Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1858-09-25

~" -" "|'-.' ~" ''''NtNs
Nnw OhfrttA etyt 1.
The Yellow leYef has been specially slr.
ulcnt and fatal nnd some who were taought
50 b. long Slbct memated have been at
tackea. esd seiae Ql them have fallen vic
sims. Wohope L has reached is climax,
and vii. now steadily decline though wo
know nbt i|ie end Sono -four hundred
died hst 4cek This sounds alarming. bnt
<t Is small as compared With 1853. when
three houdrea died IN q single az.
Yonr readers win inquire, what do we
do with al these dead where DO we bury
them 7 There are 10 the city and its rnvi-
Ions fourteen cemeteries. Some eve Of
shcse are il the midst OF the ciiy--sur-
rounded by closely built and densely popn-
Hated streets Owing TO The pcculinrity Of
'our soil, these bnfial places are peculiar
We cannot dig more than two or three feet
below the surface without coming To water
80 that most oF the dead are buried above
ground These grounds are regularly laid
-oa in squares, the walks roised and cover
ed with shells. The squares arc bnilt NJ
with vaults and monuments, many of then
very splendid and very expensive, costing
thousands Of dollars There are a great
variety Of models and devices, many OF
them Of rare and exquisite beauty Around
these toEabs are beautiful evergreens, inter.
mixed With fair and fragrant flowers which
grow with so much laxnrians in our rich
soil and sunny cline.
The cemeteries below Canal and above
Espiande street, called the French buryug
grounds. are regarded as the most interest
ing as exhibitions OF sculpture, where grief
records its zoe or pride in imporiShable
marble 49,
Around these cemeteries are walls ten
feet high and eight Or ten feet thick. They
are pierced with three or four rows oi
x0mbs abont two and half feet square.
rising in tiers enc above the other and has
the appearance Of the pigeon holes for let
ters in the post ofice, though on much
larger scale. These are perfectly closed
with slabs aud air-tight cement except at
one end. This is open for Che Insertion of
a coffin.
The burial service at the grave L per-
formed thus: The procession moves from
che hearse to the wall, where certain one
Of the vaults has been previously selected
--sey No. $50, ltbey arc all nunbered I
The coffin is about two-thirds inserted, and
the service, whatever may be its character.
is then attended to; this over, the coffin is
pushed in--thep tie mason, with his brick
and mortar, trowels and hammers, begins
his work. The family and friends stand
uncovered until the mason is done, wben
the date and name are written il the smooth,
soft plaster spread over the brick, and the
company depart, and leave the sleeper to
his lest aud lonely bed
Ono gets used to scenes like this, but at
&rst il seems SO business-iike aud mechani-
cal $50 like any other labor. any other
piece Of masonry; and contrasts strongly
with the burial on the lill side, where the
turf is green, and the cid trees spread their
broad, green beughs, and The little birds ia
summer, time sing requiems, and the lone
winds in winter time mufiner solemn dirges
DER the dead. The city authorities are dis
couraging interments in the cemeteries in
the crowded portions of the city. Some
three miles from the city, about midway
from the river to the lake, there is a low
ridge of land known as the Metaire Ridge
Here the city authorities are laying out
among the live oaks public Park, aud
here there is O famous race COURSE, and
here most of our eitys dead are 70 sic ep
their last sleep What strange nses
There are quite number of Cemeteries
laid out here, and here already thousands
''are at rest" La these Cemeteries are
many rich and beautiful tolabs and monu-
ments, some Of them private, and some Of
them the property Of benevolent associa-
tions.
On this Ridge many are buried in graves
dug in shallow ground, but they often fll
with water SO rapidly that the coffin has
70 be held down until mud enough eau be
vhrown on it to hold it at the bottom Of
the grave. Thus thousands Of the poor
are committed-~-"earih to earth" Oar
feelings at 6rst may revolt from this, but
why 7 What docs it matter how the dust
returns to dust 7 Whether it sinks beneath
the gnrgling waFe--withers on burning
sands, sleeps iB sculptured vaults--or like
our lowly dead, in the marshes of the great
riverl The grand question is. whither has
the immortal spirit fed to "fairer worlds
on high,n or to ''outer darkness, where
there is weeping, waiIing and gnashing Of
teeth ?"
Konders Of The Human 9vsf m