AN EXTRAORDINARY FUNERAL.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVI, Issue 40, 2 November 1909, Page 2

AN EXTRAORDINARY FUNERAL.

A Neapolitan family named Jerio, wishing to honor a dead relative by a grand funeral, hired a party of bandsmen, When, however, the procession had started (aaye the 'Chronicle') *or the cemetery many street musicians in want of work quickly joined the ranks from every byway until one of the most powerful orchestras ever heard in Naples drew the attention of everybody. The mourners, appalled at the prospect of the gratuities they would be expected to contribute to this unwelcome horde of volunteers, ordered the coaches to stop, ''but the minstrels, insisted that it would be wanting in respect to the dead, and refused to bo sent away. A terrible tumult followed, mourners and minstrels fighting each ■ other mercilessly with sticks, stones, trombones, fifes, and drum-sticks. The hearseman took advantage of the riot to bolt away with the coffin, and when the police put in an appearance they found it necessary to convey most of the funeral party not to the polioe station but to the nearest hospital.