Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-12-01
DROVE HER TO THE STABLES.
How an Undertaken Outwitted n
Woman Professional Funeral-Goer.

to New York Sun reporter, II wa
warned against q woman professional
| funeral-goer. OF course. / knew all abou
her. She Is harmless. Having a suffi
| cicnt income 20 support herself modestiy
with much work. she has plenty Of tim,
on her hands, and for q few years Ia,
made It daily habit 10 attend funerals
| Of friend or stranger, in any part OF tn,
| city. She dresses very well. quietly ant
modestly, and Invariably pushes herself
forward and gets into the carriage just
| back of the mourners. She coolly walks
unbidden and unlimited, 10 the carria 81
| and takes a seat. much 10 the annoyance
] Of the others who enter the carriage,
| who do not know her
II was instructed carefully that If this
woman presented herself, not TO make
any objection nor TO allow any policeman
or detective to lead her away. She has a
habit of screaming very loudly II inter
fered with, much to the disgust Of the
people present. This family wanted no
such disturbance. / had the drivers OF
the carriages Informed properly. When
the hearse was leaving the house. "nd
when the near relatives had left, the
fourth carriage drove to the curb, and as
soon as the carriage door was opened,
out from the small crowd in front Of the
house smart walked the young woman.
She got into the carriage, and the door
was promptly closed. The carriage de-
parted, and at the next corner the driver
turned and trotted his team TO the stable.
The young woman got out peaceably, saw
she had been foiled and departed without
a word. The family paid for the cab.
1T is a delicate matter TO refuse ad-
mittance at a house funeral to respec-
table-looking, well-dressed woman in
black if she's unknown. Some families
issue cards of admission to the house or
church on funeral days. But what Is
ticket-taker 10 do IL weli-dressed WO-
man in mourning presents herself at the
door. saying she forgot her card and
gives O fictitious, but well-known, name!
In nine cases out Of ten the professional
fineral-goer gets in. If she don't, she'll
take a flying start by the nearest car
and get TO the cemetery and be there ~
plenty of time 10 see the casket, the
flowers-if they are taken to the grave
and the mourners. If the floral display Is
sent to the hospitals, she'll get there early
next morning and have some excuse
to see them. The professional funeral
goer has made her business study, ana
She is so well up In the vocation ana so
ouick-witted and ready for any emer-
gency that she generally gets there. OuF
new rule of driving them direct 10 the
stable, II we know them promises ~
work well. &c
81 once knew a woman very well OIL,
who spent over 81 900 in one year In BUY
Ing a cluster Of beautiful lilies Tor every
funeral she attended. She had the flowers
sent I'm with a card simply inscribed,
Prom a Dear Friend Sometimes her
Offering was refused at the door, but not
often She was careful not 10 SEM
flowers TO a married man. On two oc-
casions she sent lilies to old Dachelors
At CnCnpDflnU
something wrong, refused to accept them
She patrOniZed large number OF norlsts,
so as not 20 arouse suspicion sometimes
she sent the money by mail with full IN
Then she q 20 10 SEE Whetntr
her orders had been fully carried out.
She was a good woman at heart. and FOL
lowed up her funerals by praying TOR the
dead in church afterward But TINS can
not be said Of all female professional
Il was going TO speak of a professional
man funeral-gOer, who had a delight TO
ride on the hearse seat, but he's dead.
SO is the young man VINO always ran
alongside the hearse at every funeral he
saw He'd keep 1t up all the way to
the grave. poor fellow But he's dead,
too. l know of two middle-aSed men
who weep cOpiOusly at every funeral they
attend and are absolute strangers to the
dead. To see them shed tears you'd think
they were sorrOwing fathers or brothers.
A good many people will remember the
male quartette that went about singing
at every Sunday funeral in the poor dis
trict. where they were strangers. They
sang beautifully, and. of course, never
charged n cent. 1t was a real blessing,
because there is so much poor singing at
funerals. Those four sing
ers took a delight in IT, but never made
themselves known. Two were bank clerks. |
il was a novel pastime i admit. But |
the male professional funeral-goer is a |
rarity. The women professionals are |
plentiful"