Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1886-10-04

his bed. He is ''bldlng the Good |
Fathers time, but eager to go out
and rest with the two who loved him."
Metarie Ridge Cemetery is separ-
ated from the less fashionable ones
by the canal which Hon. Simon Cam
eron went to New Orleans to con-
struct while quite young man; be-
fore he dreamed of becoming politi-
cal "boss' of the state of Pennsyl-
vania.
In the ride to this portion of the
town one sees the white sails of the
schooner apparently scudding across
the fields. The water of the canal
is hidden from view, and strangers
are puzzled about the strange sight.
| remember a very wise looking man
in the car one day who "wondered if
it was one of them al ice boats, .sech
as the papers told bout thar bein' up
in Montreal"
AS the mercury was playing peek
a-boo up among the nineties, anoth-
er puzzled passenger said he "sorter
reckoned it wasn't that
When told it was sailing vessel
coming through the canal from Basin
street, in the heart of the city, out to
Lake Ponchartrain, and so on to the
Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic
Ocean, the northern man exclaimed,
"well, I be darned eff that don't beat
all creation
And the Kentuckian said, 81 low
there amt nuthin' up in our parts
as'll take the cake off'n that thar
an we reckon as how we've got
right smart of kentry, too"
The. place now known as Metarie
Ridge Cemetery, was once race
track, owned by one of the most ex-
elusive and aristocratic clubs of the
city. Charles Howard, a man who
made millions of money through his
connection with the "Louisiana Lot
terry Company" applied for admls-
sion to the club and was blackballed.
He arose in his wrath and swore he
would "buy their old race track and
turn it into a graveyard" And he
kept his word, purchasing the stock
as he could until he had a controlling
interest and could bulldoze the rest.
1t is modern, fashionable, and very
beautiful. Some of the native and
water oaks remain ; the deeply-rooted
grasses grow luXuriantly, making a
lovely setting for the exquisite wild
flowers which are scattered every
where winding walks and drives lead
by splendid marble houses, many of
them adorned with statuary fit to
grace any art museum. If we could
forget the magnificent tombs erected
by the Egyptians, it could safely be
said Metarie Ridge has as fine houses
for her dead as the world ever saw;
but, compared with those, they seem
as insignificant as backwoods
school-house does to city hall of
learning.
Two large lots are set apart to the
memory of the Confederate dead
Louisiana's soldier boys. A stately
monument marks each spot and on
Decoration Day the swelling mounds
are pyramids of flowers, among which
always are seen those sent by the
Grand Army of the Republic.
1t costs a snug sum to secure styl-
ish quarters in Metarie, but to some
there is compensation in knowing
they can never be surrounded by poor
neighbors.
"Where are the poor-the very
poor-buried" / asked that once,
and on being told, went to the desc
late place of graves-for in that great
city there are many who cannot afford
single "oven" in one of the crowded
tenement houses
I hunted about until / found an
open grave. 1t was half full of wa
ter. Could it be waiting for an oc-
cupant? The Irish sexton whom 1
asked said, ''Indade, miss, an what
else would it be waitin' there fur? Eff
yell bide bit an kape cluss to me
solde I'll tache ye how we plant the
poor devils as hasn't the ownin' NV
shillin' wild which to pay the praste
fur gettin' their poor souls out of pur-
gatory, much less to waste on an
oven."
In little while the hospital dead
wagon drove briskly in, and without
ceremony dumped a roughly stained
pine box near the open grave. A
poorly dressed, pale, sad-eyed wo-
man, with little hungry-looking chill
dren clinging to her hands, came
from among the rank weeds which
grew all about. With heavy sobbing,
the poor woman bent over the coffin,
caressing it with pathetic tenderness.
''He did his best while he had
strength to work." she sobbed out,
land little he thought, poor soul, af-
ter all his striving, that only pau
per's grave was waiting for him."
In her agony she kissed and clung
to the slender box; but poverty's
grief cannot stay the undertaken s
hand 5; there is only the stipend which
the city pays, and there may be 9TH
er dead ready to take their last ride.
So the coffin went down into the wa
ter-not to sink, but to float. Step
ping between the mourning wife and