The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1900-02-08
COSTLY FUNERALS.
Bill Arp Writes About the Extrave.
gance of People.
IN SPENDING THOUSANDS TO Bury
A Distinguished Man. Cheaper
Funeral Would Save More rloney
for the Poor.


ter than dead lion" That may be so
in worldly sense, but the dead lion
costs the most monay.Iwas just read
Ing an itemized statement OF how
much it cost to bury Senator Morrill,.
| Of course he was buried at the gov
| eminent expense, but it seems to me
he could have been put away for less
| money. The sum total focts I'D So
442. The casket cost 500, ceda,
shipping case $50, embalming $50, car
riages sos, special train from Wash
ington to Springfield 1882, Springfield
to Montpelier Silt, fares for attend
ants from Troy to Washington s347,
Pullman cars 5000, commissaries s73.
These are the largest items There
Is page full of smaller ones. Then
there is decorations of the senate
chamber 800, and Grape and gloves
and regalia and flowers $3.50, advertis-
ing programme s113, music s40,etc.
But the largest item is $4,000, a YEAR S
salary after he died. This went to his
son. That Is the rule. T. 4 member
dies while in office his salrie goes on
for year. But Vermont was not so
very far away. If member from CAL
lfornia Or Oregon dies the cost CT trans
portation for the remains and the re-
mains and the escort runs up into the
thousands. All, my country. where
the carcass is the eagles will be gather
ed together. That is the reason I
reckon why the eagle is our national
emblem for the treasury is the carcass.
was Illuminating about this grand
parade ever the burial of public men
the expense Of 1.-THE glitter ard gall
ore and show Of it, for at the last it is
Junket, a frolic that members of con-
gress like and they scheme to get on
the grand excursion. Booker Wash
lngton 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 a common man who
barely support his family AM! is strug-
Cling along to educate his children
can't afford to die, for the funeral ex-
pense take all he has left and leaves
The family penniless. Poor Tom Brum
by had no wife Or children, but for
years had been supporting a poor old
mother and educating an orphan niece
He had when he died $500 in bank and
1t took that-the last dollar-rto bury
him. imagine that if he could have
spoken in his last moments he would
have said: Give it to mother Oh! give
1t to my mother. A $500 casket will
DO me no good" The very last letter
that he wrote her from Manila said:
III l do not get back there are $500
in bank for YOU
Well, maybe Congress will grant the
Old lady a pension. Maybe so, but
reckon She will lie before she gets
It. and as fer the prize money, I see
that the government is fighting it, and
that means its non-payment. Deweys
victory is an old song now; I Won
der If they would bury him at public
expense.
1t seems to me that the cost of fun
erals should be proportional to the
condition of the family. AS for me- l
!eel like a metal casket that would
keep cut the water and the worms
and a plain marble tombstone would
be enough. No monument and but
line Of epitaph. Some grass and
lowers that my unclaimed spirit would
ike to see when it hovers over the
place where its prison house was
buried. Neglected graves are a sign
Of inhumanity. Costly ones a sign of
vanity. But monuments to heroes or
to great and Noble men are always
proper. Not that they are Of any con-
sequence to the dead, but they point
moral to the living. Let us build that
monument to the modest and gallant
Brumby and place it On the capitol
grounds where it can be seen and
where it will speak in silence to the
people as they pass Let the tribute
be 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
30 to the committee Every little
school girl and boy should have
dime Or a nickel in that monument, for
besides his courage and patriotism he
was loving and kind to his aged moth
er. He deserves monument for that.
Several times of Late I have read the
talks of Carnegie and Rockefeller to
the young men in a Bible class AMI
their ideas giving and helping 20 Tot
please me. OF course, sveryb VIZ
honors them for their large bounties
to colleges and libraries, but they say
that charities to the poor do 10 last
ing good and that 80 per cent. of it is
wasted, but that rich men should help
poor young men who are strug cling to
climb UP in the world, My observation
is that those struggling young men
Will get UP anyhow just like Carnegie
and Rockefeller I had rather zee a
hundred poor people relieved from dis
tress than dozen young men helped
ON the way to fortune and success.
There is too much prejudice against
the poor. Most of them are women
and children who are helpless and cant
get a start. There is no work for
them and so they have to beg or
starve. The other day I dropped a.
quarter in the tin cup of poQxn-
woman who was crouched ons olo
walk OF Marietta street, a1AS St-GheS ,
Of thalkfulness paia--r I'm her look
wind was blowiyNl me. The winter
stones were e~'ang and the paving
and watch<ectold, but she sat there
and i CzEtd Tor charity. She was old
ssd-spale and pitiful and the skin
Stuck close to her bony hands. I
crossed the street and stood and
watched for many minutes and never
saw anybody else put any money in
her cup. Sac may be -"aud-an i'm
poster, but I am sure that she is not
impoyerishing the millionaires Or any
body else
/ wish that I was rich so that l
could do as they say the good Prince
Rupert did-go around in disguise and
lind out who were needy and deserv-
Ing and help them in secret. l would
take note of the poor girls who helped
their motheIs and the young men who
wrote kind, loving letters home and
would set them UP and make them
happy. Yes, would Like that sort of
fun, wouldent you? 1t would beat IL
braries and colleges all to pieces. Bun
like Carnegie and Rockefeller, teo,
though they don't see through my
spectacles. 1t is hard for a million
aire to realize that the money is not
hiS-that he is only a trustee with the