The independent., 1907-01-31
SIDE LIGHTS

|" FTER the doctor and lawyer had
Zay told of their trials with cranky
people the undertaken told his tale OF
woe. says the New York Tribune. You
fellows don't know what trouble is" he
said IF you had to buck up against
the superstitions that l do you'd have
right to talk Most people think that
our business is as dead as 1t seems to
be, but we have some right lively
times, / can tell you.
"The white horse superstition is one
of our greatest bugaboos Again and
again / have had people refuse to go
to the grave because there happened to
be pair OF white horses on one of the
carriages They said it would mean
that they would die before year was
out, so now, when / order my car
riages for funeral procession, | al
ways add, And no white horses,
please. Then there are the people who
believe that If they ride in the last
carriage they will be dead before the
end Of the year, and IL the last car
riage is the proper place for them, ac-
cording to their relation to the de-
ceased person, there is no end of
row.
"There are many persons who cling
to the old-fashioned superstition that
the coffin must be placed in the room
SO that the head will be toward the
west, or the corpse will be uneasy in
it's grave, and in a small room it is
not always easy to arrange it so, with
out blocking up doorway.
"Some Italians insist that the body
0e taken out of the house in the same
way that the person went out last
alive. On occasions / have even had to
take out a window or tear down q par
tition to crafty this whim, or observe
this superstition for Of course heavy
coffin cannot be taken out Of the house
with the ease with which live per-
son walks out.
Unto the coffin of a baby the Ital-
ians pour quantities of bonbons, so
that it will not be lonesome on its way
to heaven. But that isn't circum-
stance to what some people ask me to
put into the coffins. | often put in
jewelry, pet pictures, trinkets of all
sorts, letters addressed to some one
who has died previously, revolvers so
the person may shoot himself if he is
perchance buried alive, and even pitch
pipes"
|. Mrs. w. e. Morgan, of Missouri, is
boss Of one of the richest zinc mines in
| that state. TO her employees she is
known as the "sunbonnet boss" and
they are said to like her and work
we'll under her direction. CARRIED in
rubber skirt, coat, hat and boots she
goes down into mine when necessary
and she Is on the ground to superin-
tend operations. 1t is said to be due
to her business foresight that the mine
is being worked, anyway, for the prop
erty had been condemned as worthless
and was lying fallow, combination of
dump pile and water, when Mrs. Nor
gan saw its possibilities. She organized
company, purchased the engine,
pump and other necessary machinery,
employed the men, drained the mine
and sunk the shaft deeper and now is
rewarded by a rich yield Of zinc ore.
Some French recruits recently threw
a great light on the state of general
intelligence in the French republic
They were Joining the colors," and
underwent an elementary examina-
ton. The papers sent in by typical
company of sixty-two men, all from
the north of France, have now been
read and their glittering contents
given to the world. If we hear with
shame of any intellectual popularity
exhibited by fellow countrymen of
ours-a family who spell their name
Enroughty and pronounce 1t Darby. or
a gentleman who gives up his seat in
car to a lady-let US take comfort.
able thought of these Frenchmen.
| The first question asked OF these re-
cruits was: What Is the present gov
4 ernment of France and how estab-
I lished? -Four men answered correctly.
! Thirty four men merely wrote THE
\ Republic" on a sheet of paper. Three
| replied irrelevantly. seventeen did not
/ know how to write~an enormous pro-
! portion. Tho remaining four answered
"Tho Government OF France Is the
1 French Government" ''rhe Govern
mont Of France Is the president Of the
4 republic" The French government
has been established by all the other
countries together" and finally. The
| French government was established by
a general assembly of all the eoups
d'etat" This mans mind was evidently
\ mixed over coupa d'etat and states
\ general