The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1889-12-27
AN UNDERWRITERS TALK.
Some Experiences of the Men Who
Bury Us.
Hard Work to Coax People to be Moderate
in Exrcnditures--AL Lamentable Oc-
Casion When the Remains
Were Mixed Up.

casion When the Remains
Were Mixed Up.
"As rule" said well-known Fourth
avenue undertaken recently, there is
no occasion when a man feels so liberal
in fact, so reckless regarding the ex-
penditure of money-as when he is run
ming up the expenses of first-class
funeral, and it requires good deal OF
tact and strategy to keep him within
bounds and protect ourselves from loss.
When the customer is wealthy and can
stand it, why naturally we are inclined
to humor every whim, and sometimes
where carte blanche is given us we do
the job up in a manner which really
makes it pleasure to be the star at
traction of funeral. However, all OF
our customers do not possess healthy
bank account, and we have to look out
and see that we do not get hung up
Not long since a charming widow
came into our place to make arrange
ments for the funeral of her husband.
She was heavily vailed, and she sobbed
in distressing manner as she took a
chair and proceeded to make known her
wants. She detailed the story of her
husbands illness and its fatal termina-
tion, and wound up by stating that
his funeral must be the most i'm
posing and elaborate that could be got
ten up. Nothing we had in the estab-
lishment could be any too good. BY a
few carefully-directed questions we as
certained the age of the deceased, his
size, stature. and also the all-important
fact that he had left his widow and fam
lily in very moderate circumstances. Al
soon as our customer could compose her
self one Of our clerks was detailed to
show her what we had, with the quiet
admonishment that her bill should not
exceed $3.50. Various styles of caskets
were shown her, and as she had some
what recovered her spirits she kept up
a running fire of questions and sugges-
tions. Finally, as she was about to de-
eide upon a casket which the clerk had
suggested as most appropriate, she hap
pened to espy in another part Of the
warerooms several most elaborate and
costly burial cases, which she insisted
upon looking at. In vain did the clerk
endeavor to divert her attention from
them. Those caskets, made in mahog-
any, ebony and other costly woods,
were trimmed with silks, satins and
laces of tho richest kind, and we're orna-
mented with solid silver and gold
mountings, and were the finest goods we
kept. Compared with them the goods
which she had been looking at seemed
cheap, and she wasn't slow in detecting
the difference. The clerk shut her off
on several of them by stating that they
were sold, and that it would be impossi-
bic to duplicate them in season for the
funeral. However, the bereaved widow
couldn't be made to swallow all this
fiction, and finally she ordered an elab-
crate affair, the price of which was just
seven hundred dollars. Having COM
pleted her selection, she gave her orders
for embalming, flowers, carriages and
the other details. At last, when she
had ordered every thing she could think
of, she started to leave, whereupon the
clerk politely requested her to step into
the office while he had the bill made up,
intending to ask her to pay certain
percentage of it, or at least to give sat
isfactory references. At the word "bill"
she few into a passion. ''Bill," she
didn't care what the bill was; that would
be settled at the proper time. The poor
clerk tried to explain, but that only in
creased her anger, She called the clerk
all sorts Of hard names, accused him of
lack Of feeling, and finally flounced
out Of the door, and as a parting shot
said: my husband shall have the best
funeral that ever took place in the
neighborhood, even If have to take in
washing to pay for it,"
"We have many experiences similar
to that, but In the majority Of cases our
customers are very reasonable and we
have no difficulty in persuading them to
deter their Judgment to ours. We much
prefer to deal with men on such occa-
sions as they are less moved by senti-
ment, and are moro practical and sensi-
BILE. We always strongly advise that
the funeral arrangements bc left to
some male relative or friend Of the fam
lily; bereaved woman is in no condi
ton TO transact such business.
"About month ago we were called
upon to ofilciate at the funeral of beau
tiful young woman, the only daughter
of, 10 hn haA 1tod mi n