The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-12-28

aged woman was being carried in to-
ward the chief tower of silence"
There are five of these towers. Several
of them have not been used for a long
while. Four persons. whose business it
it is to do this. carry the corpse. They
are followed by two men with long
boards. The tower of silence to which
they come cost Sl5O,OOO and is % feet
high and 976 feet around and without
a roof. The four carriers of the dead
and the two bearded men come to the
door of the tower. enter and leave the
dead There are three rows of places
for the dead-the outer row for the
men. the middle row for the women. the
inside row for the children. The life
less bodies are left exposed as far down
as the waist. As soon as the employees
retire from the tower of silence the
vultures, now one now two. now many,
swoop upon the lifeless form. These
vultures fill the air with their discord-
ant voices. We saw them in long rows
on the top of the whitewashed wall of
the tower of silence. In few minutes
they have taken the last particle of
flesh from the bones. There had evil
IDENTIFY been other opportunities for
them that day. and some flew away. as
though surfeited. They sometimes
carry away with them parts of body.
and it is no unusual thing for the gen
tlemen in their country seats to have
dropped into their dOoryards bone
from the tower of silence.
In the center of this tower is well.
into which the bones are thrown after
they are bleached. The hot sun and
the rainy season and charcoal do their
work of disintegration and disinfec-
ton. and then there are sluices that
carry into the sea what remains of the
dead. The wealthy people of Malabar
hill have made strenuous efforts to
have these strange towers removed as
a nuisance, but they remain and will
no doubt for ages remain.
talked with learned Parsee about
these mortuarv customs. He said: L
suppose you consider them very pecul-
lar. but the fact is we Parsees rever-
ence the elements of nature and can
not consent to defile them. We rever-
ence the fire. and therefore will not
ask it to burn our dead We reverence
the water and do not ask it to sub
merge our dead. We reverence the
earth and will not ask it to bury our
dead. And so we let the vultures take
them away"
He confirmed me in the theory that
the Parsees act on the principle that
the dead are unclean. No one must
touch such a body. The carriers of
this tomb of silence must not put
their hands on the form of the de-
parted. They wear gloves lest some
how they should be contaminated.
When the bones are to be removed
from the side of the tower and
put in the well at the CEN
ter, they are touched careful
" by tongs. Then these people
besides have very decided theories
about the democracy of the tomb.
No such thing as caste among the
dead. Philosopher and boOr. the atfiu-
ent and the destitute must go through
the same tower of silence" lie down
side by side with other occupants,
have their bodies dropped into the
the same canal and float away on the
same sea. No splendor of Metropolis.
No sculpturing of mausoleum. No
pomp of dome or obelisk. ZOroaster's
teaching resulted in these towers of
silence" He wrote. Naked you came
into the world, and naked you must
go out"
As stood at the close of day in this
garden on Malabar hill and heard the
flap of the vultures' wings coming from
their repast, the funeral custom of the
Parsee seemed horrible beyond com
pare, and vet the dissolution of the hu-
man body by any mode is awful. and
the beaks of these fowl are proba bly,
no more repulsive than the worms of
the body devouring the sacred human
form in C ,eteries. Nothing but the
resurrection day can undo the awful
work of death, whether it now be put
out of sight by cutting spade or flying
wing.
Starting homeward, we soon were in
the heart of the city and saw build
ing all aflash with lights and resound-
ing with merry voices. 1t was a Parsee
wedding in building erected especial
" for the marriage ceremony. We came
to the door and proposed to go in, but
at first were not permitted. They saw
we were not Parsees. and that we were
not even natives. So, very politely. they
halted us on the dOOrsteps. This temple
of nuptials was chiefly occupied by
women, their ears and neeks and hands
afiame with jewels or limitations OF
| jewels. BY pantomime and ges-
ture as we had no use of their vocabu-
larry. we told them we were strangers
and were curious to see by what pro-
cess Parsees were married. Gradually
we worked our way inside the door.
The building and the surroundings
were illumined by hundreds of candles
in glasses and lanterns. in unique and
grotesque holdings. Conversation ran
high. and laughter bubbled over, and
all was gay. Then there was sound
of an advancing band of music
but the instruments for the
most part were strange to OuI
ears and eyes. Louder and louder
were the outside voices and the wind
and stringed instruments until the
procession halted at the door of the
temple and the bridegroom mounted
the steps. Then the music ceases, anC
all the voices were still. The mother
of the bridegroom. with a platter load
ed with aromatics and articles of food
confronted her son and began tc
address him. Then she took from
the platter a bottle of perfume
and sprinkled his face with the redol
ence All the while speaking in {
droning tone. she took from the
platter handful of rice. throwing