The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1890-01-25
OLD WORLD FUNERALS.
Observations Of an American I'm
dertaker In Europe.
Countries Where Funerals Are In Charge
of Government 0fficials-What 1t Costs
to Embalm Body in Russia
England's Hired Mourners.

England's Hired Mourners.
There are few people who have Travelled
throughout Europe with the special inten
ton of observing the customs prevailing
in each country at funerals. w. II
Speare, the + street undertaken, has made
several trips across the water with this
special object, and it is probable that he
will make another visit there for the same
purpose next year. A Washington Post
reporter saw Mr.. Speare last evening.
"ihe American customs in conducting
funerals" said he, 'are, in my opinion,
far in advance of those of Europe. They
are simpler, shorn of the many useless Gus
toms that are in vogue abroad, and, what is
especially desirable among Americans,
in the hands of the family of the dead, who
in Europe generally have but little to say
about what shall be done or what the style
or expense of the ceremony shall be.
''The most interesting of all the European
countries in this respect is France. There
the funeral as is also the case in Italy, is
taken charge of by the government upon
the death of person until he has been laid
away IN the cemetery. Paris is the great
center In which these things are most
ported to the police they at once notify the
proper Government officials. There is a
bureau in Paris to which all such matters
are referred. Itoccupies the largest building
have ever seen, and employs force Of
clerks greater than are in our Post Office
Department.
"This bureau. having taken charge of the
matter, are at no loss in finding at once the
social relations and wealth of the deceased
and according to the latter funeral is Or
dered. These are divided into eleven
classes, the first costing over $1,000, the
others graded down until they reach the
tenth class, for which $l2 is charged, the
eleventh and last being the pauper's funeral,
and at Government expense.
1.-THE house occupied by the corpse is
draped inside and outside, the friends of
the dead having no power to control in any
particular these proceedings, except that the
embalming of the corpse is optional and
costs $500. 40
''The friends of the deceased may be rich
or poor, and may desire either to curtail the
expense or give more costly burial, but
their power is of no avail. Generally the
caskets of France may be said to be very
flimsy, usually being covered with draperv
The casket used for the poorest class Is
about as strong as cigar box. The SO paid
for this ceremony gives the use of a hearse,
which has compartment for the casket,
behind which there is room for about four
persons to ride.
1.-THE undertakers are employed by the
Government, and are military officers who
usually rank as Major or Captain, the rank,
OF course, differing for the various grades
OF funerals. They are dressed in black
velvet, wear cockades and swords and have
good deal OF gold lace on their uniforms.
The funeral beng over, bill is rendered
and pa5m sought through a Government
officer OF the particular place in which the
death occurred. 1t must be paid, or the
goods OF the deceased are attached. The
bureau is the source Of very considerable
revenue to the French nation, and it is not
permissible for any one else to undertake to
engage In the work of burying the dead
sin Italy the government also monopoizes
this business, dividing the business pro-
vided into eleven classes. In the latter
country the decorations and every thing
used in the ceremony is black. The custom
is varied in Italy only in the cases of chill
dren, for whom white hearses are provided,
the corpse being followed by a procession of
little girls dressed in white, carrying can
dies and singing as they pass along the
streets. There are some very elegant
funerals at Rome, but those styled first-cass
cost about 5000 or more.
"The country of hired mourners is En-.
gland. There the heaviest drapery pre-
walls, while the funeral cars as they are
called, in which the caskets are carried, are
immense vehicles, exceeding in size our
omnlbuses. Many of them cost fully $4,000.
The mourners that are hired follow the
hearse, and are very noisy in their pre-
tended grief. The hearse and the four
horses drawing 1t are black A lantern is
carried on each corner of the funeral car
MANY of the caskets of Russia are the
finest that are made. They are of metal,
and one saw at st. Petersburg cost $500.
The hearse of Russia is even larger than
that OF England, the floor on which the cas-
ket rests being about seven feet from the
ground. There also the heaviest drapery
prevails. In England, Germany and Russia
the funeral of the dead is carried on by pri-
vate individuals, with the exception that in
Russia the work Of the embalmer is in the
hands OF the government. There as gen
orally throughout Europe, 1t costs $500 to
embalm body, the process being, as is
supposed, that of the Egyptians and is held
a secret.n
A Miniature Republic.
san Marino, little republic inclosed