The Lambertville record., 1888-08-01
THE GRAVEDIGGER.
A CHICAGO REPORTERS VISIT TO
THE cEMETERlEs.

Grayedieging Healthy voeatIon-Bury-
ing Alive-chicago's Tweuty-six Cenae-
teries--A Busy Tim~--worix and Wages.
How Familiarity Breeds Contempt"
A withereds bent and gnarled old man was
digging leisurely away at a grave in Grace
land cemetery The old man was John Kane,
the oldest active gravedigger in the United
States. He is 65, and when he walks his
back is at an angle Of IS degs. But there Ia
lots Of life In old John Kane yet, and he may
well live TO complete his four score and ever
Il have buried great many in my life
many thousands" said the old man. "rve
been here, grave digger, making good
living at it, since 1880, when Graceland ceme-
terry first started I've never dug up any
treasures, and don't suppose ever shall.
But I've earned my bread at 1t and provided
for my family, and me and my boys used to
da great deal of hard work in this ceme-
terry, It's an old saying that grave digging
Is u healthy trade and that a grave digger
lives longer than most other people don't
see exactly why it should be so for one often
digs up poisonous gases in removing bodies
elsewhere. But it's open air work, and It
has to be done in all sorts OF weather and at
all seasons, and thus 1t makes a man tough
anii not liable to give in to small ailments. y
There has never been, as far as reliable
data are at hand, a case Of burying alive In
Chicago cemeteries. 1t was rumored that
there was, some time ago, such a case at
Waldheim, the great sFriedhoffn literally
peace yard, of our German fellow citizens,
But visit paid there and diligent inquiry
made failed to bring out any corroboration
OF the rumor. That's all bosh,n said Theo-
dore Harks, the superintendent of the Ger
man Lutheran cemetery, adjoining Grace
land. II have buried thousands and have
opened many coffins years afterward, when
the bodies, for some reason or other, had to
be placed elsewhere. 1 have always found
the bodies exactly in the same position in
which they were laid to rest All this talk of
burying people alive Is nonsense, 1t don't
happen, and folks might as well dismiss that
fear from their minds"
Graceiand has the largest silent population
OF all Chicagos twenty-six cemeteries ar
the $1,000 who lie there so quiet could rise nm
again, hale and hearty, what population
there would be added to Lake Viewp, ex-
claimed the philosophizing car driver as his
car ratified ON through the thinly settled tracts
surrounding Graceland. There are 5000
buried in block alone. OF the twenty-six
cemeteries fourteen are Hebrew ones. all
small, and only twelve are of fair sized or
large dimensions. Graceland, however, with
10Oacres Of ground, Calvary and Rose Hill
seyenty-five each, and Waldheim with a
territory of just about the same extent. to.
gether with Concordia aud st. BoiIiface, hold
Just about the bulk Of dead Chicagoans
Altogether probably some 10000 are laid
away IN all these--a large number for
young city like ours. But there Is room for
another SOC, 900 in these burial grounds. In
view OF the large number buried, and of the
hundreds that die every week, It may sound
strange when it is said that there are al
together less than one hundred gravediggers
employed at the twenty-six cemeteries.
The shovel, pick aud spade, together with
the strap to lower the coffin into the grave.
form the complete outfit OF tools for the
gravedigger During the warm season IL
takes but an hour TO dig grave in ordinary
soil, and OF the regulation size, |. O., four
and a half te i've feet deep and about seven
feet long 1t is different In the winter time.
The pickax is then necessary, and even with
its help 1t takes from three to four hours 10
make the holc, with the frost often three feet
deep In the ground. The busiest time for tho
grayediggers is the early spring, generally
abouA tba ,,,i,l,lio 80 s.sf =, -
SsJ;n. tha4 ha. p' "nen aii the
d,,r;,,s, tha ou sway IN vaults
,a,,d ~ ,.S ;nstn.,ea ~ ,n.ee AZ trace
H., 49,, 49,. - '''"1y ~ aS 'Ansy-e"o
a3hi,s,;,, 49,. c..,uos,.1 .t, lniS =, oi course
.s,da,,a. ,,s.lS .s., " sno ~ sau perlouso OF
dr.. ~, s,,,ni,,sss ,..it .ue iasV
Tho,, 49, -, a. - uapiVne, naa e.c'
a1,os T.. 49,. Soo Does were
90, ,, ~ ~ .no auenor,Dics Oh
s,,o, t,,,,os - asaSs ~ i uiei' During
~ ~ ,',,o ~ s' 0'' iieip mas OIL course,
r. ~ ,,,s..,, - .t,..,
,,,,,o.r ,a,,,s ~. 10. '''iA 'nus shc grave
,,,as, - go ~ =, ~ =, 40 esul'I ~ moneniy
,,a;d Nv ths dav ;s .h..t - -, "aun in, Aiieu ana
IT.. TT q az 49,, ~, sneso niea re-
A.. ~ se.,,i .'u o, "oA nue Oh course, IL
,;o. t,a;.;,,o. =, haaasa .n sAaa nor hiueh pre-
ou' :. as ~ ~ o ",.1,, soou g,aved,gger
~ e =. ess IL :. s.a., 'ne spauc ., snoVei,
~. .. ao.o ~ us 0s VI square noie can
az. az .ao mA " ~on VI course, IN adoitloh 10
~ s,e a.ss's " $50, enese n,e,i naVe 10 10
'.s.a suo souuns :, .ne slayes, anu nave 10 care
Da,uss ~. i ~ ,'.l " .nen, aiter tne
p'an.ins, ~, Ia' oeei' uoiio W tne horlsts
snu nm 'ssls,'u.s s one grayeuigger, besides
ussns p'vDaoy q uaiy avernge OF Two
s,aY,' ~ ~ sno yv"i u'ou''u, ~ mus 70 Hiinu
couple Oh uuuureu graves. Ine watering of