Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-01-30

V4S,HX vHV Byron :Lovather,
]: ]: { ! ! !
M,,yIk ~ when I encount- )
WIZ cred the sexton,
TW :, M who was "a VERT (
H4 able son Of his fa- |
A ther, and who
came into the Of
II fee Of sexton only
at his fathers
death. When the
huge keys Of the IPanteon gates we're
delivered over TO him probably his first
official act was to lock the gates on his
fathers vault. How often had that
father locked those rusty old Panteon
gates? And for what end? Only to
be locked in for all time But the
sexton never thinks of that; at least, u
he does, it mars not the happiness OF his
heart. cannot recollect of ever meet
ing happier-appearing man. He spoke
of the Panteon-in fact, the Panteon
was oil he ever thought of-and the
vaults, were they not beautiful? and
wasn't it q nice, neat place, anyway
and all the while those terrible keys ut
his side jingled, jingled, ingled! He
informed me that the great interest was
conferred in the tunnel, where los muer-
tos-those that had been disinterred-
were all gathered in grand piles, and IT
I desired he would show me down. 1
clipped the obliging sexton q silver
piece, and we proceeded Immediately
to make the descent into the grand
cavern beneath. In an obscure part OF
the cemetery. close up the great wall
that incloses the place, he lifted slab
fhn Il on 0r00rknra
just large enough to admit mans
body. Forcing my way through this,
my feet encountered a rock stairway,
which wound around aud around, and
went down some thirty or forty feet,
when I came upon q rock floor.
All the way down 1 was almost stified
by the close, musty atmosphere which
issued from the place. Once on terra
hrma looked about me. The tunnel,
arched overhead, and the ceiling was
SO constructed as to permit the daylight
to stream in through many port-like
holes. The tunnel was completely
filed from top to bottom either way
with skeletons, space of about seventy
five feet intervening between the two
piles, and all along this clear space
were scattered skulls and Cross bones
and human bones of all kinds and sizes.
The amount of skeleton in these two
piles has been computed at 10000, but
I think these figures fall far short of
the actual number. approached one
of these piles and picked up one of the
skulls, which thought of taking with
me as a souvenir, but when the sexton
told me that nearly half of the skele-
tons perceived were the remains of
people who had died of smallpox and
other contagious diseases, I desisted.
l tossed the skull up on the pile and
turned away, when it rolled back down
with much rattling and lay grinning at
my feet. Along the walls were ranged
hundreds of mummies, all standing
erect as life. There were old women,
with their gray hair streaming over
their shoulders; old men, with long
flowing white boards; young women and
young men, and little children. stand
ing as if by the sides of their parents,
dressed in their tattered grave gar
ments. Some Of the men stood in
boots, and many of them in sandals,
All stood with their arms folded across
their breasts. On many OF their fore
heals little slip of paper was pasted
with their respective names written
thereon. The expressions Of these
mummies we're something wonderful as
we'll as terrible to behold. Some had
calm expressions, some fierce, some
painful, some frightened, and some
seemed actually about to burst out in a
loud laugh. Once seen the express
sions of those mummies will never be
forgotten. It was with feeling of al
most relief that I regained the world
with it's sunshine and its life.
I must relate few burial incidents
that came under my observation during
my stay in the city of Aguas Calientes.
While visiting the cemetery one after
noon / witnessed no less than half q
dozen burials within an hour. At that
place all the bodies are inferred in the
earth in consecrated ground, where
they remain nnmolested for a few years;
then they are dug up and inferred out
side the graveyard in places that are
specified for such purposes. The first
burial that noticed on this day was
an infant. The corpse was carried in
on little table, which was beautifully
bedecked with flowers. There were
hundreds of graves already open from
which bodies had been removed. The
funeral party stopped at one of them,
the corpse was uncovered. and while
the bereaved parents were praying be-
side the little one before consigning it
to the grave, one OF the party picked
up the shell of coffin, of which there
were many bestrewn around, and which
might have been used two or three times
previous, and the little one was placed
therein.
The next two or three bodies were
buried without collins, and then came a
funeral.with only the four bearers and
one old woman behind, who followed
with slow step. When the grave was
filled up this old woman, calmly
enough, drew forth a cigarette and lit
it, and then Frustrating herself on the
grave sent up lamentations pitiable to
hear. Though she stopped occasionally