The coffins are guilds temporarily, follow of waiting for an auspicious da; enough money to send the mortal remains of the deceased back to their native village, It is always realest wish of the Chinese, especi Ally of the old generation, to be buri-under' their native' sod. Even steamers carrying overseas Chine keep a supply of coffins on board in ease of death during the voyage. In such an event, the coffin is immediately placed "in the hands of the deceased's relatives or native guild upon arrival at its destination. It is Well-known that no matter how many years Chinese live abroad, they. al 8 return to die, or order the ins gent back' to China for uilds are supported by the members of the different associations connected with each village or city. For. instance, people from Ningpo have their own guild, as do the Cantonese and so on. Coffins are placed in the guilds for a small feo which varies according to the guild. It is the custom of the Cantonese to trans-for the bones from a coffin, which has disintegrated through age, to. 2 jarjand what clothing is left is' burnt ina brick kiln.
space is provided for permanent tu the new Kwang Shao Guild, tombs. Many coffins containing the remains of Shanghai-born Cantonese fare buried there, as well as those belonging to families who cannot afford to return them to their native place.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.