The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-10-07
FUNERALS IN LISBON.
THE POOR RENT coFFlNs FOR THE
JOURNEY TO THE GRAVE.

Used Over and Over Again.
1.-THE burial customs Of the Spanish as
seen in Cuba arc In some respects much
like those of Portugal, said former res
idcnt Of Portugal. 1.-The poor there, like
the poor in Spain, economize on funeral
expenses by making one coffin serve for a
number Of funerals In succession. In Lis
bon ut least the coffin Is usually very
substantial piece of work, covered with
red leather and freely studded with brass
nails. Its lid Is attached with hinges, 70
that the coffin opens and shuts like large
trunk. OF course the selling price Of an
article like this would be beyond the
means Of any poor family, but the rent
for one day Is comparatively small.
"When Q funeral procession reaches the
grave nthe great Prazeres cemetery, just
outside Of Lisbon, the undertaker's mon,
instead Of lowering the coffin, open its lid,
take out the corpse and lower 1t into it's
last resting place. The empty coffin Is left
there until Gallego takes it back to its
owner after the lnourncrs have retired.
''These Gallegos, by the way, natives Of
Galicia in Spain. do all the work Of por-
tiers in Lisbon. II you ask native Portu-
6uOnC oCA Nuhp w onAAy O." PuASSA Vi q NssAAbo
through the streets, he will answer you In
q tone Of offended dignity, You chamar
UNI Gallego' Il will 60 and call q Gal
lego), for no native Portuguese would bo
seen carrying load Of any kind in public.
"rhese Gallegos have no objection to
carrying load, even when the load is .
recently vacated coffin. That Is the kind
Of work they como to Lisbon for, 30 that
in their old age they may go across the
frontier to Galicia and i've on their saw
ings. And one little incident that hap
pened while was In Lisbon showed how
little impression superstitions regarding
death mako on the Gallego mind The
city Of Lisbon collected toll on goods
brought within its limits, and there were
guards at the different gates Of the city to
see that nothing was struggled In.
Zone very rainy afternoon the guard at
the Prazeres gate glanced along the road
that leads to the cemetery and saw sus-
picious looking package lying on the
ground close under the wall on one side.
There was not living being In sight.
The guard thought he had detected plot
He thought that that package, whatever
1t might be- had been loft there under tie
wall by smugglers, who were no doubt
sheltered somewhere in its neighborhood
and watching their opportunity to rush 1t
through the gate as soon as the rain held
mp little. So the active and intelligent
officer got his little sword ready to draw Mt
a moments notice. and, regardless of the
downpuur advanced along the road to sur
prise and apprehend the smugglers, or, at
least, their goods.
"When he got to within 30 yards Of the
suspicious object, ho made out through the
rain that the case on the ground was of q
red color and studded all over with brass
nails. That discovery startled him lit
tie, but the next moment he was utterly
demoralized at seeing the lid of the coffin
fly open and disheveled head thrust it.
self out, its eyes staring wildly. Without
waiting to draw his sword or challenge the
apparition, the guard faced about and re-
treated at a run. When he reached the
gate, he called his comrades to come and
see tho abandoned corpse that had burst
open its coffin on the wayside. The force
seized their carbines and paraded under
was only very bedraggled Gallego tramp
ing toward them, carrying an empty coffin
on his back.
"On examination the Gallego deposed
that, being overtaken by the rain on his
way from the cemetery, he had shut him
self up In tho coffin to keep dry and wait
for fairer weather, but, when he heard foot
steps stealthily approaching, he began to
be afraid that some one was coming to
play trick and lock him up. That was
why he had so suddenly thrust his head
out and stared. He was no corpse, but an
honest. Woodworking Gallego. As for
the coffin, the senores guards might look
for themselves and see that it was empty.
'There seems to be a certain morbid
fondness for what may be called playing
with the dead In Portugal. They seem to
take a peculiar delight in dressing up
their dead and exposing them to public
view. l happened to be present at the
solemn requiem Of q cardinal patriarch Of
Lisbon, when the corpse, dressed in full
canonicals, was placed in half sitting
posture to face the crowd in the nave of
the cathedral, and thought at the time
that the interment ought to have taken
place sooner.
Zone fine Sunday afternoon in spring
was strolling along one Of the main thor
oughfares of Lisbon when the shouts and
merry chatter Of lot of little boys and
girls attracted my attention to side
street. Tho children all nicely dressed,
were coming down the side street ut q
brisk walk, evidently Interested in some
thing that was being carried along by
three or four of them. When they reached
the corner, saw that the center of inter-
est was very small brass studded coffin.
The lid was open, and could sec the lit
Ito flower decked and bedizened corpse in
side of it..
"Another time l mistook the corpse of
a child Oh its way to tho grave for waxen
image of the Madonna being carried in
procession. 1t was little dead girl beau
tifully dressed in white satin and wearing
white veil and white flowers. The little
body had been made to sit up In chair
which four boys were carrying on their
shoulders. The bearers and the other
children in the procession wore white rib
bons and white flowers, all emblelnatic Of
innocence and happy confidence that the
soul of their little friend was In paradise"
New York Sun.