The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-02-17
WHOLE NUMBER, 566


Come. bitter conduct, come unsavouFy Ruidolp
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea.siek wsaEy bsfkI
Here'at to my lovaI o,true Apotheeary,
Thy drugs are quick. Thus, with a klss, die.
Romeo sought the tomb OF Julist, to die
beside, what he supposed was, her dead body;
the only instance recorded, so far as We
know, Of such devotion as TO induce one to
seek a living tomb. But this case has had
it's parallel in New Orleans, il we substi.
tute mourning father for mourning hus.
band.
The New Orleans Crescent gives the Dc.
tails. An Englishman, named Sylvester Ru.
pert, lost, by yellow fever, his pet child Lis-
Eie, Of four years. and with his own hands
being too poor to purchase-he built brick
tomb, and there deposited the body of Lizzie.
At the mouth OF the tomb he made wood.
en- frame, and he fitted piece Of board, and
secured it with screws in the four cornets.
On this board witS which he enclosed the
vault, he had carved nicely with his knife the
burial inscription Of his child. He fastened
the board with screws, in order that he might
ofterward have no trouble in removing Il
when he felt like gazing upon the decaying
remains Of his child.
This employment finished, il was his habit
to visit the cemetery, open the tomb, and
look at the corpse OF his pet. He always
carried a screw-driver in his pocket with
which to remove and replace the lid Of the
coffin. His visits were frequent, and some.
times his wife went with him. He frequent.
ly complained to her that he could not get
work land this inability doubtless fostered
the dependency which was drawing him to
death. On Thursday, when he left home,
he told his wits that if he had no better luck
In finding work che would never see him
! again.
That evening, or that night-for no one
saw him in his gloomy proceedings-he
visited the cemetery taking with him his
screw driver, an iron trunk handle, small
rod Of iron, piece OF wire, some new screws,
and large vial Of laudanum. Unscrewing
TIC uOuIu VI tu0 tOuUS uC tufGW away kuO
screws and filled the sctew-holes in the
board with clay. ..-s. a n sfaa
With his new screws he then secured the
trunk handle TO the inside OF the board. This
work; Of course; had to be done outside the
tomb. Pushing his child's coffin aside, hs
got in by it's side, taking with him his poison
- 1lo kho. 81 u,h;ak knL IL
| vided himself. His hat he placed upon the,
coffin; his coat, which he had taken OF, hei
wrapped around brick for pillow. He
shut himself in with the board, by means of
the handle he had screwed to it ; the board
fitting outside the wooden frame. The IRON
bar, which was OF the proper length, be place
ed across the frame inside.
The thickness OF the frame would not al.
low the bar to pass through the trunk-handle
on the inside Of the board; so he secured the
handle and the bar by means OF his wire,
coiling it through the one and around the,
other. He did not succeed in fitting the
boards squarely upon the frame. One core
ner Of it caught upon the brickwork outside
the frame; this he did not discover, probably
owing to the darkness Of the night; and but
for this little circumstance his fate would
probably have never been discovered, or not
at least for many years. Having thus hid
> himself away, as he fancied, beyond mortal
discovery, he drained off the contents Of his
laudanum bottle, composed himself on his
. back, placed the brick and coat beneath his
y head, and went to sleep, and off intothe un.
known region of the suicides.
. AS he did not return home on Thursday
night bis wife feared the worst, remember.
ing we'll the tendency Of his late conduct
and the tenor Of his parting words. On Fri.
day morning she arose early and went oul
to the cemetery. She looked around, ant
failed to fiDd her husband. She went ant
. looked at their tomb, and was about to leave
when she happened to notice that the bourt
!. did not fiji snugy into the frame as usual
" Looking closer she discovered the mud II
the screw-holes; and putting her hand OF
" the board, found it was standing loosely
~ She pulled it out little, and the first thinE
- she saw was the dead face OF her husband
u She tainted away, and laid In the grass sh'
could not tell how long.