Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-05-12
COMlfUNICATTON.
Correspondent ee of the Belmont Chronicle.
CINCINNATI. o., May Il, 1870.
SPRING GROVE CEMETERY.

CINCINNATI. o., May II, 1870.
SPRING GROVE CEMETERY.
'Tis sad to part with those we love.
IT'S sad to stand around the open grave
ami hear the rattling ofthe clods as they
| fall upon the coain boards and feel that
those whom they conceal are lost to US
/ forever o, the grave! The grave! how
many have passed within its silent por-
tails ueUe, 10 return. Yet It's not the
grave, 'tis only the door that is opened
as we train the ivy abound our doors,
and plant there the beautiful flowers
and trees, shall we not adorn the city of
the dead, making the memory thereof
terror. My visit to "Spring Grove"
was a pleasure mixed with sadness, for
my two companions went there to weep
above the graves of their first born. The
sun tipped the branches OF the fir trees
with gieams of golden light, the birds
poured fourth perfect gush
of song, and there, by the grassy mound
that beautiful young mother knelt and
wept, and murmrred softly the name of
the darling one who slept beneath the
sod: but there was no response for that
darling child had passed the portals OF
the silent land,
The birds sit on the branch above
And sing a req uiem-
To the beautiful little sleeping form
That used TO sing TO them,
Bat never again will those little lips
To their songs of love reply.
For that SiiVery voice is olendered
With the ministrelsy on high "
! We planted there sweet fioweIs-fit
emhlems of the resurrection-and as we
! turned to take the farewell look-the
mothers heart was lifted up TO that
heavenly home where the parting word
is neUer uttered, and the parting tear is
neuer shed. SPRING GROVE CEMETERY
| is situated'in the valley of the Mah-ket-
eva, and contains 443 acres. It WAS
purchased at a cost of S4i3, ,6S3-grounds
selected in 1914 and consecrated in 1915.
Firing is not allowed within one hundred
yards of the inclosure. Visitors are not
allowed to carry lunch; they are permit
ted to walk Oh the grass, but are not al
lowed TO touch any thing not on their
own lots. On Friday last several young
ladies were expelled from the grounds
for violation Of this rule. On the 30th il
lis proposed to deck the graves between
the hours of and u, as large crowds
are then more easily controlled than i'll
the afternoon. The entrance buildings
are of the Norman Gothic style of archi-
lecture; they contain waiting rooms for
visitors. In the foreground is a lawn
closely shoru the grass of which is
compact and soft as velvet; this lawn is
studded with massive monuments al Il
groups of Towering shrubs. After pass
ing under the arched Railway Bridge
which spans the carriage way and
divides the grounds, we enter the ceme-
tery proper. There scene of beauty
and grandeur bursts upon the view un-
equaled by any that we have ever
realized. III the foreground is The lake,
in which thousands of gold fish swim
feariessly about. while The white and
black Australian Swans, with all man
ner of aquatic fowl, float upon its CLASSY
surface. Here are the rustic bridges to
the island in the lake, with groups OF
statuary, while from the ascending
ground back of the lake the marble
CLEANS among the evergreens and you
| inhale the fragrant Odor of flowers and
shrubs, which, owing to their great va
riety, produce perpetual bloom from
spring until the ground is wrapped in
.
represents a soldier upon guard and
standing on a granite pedestal. 1t is
bronze. The design was furnished by
Randolph Rogers of Rome, and the
figure cast 10y FreGric Won Muller of
Munich. One thousand four hundred
soldiers s.eep in circles around four in
verted cannon at the base of which is a
pile of cannon balls. Here is the Dexter
Mausoleum which cost 100000. 1t is
Spanish architecture and col sists OF
vaults, chapel and balustrades. The
HOfner Monument is a venitian Shrine
and was erected at an immense COST
There are hundreds of others, equally
beautiful and costly, but the names and
description would fill volume. While
monuments add grandeur to the scene,
the beauty is in the little graves decora-
ted perhaps, by marble slab, q sleeping
lamb or Il wreath of flowers. Hete|
sleeps five little children, while under
a shrub ale clustered group oflambs,
VIII lie and pure as snow. The watch
dog, true 10 life, lies with his head rest
ing upon the grave of his little master;
dov es are sitting in the grass, Groups oi
children lie clasped in each others arms,
and while the bones ofsome mothers dar-
ling are mouldering TO dust, the marble
image above preserves for brief season
the iolm and features of the one she so
fondly loved. On the graves are cast
rare shells of every hue and shore,
while the toys the child could not carry
away are laid upon its breast. Here all
is calm, aud peace, and rest. 'Tis as the
garden of Eden, the birds not having
experienced the cruelty of man have
not learned 10 fear him the
tiny ground squirrel will sit and his
food at your feet; the cedar bird will
sing his song of praise from the rail of
the rustic seat on which you sit, while
the chorus is sung by thousand
feathered warblers in the bush hard by;
the lazy gold fish would almost suffer
you 10 stroke him with your hand, and
the timid hare hops fealessly across your
path. AS we turn to leave the grounds
a voice low and weird comes floating to
our ears-'tis the voice of the mysteri-
Gus angel of the hereafter as he warns
us that we too shall also one day rest
in the land Of sleep and oblivion. II.
NEVS ITEMS
By an explosion of nitro o-glycerine in
the Midland Railway tunnel, near Waits
hOrn Npy York mn Friday n man