Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-18
Written for The Evening star
EPIrAPHs Quaint AND CURIOUS.

Written for The Evening star
EPiraPHs orAINr AND CURIOUS
some singular Specimens of Nortusry Liser.-
tare Picked Up On Different Cemeteries.
Nowhere do the foibles ard eccentricitie. OF
poor humanity appear at better or worse
advantage than in its last resting place. A
philosopher turned loose in an old graveyard
VIII md more food foi Thought aud speculation
Than In the crowded thoroug hsares of . great
city.
Both In the marble that affection or remorse
rears over silent sleepers and in the inscrip-
tons upon humble headstoses. telling Of the
virtues OF the dead. or prcaohins from silent
iips sermons to the living. 10 there the same
pathetic appeal against oblivion ss though the
sieepers in their graves snn chung 20 their
human kinship; still claimed attention from the
busy. bustling world above
vi epit@ph: there ate many that one expects
70 nha IN almost every graveyard. but the
patient searcher viii discover MANY that are
quaint and curious. and some that 90 our later
day eyes seem 10 border on the sacrilegiou.
find this:
Hs' , she !. S sss and csHns, stir
Whiohot Ne neat vii fo.4oW ler
The Lofd A.niignty oaiy knoVs"
At Pemaquid. Ne. upon a crumblinc stone
one can sui decipher the following although
IL dates back 10 1871:
.'sehoid, my dad I. rune
aud LET me HIRE 10 mourn.
That he and viii savsS
- The deadly work Of jealous lover AZ Nsv
Boston, y. H., IN $50, lie thus recorded:
50 fell this lovely blooming daughter
u ~: tne rS,snseiui hsni u malicious Henry.
Len oh ilie Nay IL school he met her
And with a sin seli-cocked pistol sno, her"
Upon a moss-covered slate stone at salem.
MAS, the date OF which is partly obliterated,
IL only appearing. one car still decipher this
tribute to one who might have been sister -
the Sweet Priscilla -
uhere lies the body q Martha G~yun,
s = aso sas - ,ers pure N,suin.
And hstclea hsrssli shs lI ~ snns
visitors TO Newport X. l., NAV remember
the folowing quaint inscription upon an old
lone lone as much awry as justice seems 10 have
oeen century and hall ago:
Here doth simeon Paret lye.
NJ Mnose Nronss did tor Justice cry.
Ausi nov the grave
rDN Wig VIZ dsLArte'i this life
1he I'D day Of Mas. lis
AEed ~ years."
Near by, and bearing the marks OF a cen
tur! storms, one reads upon a dilapidAted
stone the following over the remains OF Capt.
corss, 1871. Who one can well imagine NAV
have sailed with the captain OF the Bon Homm,
Richard, have patroled the sea upop his
own account:
Tho Tho Boreas and Neptune waves
Ia spite OF both by Gods command
har9or here below.
NE" NsTs = n 90 now y. At snshor lie
Yet By anu 6y must SET sail
My Admiral Cnrist y meet
In the old Swedish cemetery at wnmineton.
Del, one finds upon the head stone of a no
doubt reputable citizen she folloxing Oft
repeated stanza:
Farewell. dear friends. as you pass by,
As You are now 80 was /.
As AIN now 80 you must De.
Prepare Tor death and follow me-
Below this inscription has been scratched b,
some over-eautious individual the following.
rn aS film sDsyy ST s |. nc, my lasn,
One OF the most original epitaphs known "a
the writer is that upon a tombstone an ths
Hollywood cemetery. Richmond. Va. 90 En-
siheer James l. Valentine. killed in q COLLISION
December "A. 1874
Amid the crash and fan he .,,.,d ana ..r,acs IA.
lie that he might fuihll hls trust
t Inti, n, ,Ss brakes are tur.sd on time.
BE wakes 10 pilot in THE crew
ihat wear the martyrs crOwn.
ION schedule time. on UPPER srade
Along tue home~ard ss-ctson
"a lands his tram al Gods rOuud housa
The morn OF resurrection.
His time all full. no wages docl.d
HIS maine On code pay -rull.
Atransportstion through L. Heaven
free pass Tor his soul"
It must be admitted that in these prsctic.,
modern days sentiment il becoming escbe..d
even In God acre, IL witness the lnscription
upon stone In a country burying ground a
lew miles from Lexington. Nv. Notwithstand-
ing the opportunity for the ultra-sentimental
the much married husband eontents him.elf
with inscribing upon the four sides Of a square
block OF stone the following.
l. sarah A.. beloved wife 81 John Bell
8 ssrsh =. s ssls,.- vile Of yehn Bell
them III y ~ wefe a. good wives and hops msse
II is hardly necessary to recall TO Washing
tonlans the inscription upon a nameless stone
In cemetery across the Potomac at Alensn-
dria to woman whose history is shrouded in
mystery end romance, and about which there
has been more speculation and whose grave
perhaps any other in the land. IL is o. fol-
lows:
ITO the Memory
Female stranger.
whose mortal svnerinss terminated here
On the Al az day o. October. 1916
a. his stone Is erected by Der discousoate husband
under God did his utmost to sOothe the dun ssf
= How loved, how honored once. avails the, not
To whom re aie1 and 10y whom besot
heap of dust alone remains OF thee
lls all thou art. anu all the proud shall BE-
Who she was and from whence she came win
probably never be known. That she was Of
SURPRISING beauty is we'll authenticated. M N
the fact that IN the few months che lived I'm
Alexandria with her husband little or no COM
munication was held with the outside world,
and that he, after placing this stone above her
remains. disappeared as Suddenly ne they had
come, leaving no trace behind.