Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-04-17
ECCENTRIC suRIALs.

Even Amer Their Demise.
The story is told of q certain French
man who had been great collector OF
coins By his will he directed that his
obsequies should be performed with
every accompaniment calculated to in
spire mirthful feelings His body was
to be wrapped in tanned pig-s<in and
buried coffinlessL in q standing position
upon pile of charcoal Laurel branches
were to be carried by the mourners, and
on returning from the church they were
to throw open the chambers in which
his treasures were deposited. and all
corners were welcome to help themselves
as they pleased to the contents. Tt was
a sore disappointment to the public.
however. to find that before they were
admitted, the SERVANTS of the deceased
had decamped with every thing that was
portable.-The wishes of . curious char
acter, who was named Hilkington. better
known as Squire Hawley, were fully
carried out q few years ago at place
near Doncaster. He was buried in his
own garden, amid the graves OF his dead
cattle. which had been stricken down by
rinderpest- He was laid out in full
hunting costume. including spurs and
whip. and was placed in a stone. coffin
weighing upwards of a ton, which had to
be lowered into the grave by means of a
rane. His old pony was shot and buried
At his feet, and at his head were laid the
bodies of his fayorite dog and an old fox.
All his property was left to his groom,
on condition that these funeral ohserv-
ances were carried out; in default, the
estate was to 60 to the priest of Dom
caster for the benefit Of the Roman
Catholic Church The groom, however,
did not suffer the bequest to himself to
lapse.-It is related that a certain crotch
ETY. old Yorkshireman, some years since.
left directions that on the day of his
burial a great public breakfast should
be given in the town where he might
die, and that his coffin, slung upon
towels knotted together, should be
borne along by relays of men. and
bumped" three times upon a particular
heap of stones. and that the ''Lamenta-
tons of a Sinner" should then be sung.
still more important provision was
made regarding the presence Of mourn
ers in the churchyard- Every man,
woman and child who entered the
ground with or after the procession had
to receive dole of sixpence. Never
before or since, we are told. was that
churchyard so full of people.-A Sussex
gentleman. named Jack Fuller, ordered
his executors to bury him in a pyramidal
mausoleum in Brightling churchyard
His reason for desiring to be inclosed
in stone above ground was his unwill-
ingness to be eaten by his relatives
process he considered inevitable if
buried in the ordinary way. 1.-THE
worms" be declared, would eat me,
the ducks would eat the worms, and my
relations would eat the ducks.''-A gen.
tleman named Underwood left e6OO to
his sister on condition that she had him
buried in a particular fashion Six gen.
tlemen were appointed to follow him to
the grave, where they were to sing the
last stanza of the twentieth Ode of the
second Book of Horace. Mourning was
forbidden to be worn, no bell had to be
tolled, and no relation was to follow the
corpse. The six chosen gentlemen were
to be the only mourners. The coffin
was painted green, and the deceased
was buried with his clothes on. Three
copies of Horace were placed in the
grave with him, together with Bentley's
Milton" and Greek Testament After
supper, the six mourners sang the Ode,
all being in strict accordance with the
will of the deceased.-CasselPs Saturday
Journal.