The Jasper news., 1909-05-06

nut as they trudged along under their
burden. Behind them came the dead
mans son appare'ed In a pair Of blue
denim trousers His body, naked to
the waist. was glistening brown after
q bath, and he carried under one arm
fresh laundered carnisa, or Chino
shirt, Of white muslin, to be put on
when he reached the church. His two
supporters were the brothers Of my
nuchacha, who lived in the same yard
And evidently had convictions about
standing by comrade In misfortune.
The elder, a boy Of seven, wss fairly
clean, but the younger, somewhere
between three and five, was clad In a.
single low-necked slip OF filthy pink
cotton, which draped itself ct a coquets
tish angle across his shoulders ana
hung down an inch or two below his
protruding little tummy. His smile,
which was of most engaging nature,
occupied so much OF his countenancel
that 1T was difficult to find traces Of
the pride which actually irradiated the
other two.
My curiosity was enough to make
me turn and follow them to the church.
There the body was deposited on the
floor at the rear, Just below door In
the gallery which led to the priests
house, or convento. The bearers squat
ted on their heels to wait while q
sacristan went to call the priest. The
dead mans son reverently put on his
clean shirt while the youngest urchin
sucked his grimy thumb and continued
to smile at me,
Presently q priest came through the
door and leaned over the gallery, fol
lowed by two sacristans, one OF whom
carried censer and the other a bell.
The censer bearer swung his imple-
| ment vindictiyely in the direction OF
| the corpse, while the other rang an un-
melodious chime on the bell. At this
all the babes fell on their knees. The
priest muttered few lines Of Latin,
made the sign of the cross and instant
| ly -disappeared--to another chime Of
bells and a final toss of the censer.
| The bearers picked up the coffin and
the little procession went on its way
to the cemetery The ceremony lasted
less than two minutes, but it cost
three out Of my FIVE pesos.
This incident illustrated perfectly
the friendless condition in which most
poor Filipinos live. Filipino lower
class people are gregarious, but not
social. They are averse to solitary
rural life and tend everywhere to live
in villages, but they visit little with
each other and seem very Indifferent
| to the cordial relations which bind
our own laboring classes together. In
the same yard with the dead lavan-
dero lived at least ten or twelve other
families, yet no one could be found to
accompany him to his grave save two
little playmates of his son.
II the poor are fond of display the
rich outvie them. The pomp OF a
rich mans obsequies finds its begin.
ming while he is yet alive, when the
padre goes in state to administer ex-
I, treme JUNCTION. His vehicle, gilt
coach which resembles those Of the
seventeenth century. is often preceded
by a band. while within. the priest, ar.
rayed In embroidered vestments, re.
ceiyes with unsmiling grandeur the
genufections OF the crowds in the
streets. After the epidemic Of surra
had made a great scarcity of horses in
the Philippines, the PADRES gilded
equipage had to be drawn by cebu
very small and weary looking bull
imported from IndoChina.
=
When the rich man dies there Is
generally wake of extremely noisy
variety, and pretentious funeral. Five
o'clock In the afternoon seems to be
a favorite hour for this. In the rainy
season, when the sodden clouds hang
low in the sky, when the whole world
is drenched and dripping and the old
gray church is starred with candles
which do not illuminate but only serve
4 to dot the gloom, the occasion is lugu
brious enough. Fresh flowers are lit
tie used, but immortelles and stiff, sci
designs accompanied by, long stream
ers of gilt-lettered ribbons attest the
courtesy of friends.
These upper-class dead are buried
in inches, Or ovens, such as are fount
in the old cemeteries Of New Orleans
The cemetery, which is not usually
towned by the municipality. but by ths
church, is surrounded by a brick ol
stone wall six or eight feet high, sur
mounted by-a balustrade of red bakes
clay in an urn design. The cofhr
inches are in this wall and are ar
ranged in tiers Of four and five. Tn,