Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-09-18
AN ASTONISHING MEMORIAL,



aud Ills widow Put the Meal ia was.
The story of the queerest tribute To-
the dead ON record comes from Lam
bertville in Hunterdon county Near
that town lives Mrs. Elisha Pratt. wild
ow ofdeacon Pratt, who was famous
as II farmer, a genial soul and an ar
dent Methodist He was particularly
fond of tickling his appetite, aud was
deemed considerable OF an eplcure
Lis wife was an excellent cook, and
her dinners were rare exhibitions OF
culinary skill for rural ncighborhood
The deacon enjoyed nothing better
than house full of clergymen around
a table laden with tempting viluals.
And Mrs. Pratt, who dotted on the
deacon, was in her element when pre-.
pairing such feast and helping en-
tertain the goodly guests.
About year ago a number Of min.
listers were ON their way 10 the camp
meeting at Ocean Grove. There were
Just dozen of them. Deacon Pratt
had them all stop over night nj his
farm house, and gave them rUusing
dinner early ia thecycnIug II WAS a
dinner modelled on the New England
plan, as Pratt came from Vermont
and SO did lis wife. There Was every
thing conceivable 10 eat, and plenty
of reasonably hard cider to drink.
The deacon was IN the best Of humor,
and partoOk even more heartily than
usual of the food His wife, accus-
toned ms she was To her husbands
large appetite, was aStonIshcd at the
amount he consumed, and made a
mental inventory Of the various ar.
ticlcs and the amount Of each that he
swallowed
The next afternoon Deacon Pratt
+ died Of cholera morbus. The physician
said the dinner knocked him out. The
funeral was the largest the neighbor-
hood ever knew. Eight OF the twelve
clergymen present at the dinner acted
as pail bearers and the other four olli-
cialed at the church and grave.
The widow was lnconsolable for a
while and talked about the tribute
she proposed having prepared in mem
ory of her husband. Everybody sup
posed that she was going 10 erect
handsome monument and the makers
of tombstones sent in bids But they
were all mistaken. Mrs. Pratt had in
view the most remarkable and yet sug-
gestive of memorials. She had the
work done quietly in Philadelphia,
and itrequircd some weeks to finish il.
When it arrived at the farm and
some OF the widows friends were in
vited TO call and see the tribute. they
Were at first astounded and then
shocked, and finally they felt dispo-
sition 10 laugh that was controlled
with difficulty. On the table in the
parlor stood large glass case. On top
of the case was q small arch, made OF
solid silver. Surmountiug the arch
was the figure in silver, Of AN angel
blowing trumpet. Inside the arch
and suspended from its center was a
tablet OF white marble, on which were
inscribed the following words in deep,
black letters:
This Is What the Deacon Died OF"
But il was underneath the glass case
that the great surprise awaited the spec
tators. There, Oh plates arranged in
the order they were served, were exact
duplicates in wax, and some in glace
shape, of the various articles of food
the deacon had eaten at the dinner the
evening before he died. and also ex-
act duplicates in quantity and size of
the amounts he consumed. There was
a large plate of soup, big slice of
meat, heaping side dishes full of vege-
tables, three cucumbers, large slices
of pie, a quarter OF watermelon, two
plates OF ice cream, small cup of
coffee and three goblets of cider. They
were perfect pieces of work in wax, as
well as perfect representations of what
had passed down the deacons throat
at dinner The whole thing had cost
several hundred dollars.
The neighbors naturally ridiculed
the tribute at first, but they all re-
spected the widow, and when they
found she was really in earnest in her
grief and in her regard for the wax
memorial, they restrained their mirth
aud said little about it outside. Many
of them thought that the sudden loss
had unhinged Mrs. Pratt's mind some
what This is why il is only after the
lapse Of a year that the report of the
astonishing tribute has leaked out
IN