Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-17

O. E. P. D. means "Que en- paz descanse"
(May he rest in peace).
If the death has been long expected, so
as to give time to have cards printed. one
about three by six inches. with a mourning
border three-quarters Of an inch wide. with
the same wording, Is sent to the nearest
friends, in which case the words ''only In
vltation" are omitted from the death notice
in the paper.
1t will be noted that the funeral services
and the burial are two distinct ceremonies,
1t not being the custom for women to ac-
company the body to the cemetery.
The expression, Leave taking will be by
card" means that friends attending are not
expected TO come up personally and condole
with the family at the funeral. but there
is usually a servant in black livery, fur
nlshed by the undertaken, either at the
house or at the church with q silver salver
on which visiting cards can be placed.
In default of this, on arrival at the GEM
etery side of the entrance gate is a
high wooden desk painted back. and on 1t
pencil and paper. and fastened to one
side a regular kind of le;.er-box. also
black, with a slit in the top.
Into this the card is dropped, or the name
written on piece of paper, and these are
collected by an attendant and sent to the
house after the funeral.
In few days, to all those whose cards
have been received, as well us 70 those
friends who have written notes Of con-
dolence the visiting card Of that member
OF the family to whom you may have sd
dressed yourself Is sent. or the card OF the
member Of the family who may know you
best. with the single word "agradecido'
meaning Thanks for kind sympathy"
The funeral procession of the well-to-do
is preceded by large, covered landeau
with glass sides. in which ara piled the
floral offerings, and just behind this comes
the hearse drawn by four or six black
horses. with two men on the box. in black
and silver liveries, and wearing cooked
hats.
The hearse Is huge affair, open at all
sides. the top or canopy being supported by
four lfe-sized figures OF Philippians, carved
out Of ebony, and 1t is surmoun.ed by sig
huge plumes, two feet in diameter. made
of black ostrich feathers. The coffin lies
on a black cloth, with the initials Of the
dead. in full view at the sides. worked In
silver.
The cemetery itself is veritable city of
the dead, for, instead of having a mound
with headstone or monument, regular lit
tie mortuary chapels, called 'panteones"
are built by every lot owner, compile tcly
covering the plot of ground ne holds.
These are Of stone or marble, about twelve
feet high. and from five TO twelve feet
square and they are built In rows like
city houses, and laid out IN squares like
city streets. with broad sidewalks and a
roadway between.
Each of these "panteones contains an
altar of marble on which are candies, flow
ers, sacred pictures and other religious
emblems and symbols OF the Catholic
Church.
In the front or THIS affair Is a large SAP
which, when lifted. discloses ladder. or
stairway, leading down to vault, which
IS a whitewashed chamber with spaces one
above the other in the walls. % sufficient
size to receive a coffin After each space
Is filled it is sealed up with a marble slab,
giving the name, age and date of death.
Private vaults will usually hold from a
dozen to fifteen bodies, but as these are ex-
Dansve the various beneficial societies have
erected mortuary chapels in which their
members can be buried. the expense for the
individual thus being much less
Some of these chapels are big
church. with a vault two stories deep and
room for 800 bodies, the vaults under these
large edifices being finished In marble and
entered from the interior OF the chapel by
a wide flight of marble steps. the whole be-
ing we'll ventilated and lighted
For the poorer classes. who can neither
afford to erect "panteone" Of their own or
belong to one of these societies, there IS a
long peristyle on each side of the entrance
gateway and here inches can be rented or
bought, these inches being about two feet
square at their outer end. with sufficient
depth to take the coffin. and arranged in
groups of 500 the niche when filled being
walled up with the usual slab. In the
graph of the dead, covered with glass, and
under each one IL a small shelf On which
flowers, votive offerings or little oil lamps.
kept constantly burning, are placed.
When a near relative dies, like parent
or child the men wear crepe bands about
six riches wide on the left arm half way
to the elbow, and the women crepe veil.
ground. and usually a large black shawl
hiding the figure, indicating that they have
entirely withdrawn from the world and Its
fashions.