The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-03-26

all occupied. some of them crowded lhe
a New York tenement house. yet with no
life about them save the crawling ilzaros
which bask in The suns rays. Societles
in other places have lots here they buiid
a great square tomb with a dozen tiers Oh
.sovens. each fitted to hold one coffin
When a member dies the single slab which
closes the door Of an 'soven" is removed,
the coffin pushed to place and the SAP
restored. Only this thin piece OF stone
between the air we breathe and the deadly
gases within. With cemeteries inthe heart
of town, with cemeteries in every direction
one goes by car, one may we'll say FroVl-
dence has been kind else the poisoned ar
would have laid its people as low as ever
did Spanish sword the inhabitants OF d
doomed city of the Netherlands.
The reason for this strange method CT
disposing of the dead lies in the fact that
water is so near the surface that grave
fills almost Immediately. Paupers are
buried. Some Catholics bury their Dead
but not many / CHANGED once to be IN
cemetery when grave was open. l asked
the man found there how it could pe
possible they would bury one IN tna6
place, for it was half full of water.
Faith, an eff yen wait a bit an kape
cloos up tn tache We how we plant the
poor divil as HASN'T a spalpeen to buy ms
| way through purgatory, much less TO
waste on tomb
l waited / kept ''cloos = / saw. The
parish hearse brought roughly stained
pine coffin and deposited it I; a poorly clad
woman leading wide-eyed, pale-faced
! child came from among the graves ana
with heavy sohbing, touched tenderly the
/ poor coffin. HE did his best while ne
had health, y she sobbedlout; land little he
thought. poor, dear soul, that after all his
striving. only pauper's grave was wait
inc TO cover him. In her agony she
| kissed the wood and chung to the slender
I box, but poverty's grief does not stay the
undertaker's hand there is only the SUI
mend to come, and there may be other dead
to take their last ride. So the coffin went
4 down lrrto thg water-not to sink, but &c
G0at. i kept ''elQos." Stepping between
slone mourneT and the graves brink
~ ,stont son OF Erin deftly dropped one
o,,a af sa iron lar on to the coffin. The
,nor,- was clone, for the thin wood yielded
and ~; u, one push the coffin went under
filed wi, VsSTater, and sank to the BOTTOM
T had seen epapgh to last me lifetime.
Sewers @ al above ground for the
son,o roasor xast burial places are. They
ID ~ str;1-o We SIS pleasantly as do th'
-, 49, -, hioh eaw5ng out from the rive
Inrdan oarrsa SsEn the sides of TIT
stnoots oe 40 Mo-, SQllSity. If strangel
ohanoos ~ ee ohsorvo them after heav!
chances TO observe %ag,asshed he is sur,
rain or when they are BIT r. - ao,,,
to begin searching for N 80, aS ~ -. A.,
pass, convinced that 'I Ma,; -
water is turned about - 20 go
water is expected to run to . NS1oa t 100
the river. Water in New ~ 80 49,
enactly the opposite. 1t runs 49, - ~,
the Mississippi and to the swal '''
rear Of town. .,;o
1t doesn't require a genius to. eaou1,
the result if the treacherous streams
break its bounds at the city's edge. =,
Cisterns, like graves and sewers, are
above ground. Two story affairs they are,
for the big water holders are elevated |
upon frame work which doubles their |
height and makes them look like big tubs |
on stills. Often scroll work relieves the
strictly-for- business appearance they wear,
and they are invariably painted green. AS
they have no protection from the sun, ice
is indispensable, and even with ice, after
weeks of hot, dry weather, one is hardly |
the water fresh from some mountain
spring.
Another curious thing is the milk cart.
A horse comes flying down the street
hitched TO a two wheeled cart, which has
two large tin cans showing their heads
above the horse. No driver can be seen,
and the first thought is of u runaway.
Presently a head appears, frequently a
woman's; no bonnet no hat; only ker
chief. In coolest weather they make their
rounds with only this protection to their
heads, and with only thin shawl about
their linsey gowns. The wheels are fitted
to the car tracks, and they go like mad.
On asking che why they used two instead
of four wheel carts, he scratched his head
a moment and then said
''Four wheels they stick in de mud
twice times as two; two wheel stick 'em
till horse he most pull hisself atwo; so
two wheel better as four wheels. See -
1 saw. L. D. G.