, 1889-10-04
BURYING OF THE DEAD.
CHANGES IN FUNERAL CUSTOMS
DICTATED BY GOOD SENSE.

Funeral Services, Nor Men to Stand with
Barred Heads by the Grave-No Long
Procession of Carriages
The underwriters of this city
that funerals are no longer what they
used to be. Women are no longer ex-
pected to attend them, and with some
exceptions they don't. The statement of
this fact was brought about through the
publication in q Philadelphia newspaper
of a number of interviews with under
takers in that city. In a recently pub
lished death notice of a woman in Phila-
delphia this sentence was embodied
'Male members of the family only are
invited to attend" This notice was pub
lished in accordance with the wishes of
the lead woman. She had been of a
practical and sensible turn of mind. Her
object was to prevent the attendance at
her funeral of women who might, II it
were bad weather, contract disease of a
serious nature.
IN PHILADELPHIA
Until very recently numerously at
tended funerals had been very common
in Philadelphia. Scores of carriages fol-
lowed the deceased man or woman to the
grave, and men and womenstood around
IN the damp ground in all kinds of
weather while the coffin was lowered
into its last resting place. Philadelphia
is gradually awakening to the fact that
this sort of thing is dangerous. Strange
to say, it appears to be due to the under
takers of that city that these changes are
being made. Evidently they are not so
calculating and selfish as various writers
of fiction have portrayed them. The
more carriages there are at a funeral the
bigger the undertaker's bill is, yet the
Philadelphia members of the profession
seem to view this fact with indifference.
Said Mr., r. r Bringhurst, one of the
most prominent of these g~entlemen:
THE custom in vogue here of a large
~concourse of friends and relatives at
tending funerals is a very foolish one.
Male members of the family only should
accompany the hearse to the burial
ground, and / am glad to see that this
plan is being adopted by several am
lilies of this city. Ladies should not be
taken to the burial ground, for more
h one reason, either in good or bad
weather. 1t subjects them to a great
nervous strain to see the body of some
member of their family or some relative
lowered into the ground, and time and
time again l have seen ladies faint from
this excitement.
sometimes there Is a hitch in the
dropping of the coffin, 80 that considera-
BILE difficulty is occasioned in getting it
Strengthened out. Accidents of this ma
ture are very prolific of nervous pros
~tration, and women should not be sub
jected TO them.
alt is a striking fact that half OF our
funerals take place on stormy days, when
it is positively dangerous for any man,
not to mention ladies, to stand for a
long time on the wet ground until the
interment is finished. This city is, how
ever. getting to be somewhat enlighten-
ed on the subject of funerals. A few
years ago there were forty or fifty car
riages 10 every funeral, but now this
number is reduced to about eight. or
course, the more people attend funerals
the better it is for the undertaken. His
business is advertised, and he comes in
for the burial OF those who are taken
sick and die because of the exposure at
the burial ground. But we undertakers
have sympathetic souls like other classes
of humanity, and I for one advise all my
patrons to have the funeral ceremony at
the house, and then let only a few gen
tlemen of the family accompany the
body to the cemetery"
Undertaken j. r Knowles expressed
h same sentiments and added:
1.-The exclusion of ladies and friends
at funerals is an admirable policy to
adopt. This city is just awakening to
the fact that a big funeral is a big folly.
As a rule every large funeral is the
cause of the death of at least one person
who attends it,"
New York adopted the new custom
some time since. Save in the case of
men of great official prominence, few
funerals, with the exception of those of
foreigners and persons of the poorer
class. who accept innovations in such
matters slowly, are largely attended,
even by men. Nowadays there are rare
ly more than three or four carriages at
the funeral of n person Of good social
rank, and five seems to be the maxi
mum The more fashionable the lam
lily the simpler the arrangements are.
At a large proportion of such funerals
that have taken place lately there have
been only n or two carriages besides
the hearse. Undertaken Edward NJ. Sc
nior said yesterday:
AT three-quarterS OF the funerals !
have had in charge lately, no women
hav been present. As a rule they do
not even sit in the game room with the
body OF the dead. The body is usually
placed in the parlor, sand some male rel
alive remains there to receive visitors
and do whatever is needed, while the
women stay upstairs. They may come
down TO be present at services in the
house. but they rarely follow the body
to the grave. Even when they do this,
they do not leave their carriages"
1t is not uncommon now for persons
to provide infinitely for their burials in
their wills, and many prudent ones ex-
pressly request that no woman be al
lowed 10 follow their bodies. When the
ste actor, Cbanfrau, died, the funeral
at Long Branch was largely attended.
The pail bearers were all old men, and
they dropped one end OF the coffin in