The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-12-04
PECULIAR BURIAL CUSTOMS.
EACH RACE HAS ITS OWN RITES
AND CEREMONIES.


hoes Beggars Even in Death-King's
Body in Silver Canoe.
There are four hundred and sixty
three different ways in which the peo-
pie of the world bury their dead
Scarcely any two tribes of people in all
the world dispose of the bodies of those
who pass away in the same manner. A
man can take his choice of a great
number Of ceremonies.
S. Lewis Tillotson, a Baltimore I'M
dertaker, has made a study of the bur
ial customs of the world with a view
of improving, if possible, the means of
disposing of bodies used in most civil
lied countries, and to discover behind
the ceremonials and the rites of burial
and the methods Of disposing Of the
bodies the odd beliefs of the people.
His discoveries and Investigations
have shown many strange things, but
as yet he has made no recommended
tions looking toward Improvement Of
present systems.
One thing he has found, says the Chi
cago Tribune, is that every tribe of
people in the world except two-the
Veddas of India and the Bantus of At
rica-shoWs some mark of reverence TO
the dead-even those that eat them
and that every one except those same
two shows from its treatment of the
dead some belief in a future existence.
About three-fourths Of the people Of
the world are sorry, or pretend they
are sorry when a death happens
among their friends or relatives, and
the other fourth are glad. About four
fifths object to death and the other
fifth welcome it.
Among the Karens of Burma there
is a close relation between the burial
and the wedding ceremonies, and a
death is made the occasion of a whole
sale courting,' said Mr.. Tillotson.
THE body is placed on a bamboo plat
form outside the hut and all the young
men and girls gather there, singing and
laughing. The men seat themselves on
one side of the body and the girls on
the other and there, as if made happy
! by the presence Of death, they carry
| on their courtships-and the men select
I their wives. The Kirghiz-Kazaks are
/ strong in their remembrance of the
dead-and here may be food for reli-
gious thought for Bible students in
/ their customs, After death the body is
hastily buried, arayed in white clothes,
and every day for forty days after the
death the mourners visit the tomb,
The forty day period apparently is
counted for no special reason as yet
discovered.
THE shans give the dead a good
sendoff, putting money into the mouth
to pay passage to the other world The
souls are supposed to go into butter
flies that fit away and the body must
wait and pay its fare, The collins are
of highly colored tinsel and paper un-
der a gaudy canopy The wives parade
with the body and the eldest son walks
ahead with a sword, clearing the evil
spirits from the way. The bodies Of
priests and chiefs are burned j
THE Bantu and the Ved1as, alone of
all tribes, have no ceremonies and APP
pear to care nothing whatever about
death. In both tribes the bodies are
thrown into the bushes, covered with
leaves and brush and left.
"One of the prettiest ceremonies is
hat of the Tongaus, who mourn for
twenty days The body is washed,
oiled and arrayed in it's best, then laid
in a canoe, or cest, together with the
favorite implements or ornaments The
relatives live for twenty days in little
huts near the house Of mourning and
each day they go singing In a process
sion to the seashore to get white sand
to fill the grave. On the twentieth day
they have the final parade, gathering
black and white pebbles to strew over
the top Of the grave In the floor of the
hut.
The Turks too. show great care ant
reverence for the bodies of the dead
The body is laid upon the couch OF
comfort and carried into the court
yard, where the washing and amounting
are carried on as a religious ceremony
The body is handled with extreme care
for they believe that roughness will
bring a curse
Perhaps the most elaborate ceremo-
ny Of all the world is that of the STA
mese. The coffin Is a gorgeous affair O
gilded paper, tinsel, or sometimes Of
gold and jewels For three days the
body lies in state and then is taker
from the house through a special hole
cut in the wall. Then the bearers car
ry the body three times around tn,
house at a rapid rate-so as to puzzle
the ghost and make II impossible fol
him to find the house again After thu
ghost is all mixed up as to where
formerly lived the body is carried II
state to a barge androwed slowly t
the temple. There the priests wash tn
face in cocoanut milk, and the body i
burned. This is the signal for the be
ginning of festivities, and a regula
fair is opened in the temple yards witt
gambling, dancing, drinking and fire
works If the relatives are too poor t,
pay for the whole entertainment tn
body is cut up and thrown to the bird
and the feast held just the same
The funeral of Wanyoro king
the most fearful orgy in the world
The body is mummlfied by being roast
ed over a slow fire. Then, wrapped i
cloth, it is carried to a long pit, il
which sit the wives in two rows, wit
their knees together. The night befor
the funeral the kings own regimen
scours the country and brings in cap
tives. These are brought to the grave
and their arms and legs are broke
with clubs. Then the kings body
placed upon the knees of the wives, tn