Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-10-10
Neglect of Burial Places.

denied that with few honorable exceptions,
the neglect Of graves and grave yards in this
country is universal. A pretty extensive
observation in Virginia, and other States of
the Union, enables US to speak with some
confidence on this subject, and the particu-
lars which we shall mention will be within
the knowledge ofcyery reader.
First, we have observed this neglect ia
public burial places near our larger cities and
towns and villages. Again and again in our
visits TO burial places, have We been struck
by the evidences Of neglect on every hand
The absence of ornamental shrubs, decaying
rose trees, the presence of weeds and briars,
the general air OF inattention pervading the
plat of ground dedicated to the dead of
family, all these signs and tokens proclaim
the Indifference of the living. Individual
instances could be cited. ifa feeling of deli
cacy did not forbid the alluson but this gen
eral statement will suffice for our present
purpose.
These symptoms one and all, appear in u
much more aggravated form, in such public
burial places as are to be found in the vicin-
age of villages. Near larger places, pride
steps in and compels the living to do some
! what for the enumeration and preservation
of graves. The square belonging to some
man Ut wealth. or to some man OF small
means and liberal taste, is adorned and dec
/ Grated with studlous care and the owner OF
\ the next follows the example, lest his neglect
I should subject him to harsh criticism, and
thus Il fear of the gossips, added to the die
! tates Of pride, compel decent regard for ap.
pcarances, and the burial-place is preserved
| in tolerable condition. But near the small
villages, such motives and impulses do
not come into play. and the result is, that the
graveyard is utterly neglected.
! But the misfortune is, that in the rural re-
/ gions of the State, there are few public bur-
| ial places, where the dead Of u neighborhood
are deposited. The custom with US, is to
have u graveyard attached TO every farm
\ small portion Of land is set apart for the
dead, and there the members of the family, as
they die, one after another, are deposited, to
await the trump that shall wake the dead
both great and small. These family burial
places are in too many instances, a disgrace
to the family. We have visited hundreds of
them, and with a few exceptions, all have
presented the same appearance OF utter neg
lect. Many of them are unenclosed, without
fence or wall, and are the iavorite resting
places of the cattle grazing in the fields
The graves are without anything by which
they may be identified and often are hid
from observation by rank growth of weeds
and brambles. Even when the grave yard
has been surrounded by wall of brick or a
board fence, the enclosure is entirely out OF
| repair, the wall falling 10 pieces or the fence
rotting to the ground, and the graves, year
| after year, settling 20 the level of the sur
rounding surface, and every indication be-
| tOkenlng the fact that the burial place Is
never visited except when another death in
the family calls the household to the spot to
witness the burial of another body in the
drcary, desoate place.
How often have we thought as we stood
near an open grave i'll one of these country
family grave yards. and looked upon weep
ing group of bereaved ones, can it be now
that these persons, so sadly smltten, and
whose very affections seem to follow the loved
one into the deep, dark grave, will 60 back
| to their houses and to their employments,
and leave this spot to the wild disorder which
now prevails \ few weeks or months later,
and the dead were forgotten, and the grave
yard looked rs before, without order or come
illness, and it was impossible not to cherish
the idea, that the living members of the fam
ilv thought they had paid all the debt they
owed Ia their dead, in the gush of grief and
tears, when they witnessed the burial.
There is another circumstance of neglect
which we cannot omit in this rapid summary,
and that is the absence from burial places Of
all means Of identifying the grave of any
individual buried there. Grave stones are
more frequently met with now, than at IN
earlier period, but even at this day, in then
ority of eases you may look in vain for such
memorials of the dead More than once or
twice in our iourneyings, We have wished TO
find the graves of men who distinguished
themselves during their lives by deeds OF
greatness in peace or III war, and we have
sought in vain. No stone was there to tell
the tale. and even descendants of the illus
triouS dead were unable TO give US the infor-
nation which we desired.
Never shall we forget the anSuisked ex-
preston of countenance. which we saw a few
years since, in graveyard. n young man
had left his Virginia home some twelve years
before to push his fortunes III the far West.
and during his protracted absence, father
and mother had departed and been buried,
and now he had returned to gaze upon the
spot Of earth which shrncd all that was dear
to memory. But sad disappointment re.
ceved him. The graves were many, and
none were designated by monumental mar
Bile, and he walked among them, without
the ability to distinguish that of his father
and mother Dissatisfied, he turned away,
and sought for some living man or woman
who could say to him with certainty, there
are your dead" None such were to be
found and when we saw him standing there
among the graves he had exhausted every eff.
fort. and was drSparing and doubly dcsolatc.
1t had consolcd him somewhat, to have
known where his father and mother slept,
that he might bend over the spot and shed
his tears Of flial sorrow. But even that poor
boon was denied him and he hurried away
witha soul full Of bitterness. -lT. hder.
GAUGE or R,ILRoADs-Thc last number !
of the Railroad Journal contains long re-
port Of Col. Whistler, formerly engineer on
the ST. Petersburg and Moscow Railroad IN
! Russia on the subject Of the best gauge tor /
Railroads. lie recommended II gauge OF i've
feet to the Russian Government rs the best;
but the commission of Russian engineers,
IN whom his proposition was submitted, did
not agree to il. but recommended gauge
Of six feet They had an argument upon
the subject, which resulted in triumph |
~