The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-02-07

Costly EuncralS.-Arp Writes About the
IINtr;lvayance Of People.


costs the most money. was Just
reading an itcmizcd statement of how
much it cost to bury Senator Morrill,.
OF course he was buried at the govern
mcnt expense, but it seems to me he
could have been put away for less
money. The sum total ioots up 81,
il2 me caskct cost 800, cedar
shipping case 500. cmbalmine $50,
carriages sos, special train from
Washington to Springfield $7S2,
Springfield to Montpelier $ll7, fares
for attendants from Troy to Washing
ton S3lz, Pullman cars 500, commits
sarics So.
These are The largest items. There
is IA page full of smaller ones. Then
there is decoration Of the Senate
chamber 500 and Grape and dove,
and rcgalia and flowers $50, advcr
tising programme $l13, music $40, etc.
But the largest item is - 900, a year 5
salary after he died This went to
his son. That is the rule. II Il mem
Der dies while in Office his salary goes
on for a year. But Vermont was not
so very far away II Il member from
California or Oregon dies the cost Of
transportation for the remains and es-
cort runs up into the thousands. Ah,
my country! Where the carcass is
the eagles will be gathered together.
That is the reason l reckon why the
eagle is our national emblem, for the
treasury is the carcass.
was ruminating about this grand
parade over the burial Of public men
the expense Of 1.-THE glitter and
galore and show Of it, for at the last
it is junket, frolc that members
Of Congress like and they scheme to
get on tho grand excursion. Booker
Washington says that the negro is
never happier than when going to a
funeral White folks set them the
example, especially in the towns and
cities. The truth is that common
man who barely supports his family
and is struggling along to educate his
children can t afford to die. for the
funeral expenses take all he has left
and leaves the family pcnnilcss. pocr
Tom Brumby had no wife or children,
but for years had been supporting
poor old mother and educating an or
phan niece. lie had when he died
$500 in bank and it took that-the
last dollar-to bury him. l imagine
that if he could have spoken in his
last moments he would have said:
"Givc it to mother. OH give it to
my mother. A S400 caskct will do
me no good The very last letter
that he wrote her from Manila said
'If do not live to get back, there are
500 in bank for you"
Well, maybe Congress will grant
the old lady pension. Maybe so,
but I reckon she will die before she
gets it, and as for that prize money l
see that the government is fighting it,
and that means its non-payment.
Dewey's victory is an old song now. I
wonder if they would bury him at
public expense.
It seems to me that the cost Of fu-
ncrals should be proportioned to the
condition Of the family. AS for me, |
feel like metal casket that would
keep out the water and the worms and
plain marble tombstone would be
enough. No monument, and but
line of epitaph. Some grass and Aow-
crs that my unclaimed spirit would
like to see when it hovers over the
place where its prisonhousc was bur-
led. Neglected graves are sign Of
inhumanity. Costly ones a sign Of
vanity. But monuments to heroes or
to great and noble men are always pro-
per. Not that they arc of any conse-
quence to the dead, but they point n
moral to the living. Let us build
that monument to the modest and gal
liant Brumby and place it on the capt.
tol grounds where it can be seen and
where it will speak in silence to the
pcople as they pass. Let the tribute
he one of love, honor and admiration
from the old and the young. Our lit
tie grand child who was his niece and
loved him will open her little iron
bank when it gets full and send the 50
to the committee. Every little school
girl and boy should have dime or
nickel in that monument, for besides
his courage and patriotism he was
loving and kind to his aged mother.
He deserves monument for that.
Several times of late I have read the
talks Of Carnegie and Rockefeller to