New-York tribune., 1905-06-11

man before his death should stipulate in his
will or in some other way that he wishes to
be buried without flowers and in Il simple
plain box. that he wanted no monument but
slab big enough to bear his name and the
dates of his birth and DEATH then his family
would feel obliged to carry out his wishes,
and If poor they would afterward bless his
foresight for not permitting them further to
For example II a New Yorker dies. and he
is honored with what the undertakers would
call fairly respectable funeral" the bill would
way imposing it would cost $4,000 to $4,000.
If splendid, the expense would run up as high
as 100000; for such Is the estimated ex-
pense of the funeral of such man as William
c. Whitney. The items of only an ordinary
Embalming. si5: casket. SIS; outside box.
So hearse, S11; twenty carriages, s140; total.
These figures do not OF course include the
price of cemetery lot the opening of the grave,
or the erection of any stone. The lot may cost
5000 or $4,000 according to the cemetery 1t is
fn and its size and situation in the cemetery.
Yet for him who fully believes in the lines
of Gray it would seem that a burial far less
expensive than the itemized above ought
to suffice. AS one follower of Father McLaugh
lin said;
ton of life, who In case of death would leave
his family with but little means, be willing to
be buried in plain pine box covered with black
CLOTH without flowers and without long
tege to the grave IF he would only specify that
he wanted such funeral, then his family in
obeying his wishes could not be criticised for
a man might be buried. exclusive of course, of
the ground and monument, for not than
$50.
For instance good coffin, of the old fash
! ioned sort, wide end for the shoulders
of q body and tapeTing down to where the feet
are laid, can be had for S12. And should one
want to lie in more modern one, his family
need not pay $40, which is the cost of the lowest
priced coffin made by the so-called Coffin Trust.
plain pine box may do. costing only So, which
any woman may easily cover with black
cloth for much more. In appearance this
will look much like the ready made $40 coffin
which consists only of common wood covered
with black broadcloth. The interior may be
tastily and prettily draped In various ways, all
of them far from costly. And If there must be
fowers-if the wife or daughters insist some
floral decoration-let it be a vaseful of humble
blossoms, instead of great heaps of exotics which
fade almost as soon as they are left on the
grave.
.'Then, too the funeral exercises may be OBJ
served at home, and the mOur1lerS bid the dead
farewell there instead of protracting the agony
by accompanying the body to the cemetery. The
severance of the dead and the living must come
sooner or later No money would then be wasted
in a host of carriages. The coffin may likewise
go away In an ordinary undertaker's wagon,
with black sides and covered top, instead of in
a stately hearse with its glass sides and plunes.
IF is willing to be cremated the expense
is lessened still more. The coffin may then be
of the simplest kind for the reason that it is to
be used for only few hours. 1t may be taken
to the crernatory without procession, and in
cinerated for s25. Then, instead of burial plot
and monument, the ashes may be placed in a
handsome urn of spelter costing S8, and placed
In the crypt of the columbarium, where 1t is
guaranteed perpetual care for IS. 1t is perhaps
for the reason that cremation is more economical
as we'll a swifter disposition Of the body
than that of placing ii in the grave that in
cineration of the dead is becoming more popular.
For instance. in the year 1886. the bodies of
76 inhabitants of this city were cremated. and