The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-06-08
RENE MBER HE DEAD
A Strange PiCfc, Such as
Only Could Be in
Strange hssia.
-
IN THE SMOLEES CEMETERY.
---
All st. Petersburg 4lrned Out and
Had Tea ON the bmbstones-
A Funeral Vahty Fair.
BY GEORGE HNNAN.
Copyright. 4so.j


Remnant You're going to remener the
dead today, aren't your"
Remember the deadv' / repted in
establishment, who's deads''
why, everybody--ln the Solensk
graveyard. Didn't you know iti
Everybody dead and burie9in the
Smolensk graveyardi-no, did1 know
1t; when did they all die?''
1Pshaw," said Cummings, imatiently,
you know what mean; today the day
when everybody goes to the molensk
cemetery to remember his des friends
and relatives, eat dinner on the graves,
sing requiems, and all that SORT ching;
come on, let's gop'
ssBut, my dear fellow" I oected, in
amazement. 1--WE haven't gotiny dead
friends in the Smolensk ceutery, nor
any graves to eat dinner on, II any din
ner to eat, for that matter, unss we stay
at home; and as for requies never
sang one in my life-don2t know any
except old Grimes is Dead.'
Well, what of that?" dennded Cum
mings, impatiently; that dot make any
difference. there are lots of t'ayes there
that don't belong to anybodNnd we can
buy some dinner from the lulh peddlers.
Get your hat and come on; IL be lots of
fun.n
Going to a graveyard for vat promised
to be u picnic, and eatlngginner on
tombstone while Cumgmigs sang a
requiem, did not, / must CHESS, strike
me as being particularly funny pro-
gramme, and looked dutusly at my
friend, with q vague suspicir that was
being made the victim of me stupen-
dous Russian joke, which yuld prove to
he funny for everybody Gept myself.
He protested, however, tit it was all
honest and his flushed, ager face, as
he rushed around the roo{in search OF
my mislaid hat, bore sui convincing
evidence of sincerity, tn, | could no
longer doubt; he was cIesy in earnest.
But what an idea of amunentl II the
Sclavonic intellect coul@t crafty Its
grotesque sense of the huorous in some
less irreverent way, l mitally resolved
that d die and be buried5mewhere elsel
Cummings should neverAve an opportu-
nifty of inviting half lzen frolicsome
tourists, to ''go and he some fun on
Remnants graven--not 4 KEENAN, had
anything to say aboutt However, If
there were any curioui custom of this
kin d to see, was quitesady and willing
to see it, so, taking the at which Cum
mings was mpatientlyolding out to me,
| threw down my boo and we started
out.
The Smolensk cemety is situated near
the center of Bass Island, half
mile or more om our house,
but it became event as soon as
we entered the rect that there
would be no difficulttn finding our way
to the place. The til of human beings
which was setting fongly and steadily
toward it was of its@ q sufficient guide:
The whole populatis OF the city seemed
to be in motion. Iousands and thous-
ands of pedestriansgithh hands and arms
full of provisions, Il urns and evergreen
memorial wreath, thronged all the
"linesu Tor avenu1 of Basips Island
from the river to tt cemetery.
AS we drew nearer and nearer
to the Meccs OF this curious
municipal pilgnage,. the num-
Der of pilgrims cStantly Increased, un-
til at last they ovdowed completely the
broad stone paveents of the fourteenth
line and filed thvhole street from side
to side with mdng flood of picturesque
and Observation-Disclosures. Everybody
was loaded dow with packages and
bundles, and Il irregular procession
look ed like mGrn exodus OF Sclavonic
Israelites, who id just been despoiling
the Egyptians, ID were nurrylng out
OF the city with leir plumber.
At the sintersGion of the Fourteenth
Line and the Lie Perspective, we found
ourselves in thlvery midst of the con-
yercing streemDf Sclavonic humanity,
and were borneelplessly along toward a
narrow stone chway in long. white
wall, above With rose the painted domes
of the Smolensl Church. The noise and
confusion hereFere perfectly pewiider-
ing: hundred carriages and droshkies
were massed lgether in a wide, open
space on the nth side of the gateway
and the air raK with the multitudlnous
shouts. cries i'd quarrelsome vftupera-
ton of their dTers; the pavements were
lined with ydng peddlers; squads OF
mounted genirmes pushed 70 aud Iro
through the rowd, vociferating orders
which nobodpbeyed; policemen wran-
gled furiouslWith red shirted peasants
who were tryE, in defiance of the law,
to smuggle iIbrandy; women In bright
colored calicond silver head bands lost
their baskets nd their children in the
crush and add their shrill cries to the
shouts and mprecations of the gen
darmes; viii high over the confused
tumult sound the deep, rapid tolling of
heavy bell om the dome OF the grave
yard church,
In the suing crowd at the entrance
Cummings al | were forcibly separated,
but could 81 see his head bopblng II
regularly uThnd down a short distance
in advance; nd just as we entered the
gateway Returned halt around and
shouted to y IN English, How do you
like this2 lold you it would be fun"
Fun" hsped, Indignantly, I'D IKE
to -" las going to say that would
like to punl his head, but just at that
moment a frspiring sheepskin nloozhik,
with his ha parted in the middle, sud-
denly jalmed big brass tea
urn intoEthe pit of my stomach,
and avaing himself promptly OF
my temIrarily breathless condition,
pushed DIT me into the enclosure.
struggledalong in his wake as well as
could, coyoling myself with the savage
refiectionhat there would probably come
time inthe history of my urn bearing
friend wen entrance To that grave yard
wouldn' be so desirable thing, but
when b right to head the procession
would questionable.
One lore GREATNESS struggle and we
stood iside the cemetery walls. The
scene VS. one which could hardly have
imagird. even from the most Wind and
outskits of a forest-dense, dark and ap-
pareny neglected thickly set with
mossElabs of stone and marble, and the
peculir three armed burial crosses,
Whiclare characteristic of Russian ceme-
teries Thousands of men, women and
childtn, OF all ranks and conditions were
gathted in groups around the innumer-
able graves; some busily engaged in
speeding down table cloths and prepar-
lug fl a picnic dinner, some already
munhfng bread and cold meat. while
SaiilEs. for their tea kettles to boil; aud a
Few ling csavelessly on the grass, smok-
tug cigarettes land lazily watching the
moths OF their nei01sbQrs.
al short distance fror : the gateway.
undF the white walls Of les old Byzan-
su, ronnted by high chuldrona of boiling
Il or<.t5,,d ~ hftI sort.i -. -, ...-,,[,