Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-10-04
SPEEDY lNTnRMENT.
THE WAY FUNERALS ARE CONDUCT
ED IN ARGENTINA.

AS soon us person dies the room II
which the body IL To lie laid out il
transformed by the undertaken into i,
"capilla ardiarte." or lighted chapel
that is, the room is dnrkened, the wall;
are all hung in black. all altar is erect
ed at one end, in front of which the
body Is laid. n!id the whole is lighted
up by from six to Il dozcn large cnn'
dies In heavy silver candlesticLs thret
feet high.
As the time between the actual
death and the burial Is SO short, thcrl
Is usually not time 10 send iudivi,.u:s
notices to friends. SO the invitation Ii
take part In the funeral services, AZ n
is called, is printed in the papers Ia
the following form: j
GUILLERMo PIzARRo.
q. E. P. d.
(Date OF death.)
His wife. Mariana ". his children Nam
uel. Benedictn and Amanda. his mother.
Francisco G. Lavelle. his father-in-Iaw.
Antonio P. Valdez. his brothers Luis and
Carlos. his sister Maria, his brother-in-
law Jose. his grandchildren, uncles.
nephews cousins and other relatives. In
vite you to accompany the remains of the
oeCcuSeO W tne ItecOletA cemetery, Fr1-
day. the 18th. at 2:c0 p. m.
In the Church of the Holy Cross n mass
for the eternal repose OF his soul will be
sung from to 10 u m, the body being
present. The family will take part in
the one at 10 u. m.
The leave taking of the deceased will be
by card.
Only invitation.
Q. E. P. d. mean "Que en- paz
descanse" May he rest In peace).
II the death has been long expected,
SO as to give time to have cards print
ed, one about by 6 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 invitation" are
omitted from the death notice in the
paper.
1t will be noted that the funeral serv-
ices and the burial are distinct cere-
monies. it not being the custom for
women to accompany the body to the
cemetery.
The expression, Leave taking will
be by card" means that friends attend
ing are not expected to come up per-
sonally and condole with the family
at the funeral. but there Is usually "a
servant In black livery, furnished lSys
the undertaken, either at the house or
Mt the church, with silver salver on
which visiting cards can be placed.
In default Of this, on arrival at the
cemetery. on one side of the entrance
gate is high wooden desk painted
black, and on 1t a pencil and paper, and
fastened to one side regular. kind of
letter box, also black, with 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 a few days, to all those whose
cards have been received rs well as to
those friends who have written notes
Of coincidence, the visiting card of that
member Of the family to whom you
may have addressed 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 |
landau, with glass sides, III which are |
piled the floral offerings. and just be-
hind this comes the hearsc, 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 ut |
all sides, the top or canopy being sup
ported by four life sized figures of
Ethiopians. carved out Of ebony, and
1t is surmounted by six huge plumes
two feet In diameter, made OF black
ostrich feathers. The coffin lies on u
black cloth, with the initials of the
dead in full view Mt the sides, worked
in silver.
The cemetery itself is u veritable
city Of the dead. for, instead of hav
Ing mou,r1 with n headstone or mon
ument, regular little mortuary chap
els. called "panteones." are built by
every lot owner, completely covering
the plot of ground he 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 roadway between.
Each OF these ''panteones" contains
an altar Of marble, on which are can
dies, flowers, sacred pictures and other
religious cmblems and symbols Of the
church.
In front Of this altar is large slab
which when lifted discloses a ladder or
stairway leading down to vault
which Is whitewashed chamber with
spaces one above the other in the walls
Of sufficient size to receive coffin
After each space is filled it is sealed
up with 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 expensive the various beneficial so.
cleties 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 us big as
church. with vault two stories
deep and room for 1900 bodies, the
vaults under these large edifices be-
Ing finished In marble and entered
from the interior of the chapel by a
wide flight of marble steps, the whole
being well ventilated and lighted.
For the poorer classes, who can
neither afford to erect a "panteone" Of
their own nor belong to one of these
societies, there is n long perlstyle on
each side of the entrance gateway.
and here inches can be rented or
bought, these inches being about two
feet square ut their outer end. with
sufficient depth to take the coffin. and