The National tribune., 1882-02-11
a REMARKABLE CEMETERY.

A REMARKABLE CEMETERY.
A newspaper correspondent writing from Ha-
wanna says
"One of the remarkable sights of Havana is the
cemetery designed by, think, Captain General
Tacon. Unlike all other cemeteries, the dead
are buried above in place of under ground. A
huge brick wall, nine feet thick and fourteen
feet high, surrounds two great squares, each
about thousand feet long and wide. On the
inside the brick wall is pierced with two rows Of
openings. one above the other, sufficiently capa-
cious to admit the largest coffin. But one coffin
is permitted in each opening. When the coffin is
inserted the mouth Of the opening is heImetically
sealed and marble slab is placed within it
bearing an epitaph. On the extreme outside OF
the opening, which resembles but is much lar
ger than the mouth of an oven, is fixed sheet
of glass, and in the space between that and the
marble slab are generally seen wreaths of i'm
mortelles OF some other mementoes of affection,
which are protected from being stolen by the
pane of glass At this cemetery, in my time,
there were over $4,000 persons buried, and there
was no room for more. The great wide spaces
between the brick walls were laid out in walks
and flower beds, though in sandy neglected
condition in the time [ write OF. Capt.-Gen.
Tacons idea in the construction OF this extraor-
dinary burial place was that 1t would save the
air of the city from pollution, as bodies buried
in the ground in such soil and climate infect
the atmosphere when they begin to moulder;
but within the air-tight brick Enclosures above
ground there is no danger of this. That the
cemetery must have been popular is evidenced
from the fact that it was filled up in less than a
generation.
"There is an incident connected with this
cemetery that | cannot forhear relating, it has
such a tragic and pathetic interest. Twelve
years ago there was paper published IN Ha-
vana called, if I am not mistaken, the pos de
Cuba It's editor was Spaniard, who hated
Cubans with a savage hatred, and some of his
diatribes against them were of the most exasper-
ating kind He was a Jealous member of the
Casino, the UniofS League club of Havana, all
the members being of one political faith and
almost all Spanish volunteers, and was an active
foe of Cuban rebels and sympathizers. He hap
pened to pay a visit to Key West, where Cuban
refugees abound, and at a Hotel in that place,
becoming involved in quarrel with one Of
them, he was set upon and killed in a very bru-
tai fashion. His remains were brought back to
Havana, and the whole Spanish population
turned out to receive them. The volunteer
force of the city were under arms in the process
sion and fears were entertained that massacre
of Cubans might occur. AS it was, there were
bar-room brawls and considerable bloodshed
between Cubans and Spaniards the evening of
IL 10 oIs
inferred in the cemetery described, and the
usual marble tablet and glass plate placed in
front of his resting place. Not long after party
of young Cuban students of the Jesuits' col
lege in the Gale Obispo, visited the cemetery
and, coming to the grave of the defunct but
abhorred Spanish editor, they, with their dia-
mond rings, wrote some scurrilous things on the
glass before the tomb. This fact came to the
ears of the Fifth volunteer regiment and
after the arbitrary fashion in which things are
done in Cuba by the Spaniards, the students
days after tried by drum head court-martial and
sentenced to be shot.
1.-THE shooting was done in the open space off
the Alameda, near the Central prison. the Fifth
regiment being drawn up in a sort of hollow
square, and the six students, mere boys, each
kneeling on his coffin, were rddled to death
with Spanish lead. In all the atrocities of Span
sh rule there is nothing to excel this in cruelty
and injustice. An old-fashioned whipping with
a birch rod would have been punishment enough
for the Otfense committed but to render de-
cree of death, and to carry it out despite the
earnest appeals of all the English, German and
American merchants Of the city, the consuls of
the different countries, despite the frantic crav
ings for clemency on the part of the broken
hearted mothers and relatives of the boys, dis
plays depth of savagery in the Spanish nature
akin to that of the wild Indian of the plains AS
long as the Cuban mind treasures the memory of
wrong this unhallowed and most atrocious deed
will nerve their arm for vengeance on the Span
lard"
The Census Office has just published report
on the production Of bituminous coal in the
United States. 1t appears that the total amount
of bitEminous coal mined in the United States
during the census year 1880 was 40 42O, $50 tons,
of which total %, S42 ,240 tons were produced in
the Appalachian al-field. Allegheny county.
Pennsylvania, furnished over one-tenth and the
States of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio nearly
three-fourths Of the entire product. The average