St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-11-24
DIRECT THEIR FUNERALS.

DIRECT THEIR FUNERALS. 1
nla women Of Esstern Pennsylvania
write Oat Instruotisns Cover 4
Sng Every DETAIL II
Nearly every aIed person dying
these days in east Pennsylvanis has
some directions written for burial.
Not q few 60 20 far as to name the
preacher they want, the text the
hymns, the burial place, the pallbear-
ers, describe the shroud. dwell on the
funeral meats. name the number OF
and wagons, describe the
grave and materials to be used. the
casket and lining. plate and trim
mings and inscription ON the lid. In
fact, says the New York Sun, nothing
u left unmentioned, even to the kind
of stockings and slippers. Said one
old lady who has written out her de-
sires:
81 have omitted nothing. Every
thing want il written down. j know
how I want it; they don't. II I write
it all down they will do as say, and
then I am sure. / told one Of my
daughters that il she'd allow any
flowers to be placed near me, I'd open
my eyes in my coffin and stare at her.
1 hate funeral flowers. II anyone has
flowers to give me, let them send
them in while / live. hate to GO to
q funeral and zee pallbearers who are
enemies to one another, or who never
knew the dead person well I know
my best friends. and ! want them to
carry me when I die. They are all
friends to one another. Not long ago
heard q hymn sung at . woman's
funeral which knew she never liked
in life, and never helped to sing.
There are funeral hymns don't like,
and that's the reason have named
the hymns want sung at my funeral
Suppose they'd sing I Would Not Live
/ would not like that 70
well. There are 70 many persons who
would like to live always, but am
not one Of those. Suppose they'd put
4 white shroud on me. desp1os white
shrouds, and that 10 why I wrote
down a gray shroud for me. When
nv husband built q cowshed last fall
he had all the specifications written
out in detail, even to the nails Why
shouldn't we have all the specidca-
tions for our burial, the last act on
earth?
my sister was buried few years
ago, and when journeyed 100 miles
to her funeral, to my disgust I found
out the minister who was going to
preach was . man my sister had mo
regard for ut all. She never spoke to
him II she could avoid 1t. How do
you think her spirit felt when that
man got up to speak. That il anoth-
er reason Nhy people should write out
all their funeral desires before they
die. was at funeral two years ago
with an old lady friend. They had
cooked beans for dinner for the fu-
neral, along with meats and pies. Ny
friend roundly abused the idea OF
cooked beans for funeral. and when
she died didn't they have beans! Now,
if she'd have written out the bill OF
fare for her funeral dinner NO such
mistakes would have been made.
II want nothing hot served at my
funeral dinner except coffee. Every
thing else must be cold, and then
there will not be any such fuss in the
Last spring I was at .
funeral with lady friend. and they
had stewed chickens Some OF the
preachers felt offended. There were
xix there. They said people were too
eager to accuse the clergy OF being
overly fond Of chicken. She would
never have chicken at her funeral
She never wrote it down, and, bless
my soul, when she died, they killed
! dozen Of her favorite hens and
,tewed them for her funeral dinner.
II she'd have written out her desires
before she died no such miserable
mistake would have happened, and
the chickens would have been living
TO this day.
"Then, how does q woman look IN
her coffin who has q very dark COM
plexion, If she is all spread out with
! shroud of black satin. Women
should study these things. II wom-
An has q long, thin neck, why should
she have on q low-cut shroud. II .
woman doesn't know how to dress
herself when she II dead, let her con-
suit some person who has taste, and
then write down what she Is told.
Dead people should try to make A.
good an impression as possible. for
the last look of friends, and nothing
should be left undone to bring out
the remark after the funeral: Didn't
she look NICE Nothing false should
ever be ordered for the dead. want
white gloves, and / have so written il
iown. A friend of mine has positively
ordered . corset for her funeral
When sick her back gets SO tired that
her doctor ordered her to wear cor
,et in bed. Well. shes going to wear
,ne when she's dead il they carry ont
her written instructions. There II mo-
Danger that they won't obey. The
written requests and orders Of people
who die are regarded A. sacred. II !
,rder my old family horse to be killed
IN uclIB moSt OO Ate MANY ESCOkA0 w
this to save the dumb animals from
being abused. Other old horses are
pensioned and provided for. But what
ID ordered about burying the dead
must be carried out, even to the in
scription on the gravestones."
The old lady concluded by saying:
Il, like many others. have grave
clothes all ready made, but We ind
out that it il necessary to provide
written instructions for funeral de-
tails, - well a making win to be-
queath our property
a 0uestioA Of Color.
A young clerk at the Oliver-Finnis
company received slight
scratch the other day, and the manager
called out to the negro who does chores
around the store to go and get some
flesh-eolored court plaster.
The negro started on d0wnthe street
- . r,~>Iv ra~A hut in 4 few minufea