The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1863-05-14
A CRAVE STORY.

A GRAVE STORY.
| A chap Of Hill ian procivities, liv-
ling At Waterloo, in thi, Starc was re.
Gently employed BY a well Known ci,i.
zen Of that place to dig grave in the
Protestant Cemetery at that town for a
lady who had died after long sick.
ness.
| Pat was not familiar with the bnsi.
ness Of sexton, and consequently
needed much instruction before lie had
dug the grave. Afterwards = man
from town left, without a word Of ex
PLANTATION, \ b x ~ case with the lid
nailed on) T. hold tie coffin.
Pat, supposing the box contained
the corpse, was much chargrined, be
lieving that through ! swan pertIe e:s,
| the coffin had come t. the grave before
he was ready to receive it, doubled his
exertions, and soon had the grave com
| pletcd. lie ascended to the surface,
putting m, blowing like popr"isc, and
wiping tie perspiration from his brow,
began to look for the procession, which
] he imagined could ne bc far behind
the coffin, but his a.tnni>hmcnt was
great when he found that no ono was
il sight!
| "Arrahy he exclaimed, "bnt yes
Yankees hav divilish hatheuish customs
intirely, tn lave poor woman viii y
stranger whin she shud be dacenltv
buried"
| After waiting f.r considerable, time
:f.r some one t. lower the supposed
coffin INFO the grave. h- became impa
ticnt, aud thus soll.qni.cd:
!. BE me sowl, l,atherick, and is il
! ycrself thstis the only funeral process
sion? and it is yes that i'll hev to bury
tn" lady, action At the same time a~
chaif mournar, praist and sanx.o' and
then begining active operations. he
ms"fally siezcd the empty box and be.
gan to lower it INTO the grave. When
lie lifted tie imaginary coffin up, he ex
"a med with genuine astonishmen,:
'Japers, and isn't she light? The
poor Yankee woman is lighter nor =
feather; she's faded in,irrly, until she )
no account, and that's why her coun.
trymcn is atthcr neglcc;ing her; hu,
fax, Pat, let it never be said thst you
would be aflhcr dong dirty ,rick--so
here goes" And cutting tho action to
the word down wen. the box.
Soon after the pit was nearly covered!
up, ~ earth o. tip artistically pa,ted
into shape by hi- >p.le ana :hs head
aud foot boards pr ap.
Pat walked of to town, bought 4
pint IT u iskcy and while drinking i
took occasion TO denonn..c in unmcas.
ured terms the "ls,hcni>h Yankees"
who "lsft the poor woman trnsten to
lone boy u an Ii>h lad for jacent
burial" In few NJ ments, to his great
CONSERVATION, he saw The procession
move slowly and solemnly past. towards
the grave yard. lie followed in deep
trouble at \ respectful distance, aud
saw the procession arrive at the ground
and observed frnitless search for the
grave. llc heard person declare tha,
man had been employed to dig the
grave, and heard anothe: say that
through some strange mistake another
pcrsun must have been buried there, as
the very spot where the grave was to
be dug, was occupied by anothe:
corpse, but when the parties came TO
read he initials Of the name on the
head board, they discovered the mis-
take. The box being placed in it, was
lowered into the grave.
Pat generously refused any money
for his services, and said ~ an apology
for the error, that he "never heard Of .
Christian before, being buried in two
oofIins !''-Dsbsqse herald.