheet of manuscript, two
chop sticks, a few matches and a wax
torch. Then the coffin was low
cred down and a few shovel
fuls of earth were thrown
upon it. While this was going Oh the
badges of mourning, consisting of a
which a red ribbon was interviewer,
were taken from the coats of the dead
mans friends and cast in a heap at the
foot of his grave. Then the mourners
began labbering away among them
selves, some of them lighting cigars and
cigarettes. When the coffin was barely
covered with earth Sam King produced
a board about three feet in length, co9-
cred with Chinese letters painted in
black, and placed it in the grave above
Sam Wah's head. The board was said
to be his ''card" of Introduction to Con-
fucius, but it might have been his laun-
dry price-liSt from all the information a
GLOBE reporter could gather about
it. When the grave was filled and
rounded off a feast was spread before
the departing spirit, Sam King, offering
up the ViandS in a short speech. The
few lines of angular hiereglyphics thai
he delivered; are omitted for. want OF
space. A roast chicken, several pieces
OF salt pork, a Yankee sandwich, two
bowls of rice, a bottle of wine and
oranges, apples and grapes constituted
the layout. This was spread upon the
grave, with cigarettes, cigars and
matches. Incense was then burned
above the grave. and the badges of
mourning that had been worn there
were destroyed by fire, a part of the
meat being thrown upon the burning
heap. This closed the ceremony. When
the Cinnamon entered their carriages
and drove back to the city, a crowd of
curious spectators remained standing
about the newly-made grave, watching
the smouldering heap and wondering
what it all meant. According to their
customs food will be regularly offered
at the grave until Ham Wah's friends
are satisfied that his spirit has taken
flight. After an elapse of several years,
when the flesh has been rotted away.
the bones will be taken up and trans
. ferred to Hams native country for final
burial. The bones of no true Celestial
are permitted to lie in any but the soil
of the FlOWery kingdom.