The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-06-04
A RUGGED OLD BELLMAN.
For Twenty-Four Years He Has
Tolled the Funeral Bell
An Odd Character Who Is Well Known
to the Citizens of the Empire City
and surroundings-A Blizxsrd
Reminiscence.

and surroundings-A Blizxsrd
"Reminiscences.
No figure is more familiar to the
undertakers of New York, Brooklyn,
Jersey City and the towns for miles
around than the short, stout form Of
Patrick Laffay, whose duty 1t is to toll
the bell as funeral professions are en-
tering Greenwood cemetery. For near
ly a quarter of century Patrick has
performed this mournful task, and q
more faithful bellman never tolled a
bell, whether it be in the tower Of
cemetery. archway or in modest
church or stately cathedral. In twen-
ty-four years he has missed but few
days from his post of duty, and then
only because of sickness or death in his
own family.
A New York Sun reporter found the
rugged bellman on a recent afternoon
on duty under the arched gateway. It
was cold and clustering, and Patrick's
sturdy frame was warmly bundled up.
The reporter had hardly made known
his errand when Patrick espied a
funeral procession about to enter the
Fifth avenue gateway. A few strides
brought him to the tower. He gave the
rope pull and the bronze bell an
nounced the arrival of another funeral
train. Then he opened little door and
pressed lever, thus setting in motion
some machinery which would keep the
bell tolling while the hearse and car
riages were winding up the snow-cov-
cred slope leading to the archway.
This machinery is automatic and will
run until the bell has tolled eight times.
This done, the bellman waited the
approach of the funeral train, just as
he had done thousands of times before.
He had waited the passage of modest
professions, where there were but one
OF two or three carriages besides the
hearse, and he had waited the arrival
of almost endless corteyes of seventy or
eighty carriages. People OF every age
and condition have in his day been car
ried to their last resting place from the
humblest children to men of wealth,
distinction and national fame. He has
tolled the bell announcing the arrival
of such distinguished dead as s. s. Cox,
James Gordon Bennett, Maj j.-Gen. Hal
lecl, Gen. Thomas G. Dakin and Gordon
w. Burnham.
When funeral procession reaches
the entrance it is the bellman's duty to
announce at the Office the name Of the
undertaken having it in charge. He
rarely has to stop to inquire, for he
knows nearly every undertaken in New
York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hoboken,
and also many on Staten Island and many
Of the towns on Long Island 1t is only
when procession comes from some dis
tance that the bellman cannot call the
undertaken by name.
When the procession yesterday had
come near enough so that he could see
and, addressing one Of the clerks at the
desk, said simply:.
Henderson"
civilian DAILY" was the reply.
That meant that William DAILY was
the gravedigger who had charge Of dig
ging the grave for the body that had
now arrived. The bellman received the
announcement, strode out of the Office
and then ran at kind Of wallowing
gait for hundred yards and called out
Daly's name to Foreman Timothy Kane
flick of the gravediggers. Kanefick
spoke to DAILY, and soon he in company
with three other men armed with SHOW
els was following in the wake Of the
funeral procession, which was now
winding slowly along Landscape av-
enue.
From this time on the bell was tolling
most Of the time for an hour. Process
sion after procession wound up the
snow-covered slope until IL seemed al
most as though they made an endless
cortege. In each case the undertalker's
each time. he went through the routine
of announcing his name and summon
ing the gravedigger.
Patrick is as uncommunicative as he
is faithful There Is not suggestion
Of romance in his makeup. So long as
the funerals come and 60 according to
rule, and the bell tolls and the grave
diggers go about their duty, he Is sat-
isfied.
~ don't have much time except to at
tend to the funerals," he said II see
ouoiu Coihc ssho &ob dAl0 ehas 70 ooous
all know about them"
The only thing he seemed to remem-
Der that was at ell out Of the usual
routine was the blizzard. "That was a
bad time, indeed" he said "1t was the
only day know of when there wasn't
so much as one funeral come into the
cemetery. The Snow was SO deep that
they couldn't get here. The next day
one came in and tho hearse got TO the
tomb, but the carriages had to stop just
after they had got through the gate. ]
remcmber that time that the snow was
two or three feet on the level and that
it was piled up in drifts here and there
ten or twelve feet high"
Sand you were here through 1t all?'
'tOh, yes; trust me to be here. But II
was pretty tough time. And, to think
Of 1t, not single funeral ona whole
dayl"
Foreign Military Notes.
Special privileges have been granted
10 several Austrian regiments tor ex.
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