Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1900-04-26
CEMETERY CATE INNS.
Where st. Louis Funeral Parties A.
sembIe to Feast After the II
Sad Journey.


not the only persons who prosper on
death. The more funerals the more
business for half a dozen saloons about
the very gates of Bellefontaine and
Calvary cemeteries. After dark the
saloons might as well close their doors,
for the amount of custom they get, but
while funeral attendants are being
driven back along the dusty, wide road
to the city the cemetery saloon keepers
reap their harvest. There is keen COM
petition among them, and all sorts Of
signs are resorted to for attracting the
attention of the thirsty or hungry
mourners who have just buried their
dead relatives or friend. Each saloon
|. has carriage sheds and hitching posts
for horses, and each has more or less
Epretentious waiting-room, where re-
freshments, lunches, and all sorts of
drinks are sold, just as in any vine
room downtown. Several of these
rooms are large enough to accommo..
date mass meeting, and they are so
crowded with little square tables and
chairs that locomotion at times is diff
cult when the chairs are occupied and
the tables surrounded by hungry and
thirsty people. sazs
To many of Hthese people. time is not
the only great assuager of, grief. They
find it in food and drink. The distance
of the cemeteries from the city, which
is itself a city of agnifcent distances,
and the presence of the saloons, with
Ether, commodious Waiting-rooms, have
led to the origin Of a very peculiar Gus
tom-the giving of funeral feasts. In
England there is an old custom Of serv
ing funeral dinner to the mourners
and attendants after the funeral, and
just before the will of the deceased is to
be read. These are sometimes very pre-
tentious banquets, but the St. Louis
funeral feeds are different. When the
earth has closed on the caslzet and the
new mound is spade-shaped in Bellefon-
taine or Calvary, the long strings of
carriages begin TO break and empty
their occupants at some of the wayside
saloons. =,
In some cases the entire procession
of carriages at a funeral proceeds to
one of the saloons, the occupants alight
and are. entertained at the expense of
the. chief mourner, the husband prob
ably, who has just buried his wife, or
the son, who has consigned Il parent or
brother or sister to last resting place.
Lunch is ordered for the entire COM
pany, seated at the little tables, and
drinks are served those who desire
80 a.
serving, and generally the eating and
drinking is done in silence, out of re-
spect to the feeling of the host, or to
the memory of the dead.
The convenience of these saloons at
the cemetery gates can be appreciated
best by the people who have gone the
greatest distance. A funeral from
anywhere south of Chouteau avenue
would probably be more than three
hours in reaching calvary or Bellefon-
tame, and, if started at noon, it would
be considerably after dark before the
people could be at their own homes
again if they stuck to the carriages.
start of the funeral lunch in St. Louis.
Competition between the cemetery
saloon keepers is keen, consequently
they are compelled to give good service
at moderate prices, and several have re-
sorted to the eXpedient of serving Il
free lunch at all hours of the day,
patrons being charged only for their
drinks, each being expected to spend
a minimum of Is cents in the place.
Here, at 1000 north. five and one-half
miles from the city's dividing line ''Hot
Lunch All Day" signs can be seen, and
the lunch is as good as that put up in
the average saloon downtown. Nearly
opposite the gate of Calvary there is
one man who is florist, sells grass
seeds, cares for lots in the cemetery,
and conducts coffee saloon, where hot
coffee and sandwiches are dispensed.
His coffee saloon has purple decora-
lions, the chandeliers are hung in pur
pie and the flower pots are covered
with purple paper. Purple is consid
cred second mourning color.
In the saloon waiting-rooms, where
the funeral lunches and drinks are
served, the walters appear to. have
been, selected from their especial; fit
ness for scenes of mourning. AS rule
their faces are long and their appear
ance most solemn. They wear black
coats and black cravats, not the white
so much affected by their brothers
downtown, and many have rubber. heels"
to their shoes and move noiselessly as
they take the orders and serve the pa
irons of the place. Remove the aprons
and the wearers would make excellent
mourners for a funeral, such Isl the
force Of habit and environment. Even
the very bartenders seem imbued with,
the idea of death and mourning, and in
these cemetery saloons there is prob
ably less levity than in any similar re-.
sorts in the world. The air seems heavy,
and there is seldom loud or. boisterous
talk, and generally no talk at all. 13
4 8, No matter what the patrons may be
in the saloons DOWNTOWN, they are
quiet and reserved in those at the
cemetery gates, even when not in
funeral parties and simply chance 'or