Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-03-14
Turkish Funerals.

-t'J VI 'ns.hH very tSfHe OncS ~ that
BIT nowhere does the rextent seem pro-
portloDate to the death-rate. Florence
begs the question by adopting the tsne-
ment plan. making the graves deep and
Durying three people, one above anoth-
er, In each grave. At Venice the sea
Kindly wipes out the score &C .asionally
on the Lido GROUND, and other cities
have various exped:ents by which, while
new graves are added in one direction,
the Old grounds are correspondingly alb
sorocu Tor other purposes. so that n
balance Of size is continually struck,
and there is no sign o. increase. There
IS no such fault, however. about Con
stantnopie- The most eXtrLvagant
grumbier could not lake issue with the
amount of grave room there. There are
era 'eyar,ls in the city and graveyards
beyond the walls. The stones make
saw-tecth everywhere upon the hill
tops and crop "a, in spraw:ing planta-
lions in the valley. Til. city has grown
over the more ancient cemeteries and
( very often one s.umblcs on the stumpS
OF ths old monuments cropping up
through the cotble, in public streets.
These old grayeyards are of no par
ticuIar Ms now, but yet in WAY they
have commercial value. When man
buys one OK them all the graves and
bone; and monuments pass with the
other fixtures, and it is considered a
poor speculation if the purchaser does
not get stone enough to corner his lot
and pave his walks with. There are
cases on record where the yield sufficed
10 build front wall all across the lot,
but this is al extra bargain, AMI not 10
DC depended on. The present swell
! graveyards-the modern ones-lie for
the most part in old STEAMBOAT, along
the Golden Horn. This, of course, does
not include the tombs of the Sultans. A
Sultan Is of such uncommon clay that
he can't be mixed with heterogeneous
material even after death; and so, be-
fore he dies, he builds for himself a
mausOleum that shall cover his bones,
and his only, when he is dead. He
builds it of marble, as big as church.
and putting it VIII ,rever his fancy list
eth, he ornaments and adorns it ac-
cording to his taste. Inside it is gilded
and domed and has magnificent tessel-
! lated pavements. Tne bier stands in
the center, and around. the room is
placed sort of sawbuck, painted
black, on which the Korans can be rest
Ell. Here they put the Sultan when he
d es. covering him with gorgeous
Goth of black and yellow velvet, and
at his head erect pole, with his tur-
ban wound around it. Then he is shut
up tight and LETT alone Tor wear or
Two, till he becomes again approacha-
bic, when, having canOnized him a., q
saint, the priests take possession of his
tomb and open it 10 the public as q
sort of mosque.
One thing, however, done by the Sal-
tans in connection with the maus be
umS Is OF real practical worth. At re:r-
ular intervals around their outside walls
tree fountains are ope1ed for the benefit
of the poor. Priests are always on the
spot to give the water to any one who
asks. and the boon is one of incalcula-
ole benefit to the natives; for in hot
weather the well water i'm the CITY is
malarious and unwhoic ONE. Good,
sweet water is brought long distances
in pipes and is so costly that if it were
not Tor these fountains it would be en-
urely out of the reach of the poor
The L rks commonly select hill as
a ste fer grs' cyard. The drainage
IS better, and then, too, an opportunity
remains for getting ones headstone a lit
tie higher than that of h S neghbcS,
which is as dear to the Muslem as to
his more Christ an brother Nothing
in the way OF expense is spared in
I erecting these monuments, and many of
them are marvels of curious workman
| ship. They are all of one shape-a
slab formed like a coifin-lid, with the
big end up, surrounded by a neck aud
head of stone, around which is wound
! a tur5an. The cut and arrangement of
the turcan varies according to the rank
| OF the former wearer, and is painted
red, blue. black or yellow, according to
his social stat on in life. The adorn-
ment of the face of the slab is open to
the widest flights of barbaric fancy.
Nearly all bear flowers gilded or paint
ed upon them, the favorites beinr the
water lily and the rose. Closely push
ing them, however, is a nondescript
floral effort, more creditable to their
heraldic art than TO their botanical
knowledge. Between the flowers are
sandwi- he'd nice rlosely-printed cpl
taphs in gilt, that read up and down and
look like the incript ons on tea-box.
descriptive of the virtues of the depart
cd as discovered by his bereaved ones
after death.
But only the graves of the men have
tOmbStones. The Turks look on an epi-
taph as in some manner card of in
PRODUCTION to the neither world and
MoSlem women not being granted any
souls, they feel that it would in way
be playing it on the recording angel
to call his attention with monumental
documents where testimonials could be
OF no possible use; sort of tempting
him, as it were, TO- pass in q soul on
forged credentials. Still there is no law
against a woman having tombstone if
she can get one, and women being
women in Turkey as elsewhere. MANY
of the richer class while in life provide
monuments for themselves that vie with
those of the men in beauty and magnifi-
cenee. The largest mausOleum in Con-
slant nople is the enc built by he
mother of the present Sultan for her
convenience after death. 1t is of
variegateo marble and in imposing
richness rivals the far-famed tomb o:
SOliman the Magnificent. The Turkish
method of grave-making is borrowed
from that in use among the early Greek
colonists on the peninsula. These were
accustomed to dig pit from four to
five feet deep. in which the uneoffined
body was laid. Quicklime was then
thrown in and without filling. a heavy
slab of stone pierced with square
ventilation holes was laid on the open
grave. For year lights were contin
ually kept burning at the head and
foot. At the end Of this time the stone
was raised and the flesh of the corpse
carefully stripped from the bones.
which were returned to the grave and
permanently covered with earth.
Ii at this time the flesh did not part
company easily with the bones it was
Judged that the man was accursed and
IN torment for his sins, from which
state he was only to be rescued BY lib.
eral donations to the priests. A late
member of the British diplomatic ser.
vice IL authority for the statement tina,