One good foreign Shanghai woman has, I fear, fallen fo fain the true Chinese slant upon funerals and their proper observance "Her houseboy's "wife has recently died, and be came to his Missio 10 borrow $0" to tide him over. expenses 'It appears that the deceased Write has been ill for_some time, hor' husband had thoughtfully" provided the coffin beforehand, ordering 2 "large size" in ease anyone else in the fernily was constrained to use before the promising invalid. "Then, i'you have the collin already, boy." sid the foreign missile why do you feed so mich a $50?" The widower explained that this was for's funeral feast.
"what" said' the astonished Inistress, "do you mean to tell me that Jou want "to make a feast and a Fejoieing because your wife has 'She went on to point out that, in the boy's present creumstances, this twas most Improvident, that dozens of Chinese were picked' wp dead and Starving every day, that even stound his own howe dor deed and dying were in evidence, and that in such ase feasly were not in good. taste She further added that, if she died, the would tum in her' grave thought. her husband hea. "apout. 20 is sad smile at her ignorance, So, now, tone foreign missie is disappointed in fan. excellent servant, while the Dereaved one thinks that Missy has no sense of what is right and proper a country where people are ac~ customed to neglect their dear ones life, ut to give them a jolly good send-off, and wonderful altentio when they pass on to the Gre Beyond, When one comes to think of it, there is something to be said for this Chinese bereaved one's foresight, for a coffin may be a useful thing 10 have around the house. Someone is sure to need it at some time or a1 Other, We can recall the ease of the society woman in England many years ago who had her coffin made for a long time before she died, and had it regularly polished. She used to take it with her on her travels, and report says, take her siesta in it each afternoon. We are not told she provided it with a beauty-rest mattress, oF If she were hardening herself for het long rest, but the story Is said to be true, There is one point to bear in mind though, If any one thinks of doing similarly, and that is, that a coffin, like a suit of clothes, is something one may get too large for. Then, consider the unnecessary expense if one happened to be blown into small pieces by a bomb, or if one fell over~ Board while at sea, No, on second thoughts I shall spend) my coffin money on a badly needed new gown, fand trust to luck against the time when the sad (2) but certain event foverlakes me.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.