Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-12-20
FOND OF FINE FUNERALS.
French PEOPLE Make the Last Rites an Oo-
casion Tor drcat Display.

caslon for GREAT Display.
The love Of the French for display
n burial ceremonies has been pointed
out as characteristic Of the nation.
The people have pathetic way Of
saying "although IL costs much TO
i've In Paris, IL costs still more to
die" This Is, In a measure, true,
and that 1t In so, says the Baltimore
Sun, Is due TO the fact
that the Government has mon
opoly of the, work of buying
the dead, and has established u scale
OF prices by which the style or funeral
IL regulated, from that costing hun
1reds Of dollars to the one which
opens the fosse commune common
gravel AS a rule the French are
fond of fine funerals For statesmen
of the FIRST rank the Government de-
crees State funeral, which Is an 0c-
caslon Of great display and frequently
leads to political demonstrations but
private funerals are also COSTLY and
many II man who has lived with the
utmost meanness all his life is laid to
rest with prlncely pomp, The door
Of his residence is hung with black
curtains, emb. oidered with silver;
his monogram, in silver Is on AL the
mourning coaches which follow the
hearse;l the drivers are dressed in
black, with knee breeches, high
boots, three .cornered hats and long
crepe streamers on their arms; the
horses for the hearSe are caparlsoned
with sweeping draperies of black and
silver, and on the hearse itself are
plumes and silver figures OF angels
and cherubs. Then, too, the custom
OF sending out NOTICES of the death
and invitations to the funeral IS very
common, and sometimes those NO.
tees are as elaborate and as elegantly
engraved as the most expensive invi-
tations to ball,
In striking contrast with the de,
corous funerals Of the rich are the
scenes when the body OF very poor
person is to be laid In the grave.
The city Is strict in regard to them.
The body can only be kept twenty.
four hours from the time Of death,
and it must be buried in a coffin
made Of thin deal boards, implanted,
unvarnished, and so slight that IL is
always wrapped up and fastened
with ropes lest 1T should come to
pieces. 1t is taken to the grave in u
hearse which is hardly better than q
dray At the tOsse commune the
priest is allowed 'toinc'ude six tuner.
ais in one service. Fully to explain
the necessity for the fosse commune,
it is necessary to say word about
French graveyards They are gov.
erned entirely different from ours,
and their objects seems to be to afford
graves to the millions who are dead,
without taking too much space from
the millions who live. In certain
parts of the cemetery graves may be
bought outright, though at enormous
prices, and remain forever in the pos
session Of family In other sec
vions the graves are bought slngly for
five years from the date OF burial,
and at the end Of the specified time
the boEes are taken up and buried in
the fosse commune. The fosse COM
mune- the lowest grave Of all-is a
ditch twelve feet deep twelve feet
wide and as the Size Of the grave
yard permits. Herethe collins are
put side by side in two rows, the
heads meeting IN the center, When
certain number are in the ditch it
is closed and on another layer of earth
more collins are afterward laid.
When the ditch is filed to the sur
face another one alongside opened,
and 50 until the available space is
used up. Then the first ditch is re.
opened and fresh collins are put in
place of the old ones, which have de-
paVnd