The Seattle Republican. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1???-1915, 1901-12-06

made. What, for instance, would the
ordinary patron of secret organiza-
tions think of possessing membership
in 'The Sons and Daughters of the
Seven Golden Candlesticks in Char
ity," or in ''The Sons and Daughters
of 1 Will Arise?
The sons and daughters idea is
worked to the limit of endurance.
There is scarcely a well-known name
in Biblical history that is not tackled
to it. There are in Charleston alone
no less than seventy-five of these So
cieties with charters from the state
of South Carolina, and how many
there are that have no legal status no
man may say with confidence. Dues
are paid weekly, and, strange as it
may seem when the great poverty of
the Negro in the South is considered,
the arrears list is a brief one, indeed.
Of course, the charges are small, usu-
ally about 25 cents a month, but when
it is remembered that many individ-
uals belong to six or eight, or even
more orders, it is little short of mar
velous how the funds necessary to
meet the demands Of the collectors
are found; and yet it is so deep a
disgrace to be expelled that instances
of the kind are very rare. To hold
membership in a number of societies
is regarded as a badge of honor.
Among the societies here are the
Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims,
the Sons and Daughters of the Twelve
Disciples, the Sons and Daughters OF
the Bearer of the Red Cross, the Sons
and Daughters of the Evening Starr
the Sons and Daughters of the Celes-
tial Travellers, the Sons and Daugh-
ters of the Good Samaritan. the Sons
and Daughters of the East, the Sons
and Daughters of Lazarus, the Sons
and Daughters of Christian Love, and
there may be added to these fully two
score of others.
The funeral Of a colored man or
woman who holds membership in a
half dozen of these orders is a spec
tacle worth witnessing. Occasionally
bitter feuds arise between rival socie-
ties for the possession of a corpse, for
the Negroes love of a funeral is not
second to his love for melons. The
usually begin the night
before the actual interment is to take
place. There are sermons and pray
ers and personal experiences inter
spersed with wild bursts of incoher-
ent melody which arouses religious
fervor to fever heat. Men and women
faint in the course of the exercises,
many others fall into frances and talk
of visions of their dead friends en-
throned in glory. Residents for blocks
around swear vengeance against the
sons and daughters, their children,
and their children's children, and ap-
peal to the city authorities to put a
stop to the orgy. The ceremonies
culminate in formal procession.
Negroes from the uttermost parts of
the city gather in the streets. The
members of the organizations to
which the dead person belonged stand
in solemn order clad in elaborate uni
forms and bearing the banners and
other insignia of their respective or
ders; and when the cortege finally
moves, vending it's way at times
through miles of the 'city's streets, it
is followed by mad rush of men.
women and children, who block the
thoroughfares, and traffic for a time
being has to be suspended. The hope
of such a funeral is the inspiration
of many Negroes whole life. He
slaves and depriyes himself of actual
necessities for years to meet the de-
mands of the collectors of the socie-
ties in order that he may go to his
last resting place in the midst Of such
strangely weird pageantry. = Ex-
change.