The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-15
AN ITALIAN FUNERAL.
It Was as Sad as a Rainy Day in
Autumn.
From, the Neto York Advertiser.

]
From the Neto York Advertiser.
Walking through the Italian quarter the
other day with an Italian banker l came
upon a crowd just around the Bend, in the
midst Of which stood ten uniformed mem
bers of brass band wearing the Italian
colors. whats thissr 1 asked. "a we'd
dingE"
"Almost the opposite, was the reply. at
is the funeral of a baby. Would you like
to see itg'
Ireplied In the affirmative. and the inter
prefer spoke TO several of the bystanders
and soon found that the house witch death
had chosen was a rear tenement two doors
| above. Into the long, low alley we turned,
and, after fighting our way through the
throngs OF Italians which blockaded it, sue
ceeded in reaching the stairway. From one
| of the women on the stairs we found that
| the ceremony was being conducted on the
third floor. The priest was OF the last
prayer but above the low monotone rose
the grief-stricken cry of the mother, a tall
angular woman, with features more on the
order of the Greek than on the type of her
! native country.
MILO caro-. povero feglio-mio povero feg-
lilo" my dear. poor child-my poor child,
she cried. and although she shed no tears it
of deepest grief.
The little corpse, that of baby about 10
months old, lay on table at the head of
the room, and surrounding it were over
twenty little children with awe-Stricken
faces, and every little while one of them
would lean over and touch the lifeless hand
which hung over the edge of the table.
Gathered behind them were their mothers.
and there was not women in the almost suf-
locating room that did not hold in her
arms a baby. In fact, there were
only two men In the room beside the father.
undertakers and the priest Many of the
women and young girls cried continually,
but not a sound came from any of them.
Many stood with their large, lustrous, black
eyes cast upward and allowed the tears to
flow freely down their faces, and any one
Of them would have made the fortune of a
painter could he have but transferred her
expression to canvas.
The prayer over the priest uttered a few
words over the body of the child and then
motioned to the undertakers. They came
at once to the table and quickly placed the
body of the child in a little white coffin
that one of them had brought IN. They
took away the candles that had been burn
ing at the head and foot of the
bier and then began to tear down
the white hsngings with which
the walls and pictures had been decorated.
While they were engaged in this work the
friends of the people were taking their
last leave OF the child, and, as they took up
the cover the mother, who all the time had
been continuing her sorrowful cry, came TO
the side of the coffin and then broke down
and wept for the first time.
ooh, my dear child" she cried, in her
native tongue, you are going to heaven
and will meet you there soon. Good-by,
good-by."
Hardly had she kissed the child once
when the undertakers pushed their way for
ward and began to screw down the lid The
work was finished in an instant and then,
taking it up between them, they walked
toward the door. The father followed
closely after with his wife, and as they
reached the bottom Of the stairs the band
started the opening strains Of an Italian
dirge. The crowd in the streets grew more
dense, and after the undsrtakers had depos-
tied the coffin in the white hearse they
mounted the box and drove to the cor
ner. SaThe mother father and two children
entered the first carriage, and the second
carriage was soon occupied by the god
fathers and godmothers of the child, four
in number. Then followed ten more car
riages, into which the friends of the family
arranged themselves. When the last vehicle
| rolled away to join the others the band
| stopped playing and walked to the front Of
the hearse. They started a new funeral
march. and off the procession started.
While | stood listening to the Italians
Interpretation of the mothers cries and
other remarks noticed that the crowd, in
stead of dispensing, seemed to be growing in
size.
Why don't these people move onY' I
asked.
They are waiting to see the prosecution"
he replied. at will be back this way in a
little while" Then seeing my look of sur-
prise. he continued:
There is an old Italian superstition, that
is carried out to this day, to the effect that
whenever corpse leaves the house the
funeral procession must pass around the
streets and then pass the house SO that the
spirit can find its way home should it ever
be released from the grave.
For nearly ten minutes the crowd re-
NAMED standing silently about, and then O
| score of little children came running down
| the street crying:
"Lo, vidl Lo, vidi! Che vianew look.
| look; see, it's coming.
The next moment the band turned the
corner, and as they reached the street in
front of the house they halted for an instant
and then resumed their way. The hearse
was also stopped q second, aud then the
procession moved on the nearest way to the
cemetery.
This was all, and in less than five minutes
the crowd had dwindled slowly away, and
Mulberry street became natural again
NO matter how poor an Italian may be he
VIII always spend every cent he has or can
borrow on q birth, death. or a wedding. He
looks upon those three events as the greatest
IN mans life. and he is never known to
allow any OF the events to pass by udcele-
brated.
That funeral cost over 500, ard the father
OF the child does hot make that amount in
six months.