Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-08-20
A GhastIy Gathering.

A traveller writes thus, there Is one Gu.
riosliy OF Palermo about which l hesitate
to disturb you. II you were to see 1t and
let your mind dwell on it you probably
would not sleep for week afterward. VI
all the fantastic, CHASTITY and sPortive deal
ings with poor mortality that have seen
IN my short pilgrimage, the convent oil the
Capuccini furnishes the most astonishing.
In seeing il had a new revelation OF the
capacities of human nature for indulgence
in the horrible and groteslue. From the
convent we descended into the subterran-
can corridors where are exposed, not buried
the dried remains OF wealthy inhabitants
of Palermo. These corrldorA OF which
there are several, are arched, broad and
well lighted, and l should think each
couple of hundred feet long. The air in
them Is dry and apparently salubrious, aud
one might walk through these wide sisles
of death in comfort If he were blind. On
each side OF these passages are long boxes,
piled one upon the other-not collins, but
boxes, sometimes with brass nails, and
| looking not unlike old fashioned hair
trunks. You might imagine yourself IN
an emIgrants' baggage-room on steamer
but for some other things in the corridors.
Elch Of these boxes contains a dead per-
son. The occupants of part OF them, which
have glass fronts, are visible. There they
lie grinnlng in arrested decay, with just
enough dried skin and flesh on the bones
to preserve tine semblance of humanity.
The Door desiccsted bodies have been for
ced into clothes, sometimes into fincry and
many In this awful dress parade of death
wear white kid gloves and fine shoes. But
this Is not the worst. Above these rows
of boxes hang IN all the limpness OF irres-
possibility for appearance which charac-
terizes the dead, ranks of mummles, hung
by the neck, or attached IN some way to
the walls of the vault. They are pretty
uniformly clad in somber monkIsh robes
of cotton, and, but for the horrible faces
staring at you, might pass for scarecrows.
The drying process has drawn the faces
into all CHASTITY contortions, in which one
might fancy that the real character OF the
departed is revealed. Some scowl, some
grin with malevolence, some smile Chat IA
the worst of alb, and some actually as
sumo comical look that forces your un-
willing laughter. Sometimes groups or
three or four incline their dreadful heads to
each other as if enjoying some post-mor-
tenn humorous story. His conceIt must be
infinite who can walk through these ranks
Of the dried and distorted dead and not
feel Inundated by such an exhibition OF
bis kind. Is il possible that we shall all
look like that? Must all beauty and man.
illness and bravery come to that.
There are many little children, some
not span long, lying In their little boxes,
decked IN all the f1nery of fond affection,
the lace and ribbons adding | know not
what of mockery TO the weasened baby
faces. One entire corridor Is reserved for
the women, and this Is more pathetic and
profoundly-disgustlng than the others
Those who died virgin have crowns on
their heads, and palms or lllles IN their
hands. They were great beauties, | doubt
not, before they came here, for the dark
eyed women OF Palermo are comely; but,
maid or BRIDE or wife, they are not beau
tiful now. although they repose In silk
dresses, kid gloves and sstIn slippers.
These be dresses for q ball, and what a
ball and dance of death is thlsl Is il any
pleasure for my lady to have her partner
OF her lover come and see her in this guisef
| learned that at death the bodies are in-
tered IN a sealed pit IN this cemetery TOR a
year. There is supposed to be something
peculiar In the soil which dries tine body
without destroying 1t. At the end of a
year 1t Is taken out, dressed and either put
into its box or hung up In the corridor.
Every year, at least on All Souls day, the
friends of the departed come TO look upon
he frlghtful remains. What satisfaction
they can have in the spectacle | do not
know, nor do understand how any man
or woman of presentable appearance, who
has visited these corridors in life, can con-
sent to occupy them after death. Inter
ment here was prohibited about a year ago.
do not know how long the wealthy peo-
pie of Palermo have been exposed here,
but we were told, as We walked along, that
S, 600 bodies were in sight.