The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-08-25
S75 IS LOWEST
COST OF FUNERAL
So Says George A. B.
Miller Who Ought
to Know
HAS BEEN IN THE BUSINESS FOR
ALMOST HALF A CENTURY. |

Seventy-five dollars is the lowest
price for funeral in Honesdale, ac-
cording to George A. B. Miller, who
for almost half a century has fol-
lowed the occupation of undertaking
and embalming, and has for many
years been in the employ of j.
Samuel Browns furniture and un-
dertaking establishment.
There's sixty dollars for coffin.
Two carriages will cost $S. The
minister's rig is 50 and the pail
bearers rig is $4. Then what they
have a mind to give the minister.
The minister makes no charge, but
he's always given something.
I'm the oldest man in Honesdale
sticking to the business. My faith
er used to take me along with him
when he went.
When l was a boy, and anybody
died in Honesdale, we'd go and lay
them out on a board. We used to
take board and stick along.
That's all the paraphernalia we used.
Then we'd come back and make the
coffin. We used to make them of
cherry then.
We didn't do anything to the
bodies then. Embalming wasn't
hnOWu III InOSe udyS. linen we SOL
to using ice, and then we jumped
to embalming. Embalming isn't
so terribly old.
I" Most of the collins nowadays are
made of chestnut and covered with
black cloth. Embalming came to
me naturally, with what l knew
of anatomy. My father tried to
make a physician out of me. 1t gave
me a good insight into human ana
tony.
. Not many bodies are sent away
to be cremated. In my forty-six
years experience, we've only sent
three all told. We sent them to the
Long Pond, \. j., creamatory.
| never heard of any bodies be-
ing stolen from Glen Dyberry. OF
course when a poor man dies, un-
less he has money or friends to pay
the funeral expenses, his body is
sent away to be dissected. The Law
is to that effect. The poor masters
don't pay any funeral expenses.
" A coffin costs from $50 to SIS,
embalming and all. Carriages here
in Honesdale cost $4 apiece, the
pall-bearers rig S4, and the minis
ter's rig 50. l have averaged 100
funerals year.
g One of the friends has got to
make out the death certificate.
Then the doctor signs it, and then
we have to take it to another doctor
to get a burial permit. The certifi-
cate must be made out before the
body is buried.
" always make an examination
| before touching a body, if l have
any hesitancy about their death. |
myself went and called a doctor in
once. | wouldn't believe she was
dead.
g In cases of contagious disease,
we take our generator right along
and generate formaldehyde gas in
the room for twenty minutes"
The certificate of death issued by
TIN Bureau of Vital Statistics of the
Del ttment OF Health of the Com
monwealth of Pennsylvania is quite
formidable document. 1t requires
that the age should be stated, ex-
actly, and that the physicians
should state the cause of death in
plain terms. Stress is also laid on
the occupation followed by the de-
ceased. Inquiry is even made as to
the general nature of industry,
business or establishment in which
the individual was employed. Heavy
penalties are provided for failure to
comply with the instructions on the
J certificate.
Taken all in all, departure from
this mundane sphere, especially in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
is a costly business, and one to
which there is attached much use
less red tape. OF a truth, we are
born into, live in, and depart un-
der, the Reign of Law.