MAJORITY KICK ON'OUSTINjG? FUNERAXm?DWERS '
Danbury, Conn., Sept. 23. The
Rev. Dr. Walter J. Shanley, pas
j tor of St. Peters' Roman Catholic
i . church, has placed a han on the
, use of flowers at funeralsvheld in
i i the church or at the two Catho
lic cemeteries.
"I have found that many peo
ple who could not afford to buy
flowers, did so, and denied them
selves the necessities of life, and
went into debt in order to do it,"
he said.
"The church always has oppos
ed a profusion of flowers at fu
nerals, said Father F. M.
P'Brien, of Holy Name cathedral,
when he heard of Father Shan--,ley's
ban.
"The flower custom is but a
relic of the pagan age, but I feel
that people should be allowed to
use their own discretion. If they
, see fit to deny themselves the ne
cessities of life in order to 'com
memorate the memory of the de
parted with flowers, all well and
good."
New York, Sept. 23. "The
flower custom at funerals has de-
' generated from an expression of
love into a badge of extrava-
. gance and display," said the Rev.
Dr. C T. Reisner, Methodist,
'"But at the same time," he
added, "I would not do away with
the custom. I would rather en
courage it, because when people
learn the true meaning of flowers
1 they will stop the extravagance,"
Indianapolis, Sept, 23, "I sel
dom find a case where people buy
flowers when they deprive them-1
selves of necessities. I think that
friendship and feeling can be ex
pressed by flowers where it could
not be expressed in wordssaid
Rev. Albert Hurlstone of Robert
Park M. E. church. ' '
Milwaukee, Sept. 23. "Arch
bishop Messmer ordered a ban on
lavish displays of flowers at fun
erals in the Roman Catholic
churches of the diocese of Mil
waukee three years ago," said the
Rev. J. F. Ryan, head of St. Fran
cis seminary today.
"The order was issued because
flowers at funerals had reached
the stage of extravagance instead
of being used for their true mean
ing." Cleveland, 0 Sept. 23. Flow
ers have been barred from
churches of the Cleveland Cath-'
olic diocese for many years. Most
Cleveland ministers agree that '
the extravagant use of flowers at
funerals should be discouraged.
"The use of flowers at funerals
is overdone," said the Rev. T. S.
McWilliams, pastor of the Cal
vary Presbyterian church, today.
"This works a hardship in many
instances."
Detroit, Sept 23 "1 would
not urge the doing away with the
flower custom at funerals," said
the Rev. T. W. Young, pastor of
the Nprth Baptist church. "I
would rather urge people to be
tnore moderate. There is no more '
beautiful way of expressing grief
or sympathy than by giving flow
ers, but many people abuse the
custom at funerals," ,
ll'U'l llt irm geg-ig
. A; -A