The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-02-19

junction to avoid all parade"
"When will the funeral be attended,
Mrs. Gerhart?'
II think some time tomorrow. have
not seen the rector yet. Eddy has gone
to the rectory; but we shall only have
the church SERVICE"
81 never heard of such doings. Who
is going to make the robe? / suppose
that will be nice, of course"
"She is to be laid to rest in one of her
many gowns, it will be pleasanter for
the children"
"What will people thinkl How oddl"
said Mrs. Brown.
"No one will see the remains but the
family; but, excuse me, the clergyman
has come; we will go down, If you
please, ladies'" said Mrs. Gerhart.
81 suppose we can go in and look at
the corpse"
81 am sorry to refuse you; but it can
not be. My friend had perfect horror
Of being on exhibition, and / promised
her no one should look on her dead face
but her children. We will go down
now."
"How queerl am glad that am not
responsible for all the comments folks
will make" said Mrs. johnson to Mrs.
Brown as they went down the stairs,
where they met Adela coming from the
parlor, where the rector was waiting.
"Mrs. Gerhart will not let US do any
thing for you or even 60 into your
mothers room," said Mrs. Brown.
"0f course not. She acts In accord
ance with my dear mothers wishes. /
do not think we need any help"
"There is always SO much to be done
in case Of death"
"Thank you for your offer. And II
we need assistance we will let you
know" and 1t was with a sigh Of relief
that she saw them take their departure.
The next day, after dinner, the prayers
were read, and the coffin was borne
from the house; the orphaned children,
with Mrs. Gerhart, followed the
hearse; the minister and his family,
with the pall-bearers, followed. The
services at the grave were read and
the dust was returned TO its Mother
! Earth. The children wept freely as the
sods ratified on the coffin, for there were
no curious criticising eyes TO comment
on how bad they felt 1t was relief to
their bursting hearts. Slowly they
turned away from the grave and re-
turned to the darkened home. The
house seemed desolate; 1t was home
without a mother. But Mrs. Gerhart
quietly assumed the duties assigned to
her, and in their sorrow the children
turned to her for comfort In the even.
ing the minister and his wife came in to
cheer the bereft family and administer
consolation.
81 approve OF this order OF funerals; II
seems far more appropriate than the
present customs. So much display and
parade are not consistent with sorrow
for the dead" said the rector.
81 did exactly as Mrs. Barlow request
ed mo to do. She has always condemned
the outlay consequent upon the present
style OF funerals, as II the trappings OF
display wero the correct expression OF
grief, and one could Judge how heart
stricken the mourners were by the cost
OF the obsequies. Then she said it was
such burden to so many people who
we're financially troubled TO go TO such
an extravagant expense when they lost
relative. / think, too, she was very
sensible in her own case. One can not
Judge Of heart sorrow by outward show.
know people will talk; II is their priv
ilege; but feel that / acted wisely in
following her directions" said Mrs. Ger.
hart
Certainly you did, and Mrs. Barlow
showed her wisdom in arranging heI
affairs as she did. am glad she pro
vided 30 faithful guardian for hei
children. She told me OF her arrange
ments and gave me check for one hun
dred dollars TO bestow upon the poor In
the parish"
Mrs. johnson and Mrs. Brown made Q
big talk about the queer doings, but the
more they said, the more people thought
OF the matter, the more the reasonable
part OF the community saw the good
Judgment evinced, and the great folly
OF expending such enormous amounts o.
money in trying TO show how people
mourn for their dead. And what doei
it amount to? 1t does the dead no good
and 1t makes life harder for the living
One evening Mr.. johnson came in Il
his house.
"Look here, wife, for PHYS sake stol
talking about Mrs. Barlow's funeral
Do you know have never been able Il
pay for Ellen's coffin or for digging he
gravep 1t tcost me o round sum, yoI
know, and It was almost two. years ago
and your mourning clothes are not pait
for either. am glad there is one per
son who had sense enough 10 be able I.
, be buried out Of fashion" he said.
"But 1t looked 80 stingy for . ricl
womanw
"She was not stingyl She gave on'
hundred dollars 10 the minister for th,
poor, and Mrs. Gerhart has paid tn,
undertaken and sexton every cent Of tn,
: expense. They have both of then
presented the unpaid bills 10 me to-day
So just stop tallSing!"-S. Fl. Rowell, II
Rural New Yorker.