The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-10-24
CUBAN FUNERALS.
Manner Of Conducting Them Marked
with Little SOIemnity.

Manner of Conducting Them Marked
with Little SoIemnity.
To an American, accustomed to the
! solemnity that accompanies funeral
rites, the Cuban method of conducting
a funeral comes as a shock. My first
impression of this occurred one day In
Havana, when 1 was rather startled by
seeing hearse, followed by several
carriages, stop In front of a house about
which there was not the slightest evil
1ence of death, says a writer in Les
lies Weekly. The hearse was black,
with gorgeous gold decorations, and
was drawn by four horses, the trap
| pings Of which were orange and black.
The driver wore a court dress of pur-
| pie, black silk knee-breeches, CONT
dental hat and black slippers with huge
silver buckles. Liveried footmen were
also in attendance. In few minutes
simple coffin was carried from the
house and placed in the hearse. This
was followed by perhaps a dozen men,
who entered as many open carriages,
after which the procession started off
in a sort Of gallop. Later in the day
| met different style of funeral. Four
stability dressed men were carrying a
rude coffin on their shoulders while
two others, presumably relatives of the
deceased, were actually running to keep
up with the body bearers. l soon be-
came used to this sad spectacle-a flu
neral of the poorer class.
The Grape scarf ON the door is con-
spicuously absent in Cuba, as well as
| the death notice in the daily papers.
Unless the deceased Is a notable char
acter, no mention of the demise will be
made by the press. Burial takes place
not later than "a hours after death,
and embalming is uncommon. Cards
are sent out by the family announcing
the hour of the funeral, and the men
receiving these, if they fail to attend
| in person, are expected to send car
riages for the use Of the family, if
needed, but in many instances these
carriages join in the funeral procession
without an occupant. Women do not
follow their loved ones TO the tomb,
and one sees only men about the grave.
If the deceased is woman, many of
the men who follow her coffin are bust
ness acquaintance of her husband or
father, and have, perhaps, never seen
the lady In life. If man is promi-
4 in hn frno io1 xx-al
known socially, his funeral cards will
be numerous There is little religious
ceremony over the dead, and none al
the cemetery unless the family is
wealthy.
! One afternoon l spent several hours
in the famous Colon cemetery at Ha-
vana This city of the dead" has q
particular interest for the American
from the fact that it was the resting
place of the bodies of the victims OF
the battleship Maine prior to their re-
moval to Arlington. The cemetery con
tains a number of beautiful and i'm
posing monuments. The prevailing
mode of burial is in grave with q
marble slab over the top, or In oven
like vaults above the ground. Graves
are rented for a term Of years, and al
the expiration of that time, If rentals
are not renewed, another may be buried
in the same spot. Frequently photo
graph of the dead person is incased IL
glass and placed at the head Of the
grave. On account of the warm eli
mate the funerals usually take place
late in the evening or early in the morn
ing. Once inside the grounds the coffir
is removed from the hearse and depos
tied before the sacristry, where the lie
is lifted to permit the physician to sex
that the box contains dead body. The
coffin Is then carried to the tomb.