THE FUNERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 42, 13 November 1907, Page 5

THE FUNERAL.

—— * ."• THE SLOW MARCH TO KARORI. . TIME FOR THE MORTUARY CAR. RESPECT NOT SACRIFICED. "There would havo been a.much larger attendance at Mr. Blank's funeral yesterday, but for the great sacrifice of time a funeral entails in Wellington," said a, well-known minister of the gospel to a Dominion representative a few days ago. The statement opened up a train of thought on the conduct of funerals generally in Wellington, and the deeper the contemplation the more the writer was convinced that the present system will have to change very soon. At presont a funeral, consisting ot a hearse, so many cabs, and perhaps some followers on foot, starts from a given point in the city, and "with measured tread and slow" proceeds through'tho crowded ways of the city, either to Tinakori Road or Aro Street, whore begins the long crawl up the ; hill, through the tunnel, across tho embankment, and aslant another hill to' God's garden at Karori. A long way/ under any circumstances —a twenty-five minutes' run for a smart electric car from the General Post Office to the cemetery gates, but when it comes to cabs proceeding at a walking pace, the journey seems double the distance .t actually is, particularly ,to those to whom tho,journey is the most trying business. The Time it Takes. Some folk havo a notion that it would be unseemly for the cabs to proceed with greater celority than a walking pace —that it would show disrespect to the dead. Surely that is 4 mistake —it is at the best a custom, a convention, that is rapidly disappearing. What disrespect does it show if tho journey is curtailed by half or a whole hour? To tho immediate relatives the funeral is a particularly distressful time. The pent emotions break loose—the mental guard of tho strongest is broken down with grief, and tears flow unchecked. This is only right and natural, but it is not right or natural to prolong tho agony in public to tho limit when thore are means''of curtailing it. The time'a funeral takes to reach Karori from the city varies according to the point from which' it starts. From'Thorndon it takes about an hour and a half, from the neighbourhood of the Basin Reserve a little longer, and from Newtown, Oriental Bay, and other outlying residential districts anything between that and two hours—that is only the journey! In the case of Anglicans a short service is usually nelcl in the cemetery chapel, and the usual service at the graveside, _ followed by the journey back to town. This means that to attend a funeral means the sacrifice of at least half-a-day, and leads us back to the' minister's rcinarkat tho beginning—would not more friends of a deceased person attend the funeral if thq journey was not such a painfully dragged-out business? These aro strenuous times, and, however deop tho sorrow might be, the question must continually arise—can I dislocato my business arrangements to give up half-a-day? Some might be ablo to do so with comparative" ease, but'there aro a great many more to whom it is a very serious matter; they'might havo been able to spare an hour and ahalf, but half of a business day. was much too serious a matter. And, again, if the business man hesitates, how much more serious is it for the working man. -The. employer might not mind letting a man off for an hour or so occasionally to attend the funeral of a friend, but would consider, in nine cases out.of ten, that he would be a serious loser by giving him half-a-day off. The Mortuary Car. ~ What must come in this city, and the sooner tho better, is the mortuary car! in larger centres of population than Wellington, most funerals are affairs of the railway, but hero the ccmetery_ is not touched by tho railway, but it has its tramway, which is gradually finding its way to every populated part,of tho city. By its means a mortuary car could ho run to tho cemetery gates at Karori, and the coffin conveyed by the pallbearers, or men engaged for tho purpose to tho •graveside. Tho samo men could carry the dead his late residence to the car, but, if the distance was not out of the way :k would he a matter for consideration whether a hearso would not be employed either to convey tho coffin to tho car or right out to tho cemetery. A Change for the Better. Where such an arrangement would he a change for the better is very obvious. Tho long tedious journey would be reduced by • two-thirds, and the cost—to tho working classes a serious matter —would be greatly reduced. With car-funerals a system could be 'very simply evolved in regard to the details, such as the conveyance of mourners, fitting in the running cars, etc., so that really no serious difficulty is involved —it only needs action on tho part of the City Council. There has been a good deal to say of late about the cruelty of allowing horses to pull over heavy loads up heavy grades. Which ever way the funerals take to reach Karori thore is a steady up-hill pull for a long way, which is all the more irksome for the horses , as they must not proceed at a "luirry-up-and-got-it-over" pace, which is another excellent argument in favour of the mortuary car.