The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-20
An Astonishing Memorial.

Trenton Letter 10 Phi iddelph5d Times
The story of the queereSt tr.oute to the dead
on record comes from Lambertville in Hunt r
don county. Near th9 tow lives Mrs Elisha
Pratt widow OF Deacon Pratt, who was fam
Gus as farmer, a genial soul aud an
ardent Methodist. He was particularly fond of
TICKLING ii appetite, and was deemed consider
a de OF an epicuTe. His wife was an excellent
coos, and her dianerS were rare exhibitions OK
culinary skill for rural neignborho)d The
deacon joyed nothing better than house
full of clergymen around q table l'den with
tempting vlctuas. And Mrs Pratt, who dotted
on the deacon, was in ner element when prepar-
ing such feast and helping entertain such
goodly guests.
About a year ago number of ministers were
on their way to tie camp meeting at Ocean
Grove. T ere were Just dozen of them.
Decon Pratt hal them all stop over night at his
farmhouse, and gave them a rouSing dinner
early in the evening It was a dinner modelled
on the New England plan, as Pratt came from
vermont and so did his wife. There every
thing co lcelvaole TO eat, and plenty of reason
ably hard cider 10 drink. The deacon was 10
the best of hImor, and partook even more
heartily than usual of the food. His wife, &C
custCmed as sac was TO her husbands large APP
petite. was aStOnshed at the amount he con
Sumed, and made mental inventory of the
various articles and the amount of each that he
swallowed
The xt afternoon Deacon Elisha Fratt died
OF cholera mo bus. The physician SAID the
dinner Knocked aim out the funeral was the
lil StSI tue uelSlDOTuOOu ever knew. III mt OF
the we've clergymen present at the dinner
acted as pal bearers, aud tle other four Off
clatel at the church and by the grave
Inc widow was ncousolable for awhile and
talked about the tribute she proposed having
prepared III memory of her husband. Every
body supposed she was going TO erect a ha III
some mon lment, and the makers OF tombSton S
s-nt in bids. But they were all lni,taken Mrs
Pratt had in view e most remarkable and yet
su ;gestiye of memorials. She hal the work
done quietly in Phi adephia, and it require
some weeks to finish It.
When it arrived at the farm and some of the
widows intimate friends were invited to call
and see the tribute, they were at first astounded
and thens shocked, and finally tn y felt a dispo-
Sltlon TO laugh at was controlled with diff
Guilty. On the table in the parlOr stOO i u larc
glass case. On top OF the case was a small arch
made of solid silver. Surrounding the arcn
was the tgu in silver of an angel Blowing a
trumpet. Inside the area and suspended from
MS center was tablet of white marble, on
which were inscribed the following words in
deep, black letters:
This Is What the Deacon Died Of"
But it was underneatl the glass case that the
great surprise awaited the spectators. Tuere
on 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 tie dinner the evenin ,
before he died aud also exact duplicates in
quantity and size of the amounts he had con
sdmed. There was large plate of SOUP a big
slice of meat, heapiug side dishes full of vege-
tables, three cucumbers, huge slices of pie, a
quarter of a waterm lon, TWO plates of ice
cream, small cup of coffee and three goblets
OF cider They were perfect pieces OF WORK ,
wax, as well as perfect representations of VIII t
mad passed down tae dtacon's throat at the
dinner. The whole thing had cost several hun
dr-d dollars.
The ne gnDors naturally ridiculed the tribute
at first but they all respected the widow, and
when they found that she WAS really in earnest
IN her grief and in her regard for the wax me-
mortal, they restrained their mrth and said
little about 1t outside. Many of them tt O lght
that tue sudden loss had unhinged Mrs. Pratt's
mind somewhat. That is why il is only after
the lapse of year that the report of the aston
ishing tribute has leaked out.