Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-01-19
Dnovx ann 70 ran s1tAALrs. !.
Tho Way New York Undcrtaksr outwittes
"a voman Professional FunerRI-goer.

woman Professional FunerRi-soer.
"The other day. said an under
taker to. u New York Sun reporter,
~ was warned against woman pro
fessional funeral. goer. OF course, l
knew all about her. She is harmless.
Having sufficient income to support
herself modestly without much work,
she has plenty of time on her hands,
and for a few years has made it y daily
habit to attend funerals, OF friend or
stranger, in any part Of the. city. She
dresses very well, quietly and modcstly,
and invariably pushes herself forward
and gets into the carriage just back OF
the Inourners. She cooily walks, un-
hidden and unlimited, to the carriage
and takes a seat, much to the annoy
ance of the others who enter tho Car
riage, who do not know her.
81 was instructed carefully that il,
this woman presented herself, not to
make any objection nor to allow any
policeman or detective to lead her
away. She has habit Of screaming
very loudly If interferod with, much to
the disgust OF the people present. This
family wanted no such disturbance.
had tho drivers OF the carriages in
formed properly. When the hearse was
leaving the house, and when the near
relatives had left, tho fourth carriage
drove to the curb, aud as soon as the
carriage door was opened, out from
the small crowd in front of the house
smartly walked the young woman. Sto
got into the carriage and the door waS
promptly . closed. The carriage dor
parted, and at the next corner tho
driver turned and trotted his team to
the stable. The young woman got out
peaceably, saw she had been foiled and
departed without word. The, family
paid for the cab.
SIT is delicate matter to refuse nd
mittance at house funeral to re-
spectable-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 u ticket taker to do If a
| well-dressed woman in mourning pre-
sents herself at the door, saying she
forgot her card and gives a fictitious
but well-known name? In nine cases
out of ten the professional funeral.
| 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 in
| plenty of time to see the casket, the
flowers, if they are taken to the grave,
| and the mourners. II the floral display
is sent to the hospitals, she'll get there
early next morning and have some
excuse to see them. The professions
funeral goers has made her business a
study, and she is SO we'll up in the
vocation and SO quick witted and ready
for any emergency that she generally
gets there. Our rule of driving
them direct to the stable, If We know
them, promises t. work well. i&5&
II once knew q woman very we'll of
who spent over $1,000 in one year il
buying a cluster Of beautiful lille
for every funeral she attended. Sht
had the flowers sent in with a care
simply inscribed, From Dear Friend.
Sometimes her Offering was refused a
the door, but not often. She was care
full not to send flowers to,a marie,
man. On two occasions she sent lille
to old bachelors who died, and thei
sisters, suspecting something wrong
refused to accept them. She patronize,
large number of florists. so as not b
arouse suspicion. Sometimes she sen
the money by mail with full lin
strnctions. Then she'd 60 to Sc
whether her orders had been fully ear
ried out. She was good woman a
heart, and followed up her funerals b
praying for the dead in church after
ward. But this cannot be said of al
female professional funeral-goers
II was going to speak of a FRI
fessional man funeral-goer who had
| delight to ride on the hearse seat, BIT
he's dead. So is the young man VIII
always ran alongside the hearse 4
every funeral he saw, Hold keep it u
all the way to the grave, poor fellow
But he's dead, too. II know Of tw
middle-aged men who weep oopiousl
at every funeral they attend and al
absolute strangers to the dead. I
see them shed tears you d think the
were sorrowing fathers or brothers.
good many people will remember tn
male quartet that went about singin
at every Sunday funeral in the poe
districts, where they were stranger,
They sang beautifully, and, of conrs,
never charged cent 1t was re,
blessing, because there is as much pc,
i singing at private house funeral
Those four singers took delight
it, but never made themselves know
Two were bank clerks. 1t was nov
pastime, Iadmit. But the male pr,
fessional funeral goer is q rarity. III
women professionals are plentiful. .
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