Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1894-12-27

& sheep,
host of
ponly one
Ter seen en-
N htch glimpse
"a, and sin whom
M Fat all?"
through gates into
urrounds the place
ICES dispose of their
+ |rden was given by
han, and is beautiful
4 all hue, and foliage of
vein, and notch and
is on all sides great
\ W IN and cypress. The
# bet above the level of
W ar from the entrance is
Ere the mourners of the
ssion go in to pray. A
ept burning year in and
# e assend the garden
stone steps, The body
sed aged woman was
ID in toward the chief
Hence" There are five of
Is. Several of these have
dsed for long while. Four
FSU6s, whose business it is to do
his carry in the corpse. They are
Bfollowed by two men with long boards.
The Tower of Silence, to which they
come cost $3.50, 900, and it is twenty-five
feet high, and 276 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
women; the inside row for the children.
The lifeless 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 life
less form. These vultures fill the
air with their discordant 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 bodies. There had
evidently been other opportunities for
them that day, and some flew away as
though surfeited. They sometimes
carry away with them parts of a body
: and it is no unusual thing for the
gentlemen in their country seats tC
have dropped into their dooryards q
bone from the Tower of Silence.
In the center of this tower is a well
into which the bones are thrown after
they are bleached. The hot sun, and
the rainy season, and charcoal do theil
work of disintegration and disinfec
ton, and then there are sluiceS thai
carry into the sea what remains of the
dead. The wealthy people of of Mala
bar Hill have made strenuous efforts
to have these strange towers removed
as a nuisance, but they remain, ano
will no doubt for ages remain.
Starting homeward we soon were ii
the heart of the city, and saw build
ing all afiash with lights and resound
ing with merry voices. 1t was Par
see wedding, in building erected es
pecially for the marriage ceremony
We came to the door and proposed tc
go in, but at first were not permitted
They saw we were not Parsees, anC
that we were not even natives. sc
very politely they halted US on the
doorsteps. This temple of nuptialS
was chiefly occupied by women, theil
ears, and necl1s, and hands aflamt
with Jewels, or limitations of jewels
By pantomine gesture, as we had nc
use of their voca bulary, we told then
we were strangers and were curious tc
see by what process Parsees were mar
ried. Gradually we worked our way
inside the door. The building and the
surroundings were illumined by hun
dreds of candles in glasses and Ian
terms, in unique and grotesque hold
ings. Conversation ran high, anc
laughter dubbed over and al
was gay. Then there was sound Of
an advancing band of music, but the
instruments for the most part were
strange to our 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
ceased, and all the voices were still.
The mother of the bridegroom, with a
platter loaded with aromatics and arti-
cles of food, confronted her son and
began to address him. Then she took
from the platter a bottle of perfume
and sprinkled his face with the redo
lence All the while speaking in a
droning tone, she took from the platter
handful of rice, throwing some of it
on his head, splitting some of it on his
shoulder, pouring some of it on his
hands. She took from the platter a CO.
coanut and waved it about his head. She
lifted a garland of flowers and threw it