The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-03-08
GRAVE NO. 1,no.
Thomas W. Wood II Buried
in Potter's Field.

rhomas w. Wood - Buried
in Potter's Field.
liable Ending OF IN Ola Soldier
.,.er Thirty-flve Years Ser
vice-Death Preferred
to Dependency.
Dan Francisco Cali, Feb, 10.
,,,., Is the number Of Thomas w.
v.nd'. gave: ,-,..,,
.V-,erlay.' -.
!. lnI-,Irc:ry burial place Of unclaimed
flt'i; n1irrnt deadlock down . COM
aw ' LII ,iIr. ard sOOn turned to q per
u.n =, ~, enter" bearing tho name
MI n!,o mas ". Wood"
"! n"T",,.,r 1,!li," the superintendent
:' it,, ,;,,,,!rr was marked in pencil on
NV ~. ',r,ruiu Of the permit. On the
the .oi rr,r.,n was the single word
@a'"m r,,.. > The number was the SUI
N:";sniem's memorandum of the
Nl. The word "MOrgue'' was the
ia.u.,n.,..rtakcr's memorandum for the
~! rni t;,e dead wagon. Thomas w.
a .r'.;,s lmly was taken from tn; mOrgue
w." ITO ,itv undertaken and buried in
No. lis, in the POtter's Field.
: :,a ..,,s, of his death was suicide. Such
~. ,i,e brief history shown by the 0f.
s';., -" ",ermit to enter" to which the
'",erint,nicnt turned. The permit
s,rl,er showed that death occurred
; ""hn,ary nth, burial the 18th, and that
,h.arc Of the deceased was ftfty-seven
" Wh,t did the unusual length of time
,u,wern the death and the burial mean:
r%;s That Thomas w. Wood had
.".rs., in the army and navy for
..;rv.fiyc years, and the officers Of the
; WorS,,e thought some other than pau
~ hurial was due him. They had
~ his body, therefore, as long ~ pos
.;It. Their efforts to find some society
s;IIiny to give the Indy q Christian
Imrsi were unavailing.
robe sure, he had only been private
!, the army and marine in the navy.
Vt frem ISL, when he was but twenty
,w" wars old, until only . few weeks
$40. worn out, and fftty-seven yeaD Old,
he had served ithfully.
Twill you direct me to his grave :"
the reporter asked.
Certainly" the superintendent re-
pi.sl. "Conic this way"
THE SOLDIERS GRAVE.
The path lc.l through field in which
= few sturdy sage-br,lshes were begin
nius war on the prevailing sand dunes.
I'm thr opposite side Of u brOken-<l0wn
fence st,sai Il black dead-wag0n and q
mournful lo,king, dirty white horse.
Ryond the .lcad-wagOn man stood In
nit up tO his waist. digging q grave In
the soft. fine sand. He threw the sand
into half lilicl grave, separated a foot
t.wn the one he was digging. The half
filed grave was marked by . plank,
,uinted q rusty white, and numbered In
iIark figures, Ills" Another next
beyond was ~, H."
That's Wuo,l's," the superintendent
.sil, pointing to the third grave from the
digger.
H. p,intc,l to u rusty white plank al
most buried in the drifting sands,
marked ~ lG" There was no mound,
uo grass, no fence or flowers. There Was
drifting waste Of white sand. studded
vit four thousand one hundred ana
eighteen r,,sty-white and " Gather ''eat-
rnplanks. -,
Have you put in this morning = twO:::''
the superintendent asked Of the naIf-
hurled grave-'liEG:.er.
Yes sir" the man said, nOtld;ng bis
head toward the two planks sticking out
VI the sand between him and number
"l,llG." Then he bent over his work
anil threw more sand from the half
made grave into the half-filled grave,
marked with Il blank No. ~, 49,"
1.-THE two brought out this morning
have been h;,ried," the superintendent
aid to the reporter.
why is he digging another grave,
them
'Oh, it saves work. \ grave has 20 De
6llesl up, and it may AS well Oe nIieo
with the sand from the next grave
made"
But the drifting sand may fill this be
lore it is used"
1T won't have time. We average forty
month. That's more than one gay
Tw" to-iay.'
WHERE THEY CAME FROM.
Where Ito they come from :"
FROM the MOrgue, mostly. Some
come from the City Hospital, some IRON
the l'"r H",,>c, and s"mc from I'M
Founding: Asylum"
wire ''>tr.,iyht line" ran along '.e
r,w "f graves in which the digger work
ri, that each plank should Ike placed ~
exact line. Long even rows III numner
~ plamks stretched away toward th'
(:oldcn Gate.
''ilow many arr there"
II numbered up to three thousand
anil then lngan with 'Onc' again, ant
he h now digging l.110 for tomorrow.
The reporter l,oked down the long
silent aisle~ formed by the tiousands Q
p!anks, il exact rows, and then though
II the sources which supplied the 6odle
over which the white sand dr1iieG
Found in the bsy;;' midnight brawls,
resulting in murder; WORKOUT tran!pa
Who waysi,led in thu Poor HOuse befor
'"lging finally in Potter's Field: an nm,
among them all the Indy Of Thomas "
Woo'l, native of Fairfax, Virginia, WI
','' nothing in his pocket, when xesrcn