The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-07
FACTS ABOUTs FUNERALS.
The Italians and Chinese Bury Their
Dead in Style.

The Italians and Chinese Bury Their
Dead in Style.
From the Neio York Mail and Express.
Only few days ago a reporter in cross
ing Park row at the corner of Pearl street,
met brass band which seemed at first
sight to be leading procession of some
kind. On nearer view 1t appeared that be-
hind the band was a small white bearse,
in which was laid a dimnutive white coffin.
AS it is quite unusual, even to New York,
where the unusual may be met at any time,
TO have music at the funeral of an infant,
the reporter paused to view the funeral
cortege.
1t was not large one. The German
band and the hearse formed by far the
largest part of it, for behind the latter
there were but two dingy looking coaches.
In the first of these were a Young woman
young man and a child; in the second an
elderly man and woman. The bright head
gear of the woman in the second coach in
dictated that the funeral party was made up
of the members of the Italian colony.
1t was certainly a remarkable funeral
procession. The band was pounding out an
excruciating rendition of the dead March"
In Saul. The carriages were tianked and
followed by several hundred street gamins,
who are always ready to assist at picnic,
a fight or a funeral, preserving their free
and easy demeanor at either or all of these
varied affairs.
THAT sort of thing has lately become a
custom with the Italians said one of the
undertakers who are rivals for the lugubri-
GUS business OF burying the Italians and
Cinnamon who live in the neigh
borhood in which Chinatown :"
and Little Italy" are situated. These I'M
dertakers, by the way, are all Irishmen,
although in one or two cases they have
taken Italian partners into their business.
1.-The Italians spend good deal of money
on funerals" continued the undertaken.
They will live on almost nothing, but they
will have more or less imposing funerals
and are willing to pay the regular rate for
carriages without making any objection.
often have Italian rag women come to me
and hire coaches to attend the funeral of
some relative or friend. Some of these
women will sometimes occupy a coach all
alone, and will ride to the cemetery in
regal state. They pay cash down. too.
II fancy the Chinese spend more on their
funerals than most wealthy people do
Some of them are wealthy, to be sure. But
generally it is the Chinese Freemasons'
Society that sees to it that most of the
funerals going out of Chinatown are big
| affairs. When Gen. Lii Yu Du, the COM
mander of the Black Flag rebellion, died,
there was the biggest kind of a funeral,
| costing some $500. But this was outdone
| some time ago when the founder of the
Chinese Masons in New York was buried.
On this occasion the Freemasons raised
| $4,000, and more than So 900 of this was
spent on the funeral. 1t was the biggest
thing of the kind that Chinatown had ever
seen. | tell you, you can see some pretty
| loud funerals if you want to pay an coca
sional visit to the neighborhood
The reporter having seen both of the
Chinese funerals referred to, the funerals
of some prominent members of the Italian
colony, the remarkable funeral of Jane.
Elliott, the prize fighter, who was shot il
Chicago by Jere Dunn, the gambler, not tC
speak of those of two or three kings of tn,
old ''Whyo" gang, who had achieved dis
tinction by getting shot or hanged, was no
inclined to dispute the statement of thc
undertaken