New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-11-27
THREE EMPTY GRAVES.


THREE EMPTY GRAY
A STRANGE PROCESSION AT MIDNIGHT
EDWARD BowE's sToRY-THE GLOOMIEsT SPOT NEAR
rw.YoRK-oUARANTINE CEMETERY AND IFS
HISTORY.
Edward Rowe. section "boss" on the staten
Island Railway. who lives at Gfford's Station ten
miles from Clifton went for medicine to store ho'
far from his home at midnight on Saturday NoNo"'
bor1S On his return along the country r"ao ""0-
he ncared the station where he live1. ne sa" o'nl
inc from the direction Of the Quarantine 800
q number of rough looking men, folloWe" az i.,
s.atanoo ~, q common road-wagon Fearing th"t
oor,o % the men might modest him, ne s'oPP'u
- oro sido of the road ard coIoo'''u
h,rrso,f in the bushes luo
nossed without discovering him. and as inc ""-1 4
wos driven by he could plainly see DIV 'no -
uobt of The moon that IT contained ooIl''' H'H
~ ,ros nartlv shrouded from his sight by sheet
'is vac ~ aaros The mysterious procession went
80, IN nsrfect silence. Not word escaped the "Ps
of the men When the procession had disappeaieu
from view Bowe went back TO his home IrlRh'enou
and uvstifed He said nothing to anyone OF wha'
Lo had seen for several days Then he told police
man at Port Richmond.
ATp,RrSr reporter went to Stated Island on Sat
urdav and found Bowe at work on the railroad oe-
low Pleasant Plains. He is an intelligent freshman
of middle ace He gave n circumstantial account
of the strange procession that he hau met
at con,t say what they had in that coffin" ne
added. but Pm thinking. whatever II was, IL came
ont Of the old cemetery. . - 49,.
With view to ascertain II there We're any eVIII
dences of GRAVEYARD desecralOn the reporter starco
TO find the Quarantine Cemetery, which was aludSu
to nv BOwe This burial ground, where those VINO
die at sen and nj the Quarantine Hospital or CON
tagious diseases are inferred is in of the drea,-
EST and most desolatc spots to be found along th9
entire coast of Staten Island It IS REGARDED
horror BloOd-curdllng stores are l9lI "
il. Mothers frIghten their children
with ghostly tales OF how the sailors VINO are Dnlru
there NAV he seen any hour OF the night stalking
among the gloomy cedus that surround me SPOIL
The place is difficult Of access The reporter FOL
lowing the directions given him, Journeyed along
the road Leading eastward from Princes BAY s'a-
ton about a mile, when II trminated on the shore
Of the Lower BAY. Turning norm ne came 10 lne
cabin of an old negro sailor named Joseph IrcgorV,
whose house "a the nearest one 10 the haunted
graveyard. The old man, who was dlg1lng poStc
hole for q garden fence, IN reply to the questions OF
the reporter SAID that the saturday before ne had
seen some men 90 past his house about du k. IhcE
were strangers to Inn and he watched them until
they disappeared III the darkness near the Gene
How many men were theyW
Between three and lour." =,
"Have YOU been 70 the cemetery since them"
No sir. ] never 20 TO that pace. replied tho
old man with decided shake OF me head.
The reporter continued his walk along the shore
q u ]
cahln ne came upon he cemetery. I'm front OF " ere
the charrcd ruins OF wharf. II Is lt'le more than
an acre of ground, incosed by dllapaated picket
fence and Is the crown Of Il low knoll Juet above
the reach Of The de. At high TIDE the water
syycels around tire. sides Of it, The three hundred
graves that are thin the lnClOSur' are completely
hidden from view bl the dense jhckeIs Of alder
hushe. and the tail aras-, Weeds OF every V3nttY
and vii parsley abound. ruggling through IN"
aders in the centre of the square plot Of ground,
the reporter came UPON the runs of what had once
been large house. Charred remnants Of
timbcrs showed that, like, the long wharf
in front, II had been destroyed by fire
There were numerous rabbit paths that led through
the bushes and weeds that grew III what had once
been he basement. Al one corner of the ruin was
n large clstcrn, filled with black and bad-smeilug
water The grass Tapped over and nearly concealed
the opening A. another corner was another large
csteru but this one WAS dry. The view OF tins sol
emn and silent burial ground IS completely shut oil
ron the lana side by field of cedars hat seemed
as regular and trim as soldiers on parade II was
after much time and mucn trouble sp mt IN forcing
his way through the blckets that the reporter cOud
discover any evideAce that human being had oeen
on the spot within year. In the sou heaSt corner
of The cemetery he found the bushes cleared away,
and three freshly dug holes from, when bodleS
| uniUht have been taken. In the bottom of one
/ crave was the blOken handle OF shovel.
! some black-OOking water was staining III the
! other graves L.,
There were no wagon-tracks 10 he found near the
! Mace and there was no evidence beyond The three
! empty graves that rs lonely burylugground had
been desecrated. The reporter as ne LETT me Gene
! tery noticed that just auOve the burned wharf
! cluup q. ccdaIs grew sandy bar that Stretched
| oul into me BAY. Around the cedars several i'm
| ucnse pits hau been dug. Ii was supposed thdt
| CAPTAIN Kidd han buried bis famous treasures az
/ the roots O the cedars, and me puts III the sail
| were aug by fortune seekers, but no Spanish gold
| was ever brought TO hgnt.
stephen iurdy, who keeps summer
| hotel on tie shore nOtiar from me
oil negroes cabin, SAID to the reporter
There has been a strong effort made TO nave that
cemetery moved awav from here. The people say
its presence Is injurious to tnelr property, NOT 10
mention the ghost stories that are iOld about II.
The old place hangs like pail over this nelghbor-
hood. Occasionally d steamer brings a OOdy tneTr,
| and sometime after November friends Ol those
who buiied there, sharing the universal horror
! of the pace, come and take their dead away IL Ii
nv opinion that the procession that Bowe saw last
Saturday Was OF men who had been taking the body
/ of a friend or relative away from the cemetery"
what old rum is that In the centre OF the GENE
tery| ..,.,..,. ..;..
young man. there is not another such ahurylng
! proun in This whole country. Years ago a veal rs
! Ncw-York lmtchman owned splendid mansion
which stood where the rum now ID. lie made iil
fortune dealing in schnapps,' and use9 I,
have a boat take him back and f0rti
between his store in BeaveT-st. and his eegan
buy his home for quarantine hospital lie ac
! copied, and ms neEhbors grew 50 ellTagou INA
they burned his house to the ground ana even Duih
ed lis wharf, You saw the plies hat sun remain
We'll the Government, when tn house was Durlcn
converted the pace into Il burial ground LOT III
Quarantine dead, aud let the forty acres IL own
/ back o. it grow up III cedars. more gloomy spo
al il. hit not be ounI within nifty miles Oh III
! city"
TOSAVE LIFE And CIVILIZE AFRICA.