The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-09
FOR THEIR HOLIDAY NEEDS
Sternberg JeweIry Company.

manity called attention to the acts Of
cruelty which were perpetrated in the
small hours of the morning before ordi-
nary mortals were astir. Inquiries were
made and it was ascertained that the
boys were frequently whipped into ODE
dience and forced into chimneys which
were sometimes hot enough to blister
their little hands and feet. Thus it re-
suited that this peculiar funeral caused
an agitation which finally liberated at
least a thousand boys from tyranny and
slavery.
A New Highlander who had sought in
vain for notoriety If not for fame more
than half a century took strange pre-
cautions to insure a large attendance at
his funeral. He had no near relatives,
and when convinced that death was APP
preaching he turned over to a trusted
friend the few hundred dollars he had
saved, with Instructions that 1t should be
spent on his funeral. No carriages or
conveyances' were to be used, and the
coffin was to be carried to the somewhat
distant burial ground by relays of men
to be changed every 100 yards Each car
rier was to receive a liberal douceur and
in addition q small sum of money was to
be handed to every person who entered
the grave yard while the ceremony was
being performed. There was no need to
advertise the funeral, for before the cof-
ments were the subject. of general COM
ment. Three times as many bearers as
could be employed applied for positions.
and when the cortege reached the ceme-
terry the crowd was so large that it was
difficult to force an opening for the pro-
cession. Every one present received a
cash present as stipulated, but the min
lister who read the service made the APP
plicantsi wait long enough to hear some
very timely remarks on the evil or av-
arice and the unseemliness of desecrat-
ing sacred place in order to obtain a
few pence. ee
In the days when dustmen fiourished
after the manner described by Dickens in
"Our Mutual Friend" a member of the fra
ternity died in the suburbs of London. He
had amassed a nice little fortune, as for
tunes ran in those days, and arranged for
a funeral whose eccentricities would be
pardoned in view Of the number and size
of the legacies. The procession was q very
singular one. First came twelve boys, each
carrying link, emblematical of the chain
of circumstances which had led up to the
prosperity of the deceased. Then came
twelve men, each with whip carried han
die upward, followed by twelve more, each
with a shovel held upside down. For a
hearse; the deceased's favoFite dust
cart was used, and very an
cient looking horse which had drawn
the cart Tor more than twenty
years was led after it. After IT
came a number of dust carts, with several
dozen members Of the dust collecting and
kindred professions, and a detachment of
cinder-sifters brought up the rear. There
was something grotesque about the ar
rangements, but there was nothing to
complain of in the matter of decorum or
good order. and no hitch of any kind APP
pears to have taken place.
But perhaps the most extraordinary fu-
neral on record took place in Siam about
eighteen months ago. There was in that
country four sacred white elephants, and
one of these dying at the advanced age of
122, it was given a funeral grander than
that accorded to princes of the royal blood.
One hundred Buddhist priests oficiated,
and the three surviving white elephants
led the procession, Trumpeters heralded
its advance and thousands Of devout Siam
csc men and women followed. The king
and his court received the remains at the
Menam river down which thousands of
barges and movable houses were hoated
Flags of all kinds were used and reliable
estimates placed the attendance at more
than 10000. The king bowed his knee to the
funeral car in recognition of the alleged
divinity Of the deceased and the proceed
ings were continued well into the night,
The jewels and offering buried with the
elephant represented quite a respectable
fortune.