Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-27
WOMEN AS UNDERTAKERS.

They Attend to All Details Except to
Conduct Funeral.
FROM the New York Tribune.
Many women in New York have mas
tered the art of embalming and are en-
ployed as undertakers' assistants in much
the same way as a doctor calls on the
services of nurse. There are several
women undertakers who sell collins, pro-
vide shrouds and attend to other details
OF their gloomy calling. These last are
not necessarily embalmers, and are in
most instances the widows of undertakers,
carrying on the business which their hus-
tands established. They assume charge of
dead body and prepare 1t for burial, but
invariably call on some friendly man I'M
dertaker to conduct the funeral and os-
tensibly appear in charge. Brooklyn
boasts a woman who is not only an IN
aertaker, but the sexton of a church as
we'll. successfully discharging all the du-
ties that pertain to both callings. except
the personal conduct of a public funeral
mo woman has ever yet undertaken to
walk up church aisle at the head of a
funeral procession" said the secretary of
the Qndertakers' Association. "She would
appear extremely out of place, and nobody
would have her. Public sentiment demands
a man for that dignified office. Women can
nave an undertaker'S shop and sell goods,
and they can be embalmers and tend to
the dressing of a body, but when it comes
to the funeral arrangements they have to
call in a man.
This is the opinion of the trade, sus-
tanned by many voices. but a newcomer in
the ranks OF Brooklyn undertakers is a
woman of marked individuality and keen
business intuition, who. 1t is predicted,
is not likely to permit either popular preju-
dice Or conventtonality to interfere with
fn In Ga~ hrt,. ,pr
not left to her by any relative, nor did
she stumble into it by accident. She de-
liberately chose it, and is probably the
only unmarried woman in the country pur-
suing that calling. There would be moth
Ing incongruous in the spectacle of this
young woman ushering funeral process
SIGN up an aisle or otherwise being asso-
ciated with the trappings of woe. The
habitual expression of her face is severe
and austere. She Is tall, slight and very
erect. Arrayed In the plain tailor made
suit of black which she invariably wears
her masculine appearance is striking to a
degree. No pulled Sleeves fluffy hair, wells
or superf1uous drapery characterize her
attire. Her skirts are as plain and scant
as skirts can be. her hair is put plainly
away under an Alpine hat. and she always
wears the stiff collar, cuffs and formal tie
that distinguish the apparel of a man.
Those familiar with this unique specimen
of the woman up to date assert that she
Is seldom seen to smile and is never known
using few superf1uous words even then.
In addition to her calling of undertaken
this young woman lends money to a large
number of people and takes mortgages on
their personal effects security. She has
been singularly successful in this business,
and is considered by her neighbors to be
well-to-do. She Is honest and upright in
all her dealings, and has been known to
be lenient in more than one instance when
she thought circumstances justified mild
treatment. This unusual woman is not a
product of Brooklyn life and institutions,
having been transplanted thither from q
town in western New York.