Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-11-05
IA lnnp bit of beard

And they are all dressed, these dead .
these wretched. hideous and ridicu-
lous dead-all dressed by their relatives.
who have taken them out ot, their COZ
fins in order to make them take part IN
this awful assembly. Almost all are
clad in a sort of long black robe, with
a cowl which is generally drawn over
the head. But there are others whose
friends desire to attire more sumptu-
ouslv, and the miserable skeleton,
wearing an embroidered Greek cap and
envelopcd in a rich mans dressing
gown. seems. ~ it lies upon its back.
to sleep q nightmarish slcep-a sleep
at once ludicrous and terrific. pla-
card like blind mans begging card.
bearing the name and the date of
death. is hung to the neck of each
corpse. Those dates make cold
shiver pass throu h the very marrow
of ones bones.
Here are the women, even more bur
lesuue than the men. for they have been
coauettishly attired and bedeckcd.
Their heads stare at you from within
bonnets decorated with ribbons and
with lace, making a snow-wh'te fringe
around each black face, all petrited, all
gnawed by the strange chemistry of the
earth Their hands protrude, like the
severed roots Of trees. from the sleeves
of now dresses, and stockings that con-
tain the bones Of the legs look empty.
Sometimes the dead wear only par
of shoes, too large for the poor driedup
feet.
But now we enter gallery full of
little glass collins; this is the childron
burial chamber. The bones OF the little
creatures, still soft. could not resist the
work of decomposit' And you can
not tell exactly what you ac looking
at. the miserable little things a"e so de-
formed, 50 crushed, so frighttully shape
less. But tears come to your eyes
when YOU observe that the mothers
have dressed them all in the same little
dresses they wore when alive. And
they come here to look at them some
times.
Often YOU see beside the corpse pho
tograph showing the living person rs he
was. and nothing is more startling.
more terrifying than this contrast.
We pass through another gallery
lower and darker, which seems to have
been reserved for the poor. In one
black recess there are some twenty Of
hem. suspended all together under an
. pnening under the roof, which lets in
he outer air upon them in strong and
sudden winds They are clad in u sort
# black canvas. fastened about the
, neck and feet and as they lean one over
he other YOU imagine they were shiver.
ny, seeking to escape, screaming Tor
help. They look like the drowned crew
If some ship.
Here is the chamber of the priests
, vast gallery OF horror At the trs'
glance ;hev seem more terrible than the
= others. robed in their sacred vc>tments
I black, red and violet. But as you
l examine them one after the other, q
, nervous and irrepressipe laugh seize
D YOU at the spectacle of theil
, BIZARRE attitudes, the CHASTITY com
: adv of their poses You behold som,
| who sing. you see others who pray
The faces of all have been lifted up
the hands of all have been crossed
, They wear the sacerdotal biretta upot
their tleshlcSs brows. Sometimes i
r hangs sideways over one ear in jocu
| lar way, sometimes il slips down owe
t the nose. A very carnival of death /
r this. made more picturesque by tn
. 1llu'u TlCnu'ss vi th' oeSi''iaS''N"
Z robes.
:. From time to time head rolls dow
: upon the ground, the attachments c
= the neck having been gnawed throug
'v mice. Thousands of mice dwell /
V this human charnel house.
2 On certain festival days the cats
r combs of the Capuchins are throw
II open to the public. Once drunke
2 man got into the place, lay down
o sleep and awoke in the middle OF tn
h night. He called. screamed, howle
s. with terror. rushed madly to and fr
n in vain efforts TO escape. But no on
l. heard him. In the morning he wa
q found clinging to the iron bars of tt
gate with so desperate grip that It r.
a qured long time to detach his hanc
=. from them He was mad. Since thi
~ time a great bell has been suspende
~ near the entrance PartS Figaro.
IS AT the beginning of the war Nat
u anisl Kimbal, of York County, Pen
10 svlvania, paid deb, he owed at u
u store with a pumpkin seed, on whi'
no wrote Good for Is cents Ma
10 Himbalr' This currency was accept'
Il. and has passed as current mon'
throughout the community ever sihc
n. MIR Kimball has tried to redeem Z
I'd pumpkin seed, but the owner will n
ne part with it.-Phii Idelp phta Press.
III
Bears have increased greatly
be nun ocrs in Oregon since the gre
n wiz l-storm OF January, 1880, whi
in threw down a large amount of timb
~. and rendered the woods almost impa'
,SGr able in some parts of the State, tn
irs PreNeh'inR 'ue n"n'i's s VI ''"