SHOCKING FOOLERY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 79, 31 October 1916, Page 5

SHOCKING FOOLERY.

UNDERTAKER HOAXED. BOGUS ,I>FAX4AF S FU^^ RAL « M NOTICE. It is rare indeed that any citizen 'of Christchurch Ims the opportunity of remding his own death and funeral notice in the newspaper. Yet ouo citizen had that questionable pleasure to-day (said the "Sun" of Mgjjn (];.y), when on opening a morning newspaper he was amused to learn jgu*? had died tlie previous evening : residence,, on the Bottle Lake RoadV Having serious reason the truth of the announcement, the sceptical citizen turned to the bacL. pa-e of the journal, where the funeral notices generally appeared, and there sure enough, was confirmation of the startling information. The advertisement intimated that the funeral wouW leave his residence at 3 p.m. on Sunday for the Linwood cemetery. In % short time telegrams couched in the most svmpathetic terms began to arrive, condoling with the family on its supposed irreparable loss. The •itizeh thought it was time to act, and he astounded the undertaker, whose name appeared at the end of the funoral announcement, by informing him that he was alive and well. The undertaker was shocked beyond expression at the hoax perpetrated on him and all the parties concerned, and explained how the thing occurred. Speaking to a "Sun" representative on Friday, the undertaker stated that at 9 o'clock on Saturday.evening he received a telephone message allegodly from Bottle Lake, announcing the death of the man whose name is stated in the death notice, and asking him to make the necessary funeeal arrangements. The informant also stated that he was the son of the dead man; that he was speaking from Bottle Lake, and, as it was too late for him to get into town, would the •, undertaker kindly see that the notice was inserted in the newspapers? The - undertaker acceded to the request and inserted the notices, arranged for a coffin, and also for a grave sit* at the Linwood cemetery.

As previously indicated, on Saturday morning he received a telephone message from the man himself, acquainting him with the fact that he had been hoaxed. Shortly after, some of the man's relatives had come i".

He communicated with the City Council authorities, informing them of the facts, and learned that the grave ha-t been already dug. The undertaker said that he was feeling very badly about the whole matter—-in fact, the incident had made him quite ill. It was the fourth timo during the past few weeks that he had been hoaxed in that way, and he regarded it as a monstrous and inhuman practice, occasioning suffering to the man himself, the relatives, and undertaker, and all concerned. He said he hoped that drastic steps would be taken to deal with the offenders.