Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-06-24
Xxx
ELS GRAVE A BED OF CEMENT.
The Remarkable Discovery ola Religious
Martyrs BODY in a Block OF Concrete &C

The Remarkable Discovery otA Religious
Martyrs BODY in a Block OF Concrete As
Algiers.
Nsig York World
The marvellous way In which tho
silent forces OF nature preservs accurate
records OF human deeds and mako great
wrongs imperishabe has just been IL
Illustrated anew IN Algiers. Away back
in the year 1863 poor lad known as
| GeroniAo became convert 10 the
| Christian faith and with many others
suffered martyrdom rather than deny
| his religion.
The records OF the persecution are
scant enough, but IL so happened thai
| a good monk OF that day, struck Win
pity. wrote an account OF the death OF
| the frlendless and brave boy, Geronimo,
which account has come down To Us.
From this narrative we learn that the
victim, after having been tortured ana
yilifed and refusing TO recant was
| thrown alive into bed OF soft cement,
where he sank ont OF sight and perished
| in a fearful manner, disappearing as
| his prosecutors believed forever from
the world. 1t is worth noting thst the
good Spanish monk appends TO his mar
rative q sort OF prayer that God viii
some day bring forth from tho
earth this poor body from ~
! shameful resting place and g'E21La-.aS
10 the Christian world 10 be honored
with the other martyrs who died for
| the faith.
| & Now comes the curious sequel to this
story. Three hundred years have passed.
Tho world has forgotten poor Geron-
| imo, and the French have occupied Al
eiers. II seems that the bed OF cement
into which Geronimo was flung hard
ened into an enormous block, which
In the sixteenth century was built Into
| the foundations OF the old fort In Al
glars. In demolshIng this fort the
French came upon the block, and an
accidental fracture revealed the cast oil
martyr.
Plaster OF Paris was run into the
mold. and perfect reproduction OF the
| body As IL appeared al the time OF his
death was obtained. So accurate IL
| this cast, that not only the texture or
! hi, garments and the cords that bound
| his hands behind him, but the death
agony OF suiTocation, the dlstended
muscles and the pr0truding eyeballs
are all shown, and even tho soft MA
ments Of his hair aud silky eyelashes.
He took the stone 10 the British Mu-
scum, and the biologists and mineralo-
gists gave IL up 10 despair. Then Mr..
| auckland went back 20 Wales aud set 10
work 10 explore the whole valley. He
found at last that hundred years be-
/ fore there had been on the stream, a
mile above the resting place OF the
| stone, an old dying works. IL had run
and colored the water six working days
and rested on the seventh, and nature
had been keeping tally at the bottom OF
| the stream, even marking the holidays
! in the middle OF the week.
The following extract Is from the
private letter Of visitor ia Algiers.
who saw the cast OF Geronimo set up Ia
the Cathedral:
IN company with two or three hun
dred Catholic priests and officials, l
stared at the strange efilgy, which
seemed like terrible record OF mans
] lnhumanity and the indomitaDle spirit
OF the early martyrs. The marvellous
accuracy q all the markings on the
| body-the Conyulsiye distention OF tbs
muscles, the almost startling evidence
OF agony-Droduced an effect quite diff
ferent from that one experiences when
looking at the LAGOON, for instance.
FOR every detail Of this cruel statue rec
ords fact.
Great reverence and awe are shown
By the people who cone 20 look ~ the
cast. aud IL has been made the object OF
much church munmefy. Applications
! have been made 20 the authorities for
permission 70 make dup Gates for the
museums In Berlin and London; but
believe the requests have been refused
in every case, not from feeling OF rom
erence. bu! from desire 70 ;etain orf
exclusive use Of curiosity whigoe.
pretty sure TO add TO the church
enue." q IN