Washington telegraph., 1853-08-31
From the N. Q. Crescent, 14th ;sst.l
vsovyn among the Dead MEN.

visited the cem2SSfleS- ID every street were
#long professions, tranping 10 the solemn
music of funeral marches. In the c9uuten-
#ances of plodding passengers were the lines
spf anxiety and grief, and many door was
Sfastooned with black and wnite hanginas-
The voicelass witnesses of waiiing and of
BORROW. On the one hand slowly swept the
1ong corteges Of the wealthy, nodding with
plames and drawn by prancing horses. re-
iocing in their funeral vaaities; on another
tbe bearse Of the citizen-soldier. preceded
h. measured music. enveloped in warlike
paaoply, and followed by the noisy tread Of
Is men under arms while there again the
hammer was trundled to his long home on a
Iickettv cart, with boy Cor driver. who
wbistlel as he went, aud sworc a careless oath
he urged bis mule or spawned horse TO "a
! trot. making haste with another morsei con
ribated to the grand banquet OF death,
Now among the steeples WAS heard the
4 obim,pc Of the bells, as OF Ghoules up there
mngling their hoarse voices as in a chorus
Of graduation over the ranks OF fallen NOR
taljjv. Anon from aume lowly tenement
j r;led the low wall of mother fer the child
Of her affections. while from tie corner op-
oosite burst the song of some low baechanal.
miugHng ribaldry With sentiment or swear
inr a prayer or two as the humor moved
him.
The skies were delusivc aspect Above
was all cloudless sunshine. but little in keep
inc with the black melancholy that envel-
orel all below Out along The highways
that lead to the cities Of the dead, and still
the tramp Of funeral crowds knew no cessa-
ton.
At the gathering points carriages acou-
malated and vulgar teamsters, as they JOS
tied each other in the press, mingled the
coarse Jest with the libald oash no sound
but of rnfane malediction and Of riotous
mirth the clang Of the whip thongs and the
rattle Of wheels. At the gstes, the winds
tr5ush in imation of the corruption working
within Not a puff but was laden with the
rank atmosphere from rotting corpses. Iu,
sidl they were piled by ffties. exposed to
the heat Of the sun, swollen with corruption,
bursting their coffin lids. and sundering. as
il BY physical effort, the Iigameuts that
bound their hands and feet, and extending
their rigid limbs in every 0utre attitude
What feast of horrors Inside, corpses
piled in pyramids, and without the gates:
u.d ana gither1d croncs and fat huzter We
m.a. tc11iug in their own grease. dispensing
Ice creams and ceuiections. and brushing
away, with broons made Of bushes, fhe bot
he-ias iAa: h0rered on their merchandise,
and tHa. anon bUzzed away TO drink dainty
limitations from the green and fesiering
co.Pses. Nammon at the gates was making
thIi.- outside i1y the hands Of his black and
sfsat!ng mmi0us, that rendered sTeet-meats
and cooling beverages to the throngs Of
mcarners OF Of Idle spectators. who, inIa-
Ing the fumes Of ro;ting bodies, already
'beayed tbe gorge - while within, the
King Of Terrors' held his Satnrnalia with
a crowd Of stolid laborers, vile, as they tum-
bed the dead into ditches, knocked them
"a5aut the rna1zar,l, . and swora dread oaths,
i#feraiW cling with the mere dreadful sounds
u deuoaiae jolly.
Loag dltcaes we're dug across the great
hlmaa charHel Wide enough were they
to entonlb a legion, but only fourteen inches
deep. Cofiins laid in them showed their
tops above the surface Of the earth. On
these was piled dirt to the depth Of foot
or more, but 50 loosely. that the pyramids
q flies found entry between tie loose clods,
down TO the cracked seams of the cof5ns
and buzzed and blew there their oraria.
creating eac!; Lour their newly hatched
sTarms.
But 10 sound WAS there of sorrow within
that wide Geheana Men used to the scene
Of dissolution had forgotten all touch Of
sympathy Uncouth l#borers, with their
blre shock heads, stood under The broiliac
heat Of the sun, digging in the earth; and
as anon they would encounter an ob5trnct-
ing root or stump. would swear a hjdcons
oath. remove to another spot. and go On dig
ginc as before. Now and then the mattock
Or the spade wonld disturb the bones Of scme
Erner tenant Of the mould, forgotten there
amid the armies Of the accumulated victims
and the sturdy laborer with gibe, would
turl the broken fragments on the sward
growl forth an energetic d---n, and chuck
Ie in his excess Of glee. Skull bones were
dug mp from their lsng sepalture, with
glastliness staring out
From each 1ack-lustre, eyeless hole
without elieiting an 'Alas. poor Yorick, .
and with only an exclamation from the Dig
ger. Of ''room for your be,ters ~
Economy Of space was the source Of cum
ming calculation in bestowing away the dead
men. Side by side were laid two, Of gi-
gantic proportions. bloated by corruption to
tie SIZE Of Titans. The central projections
Of their collins, left spaces between them at
their heads ard heels This was too much
room to be filed with earth How should
the space be saved 0pPortunely the ma
terial is at hand, for cart cones lumber
ing IN, with the corpses of a mother and
her two little children, Chuck the children
in the spaces at the heads and heels Of the
Titans, and lay the mother by herself. out
tha-n oIn-nl 4 coraradn fn,. lar viii be