The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-04-17
THE SOUTHERN NEGRO.
The Intense EnJayment a Anh,rfisd Him by
n PArtlcIpnllon i'm Ennera

the Iutenae Enl nlnymeht Aubrhou HIN by
Participation in Funerals.
Corn shuekings are pleasant to n
negru; protracted meetings are still
more so. especially II there are plenty
of wntermelons and chickens IN ensv
access; but after all the quintessence
of enjoyment to Sambo Is funeral,
says Mary w. Early In the Springfield
| (Mass.) Republican,. They will 20
any distance and brave any difficulty
to attend funeral. whether they have
known the deceased person or not.
They will
"swim the Esk river where ford there Ia none
rather than be balked in going to a
funeral. They may (and in fact gem
I orally do) neglect the III person. but
| Just let him die and they will flock to
the house aud to the funeral In a way
that suggests the gathering together
| of eagles over carcass. 1t Is n re-
markable fact that though negroes
seem so amiable and friendly they gem
erally show great indifference aud
neglect to members of their own race
who fall i'll, and the latter would prob
ably come to serious want in most
eases but for the ministrntions of white
| persons.
A conspicuous instance of this kind
| occurred recently in the city of Lynch
burg. Va. A gentleman living there
| had n body-servaut taken ill. aud his
master, who was much attached to
him, did everything for him that kind
ness could suggest or money accom-
plish, while his own race let him
severely alone" At length he died,
aud then they commenced to flock to
have the pleasure of looking at the
corpse aud assisting in the funeral.
But the master met them at the door
aud waved them back. go away"
said he. You wouldn't come near
him while he was i'll, and now you
shan't have anything to do with his
| funeral" Being wealthy, liberal and
! kind hearted this gentleman had
handsome funeral for his faithful body
servant, but the pall-bearers aud per-
sous occupying the hacks were all
white. and the negroes were extremely
discoutented Mt missing the treat.
In slavery times very amusing cpl
/ sode occurred once at the funeral of
negro woman. just after the coffin
was lowered into the grave her hus-
! band burst into wall of lamentation
that quite startled and touched the by
ISLANDERS. But IL soon appeared that
he was not bewniIiug his ''seasted"
| (deceased) mate, but bunch of keys
he had let slip into the coffin aud which
had been nailed up. How ! gwine
open my chist, aud my cupboard. aud
my hen house nowpn lie woefully
asked.
Negroes have many superstitious on
the subject of death. Ii n whippoor-
will comes into the porch or near the
house they take It as sign that there
will soon be death in the family. and
they have the same superstition IN re-
gard to forest bird coming into the
house. rs is sometimes the case in a
violent storm or during n long spell of
inclement weather. IL the grave is
dug too short they consider that ccr-
tain sign that there will soon an
other death in the f1s.nst;fT. Nothing
could induce aJtGGSro to sweep UNDER
nenLhLtse bed on which a corpse. lies.
- At recent negro funeral n wreath
of pink hyacinths was laid on the cof-
lin and when they were going to lower
the coffin the chief pall-bearer seemed
| quite perpleNea rs to the best DISPOSE
ton to make of this floral decoration.
, Finally. however, he cut the gordian
knot by putting it on his own head,
and during the remainder of the
funeral service bis shiny black face
and woollv locks were surmounted by
this delicate aud fragrant pink wreath.
A fuucra, gives negroes an oppor-
tunity to enjoy several things to winch
they are partial. They can wear
black. and, NOR over black Grape, if
they are sufficiently near kin to the
deceased They dearly love TO wear
mourning. strange as it may appear.
when nature has already condemned
them to perpetual suit of sable Then
they love in take a hnck RIDE 10 the
grave, ii they are living iu town. A
friend of mine gave me a diverting
account of seeing adozcu little negroes
dismount from the hearse on its stop
ping at the house where the corpse
lay. These children had availed them
selves of the opportunity to take a
drive, and their spirits were not ut all
affected by the funcreal character of
the vehicle they had been driving in.
Negroes seem to think that death
i'm the family coufers sort of pompos-
ity on the survivors. as an illustration
of which l may mention the incident
of a little negro boy whose mother had
been dead only few days and who
was sitting apart from his usual play
fellows and declining to play with
them; whereou one of them tauntiugly
said: You needn't be so proud. if
your mother is ddtd."