Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1896-04-29

A TURKISH CEMETERY.
city Of Marble shafts In ths shAdsws sf
 Cypreas Tree&-

And why do the Osmanh prefer SCutari as a burial place Co any oth- er9"
 Because it is there the trumpet of the arohangel will be first heard. The true believers who lie at Scu- tari will first rise to answer it; next, the faithful from other parts of the earth; after that ehe Hebrews, and lastly the giaours who follow other gods. '"
 Thus spoke the grave old turban- cd Turk who stood beneath a cy- press tree on the slopes of the world famed cemotery of the sea of Mar mora.
 Al know," be went on in calm, judicial accents, that when the last days of the world are drawing near, the OsmanK will be driven forth from Stambonl by the Frank. Then, for a space, there will be trouble and turmoil on the earth; all sons of the faithful will Ky up to SCutari as a refuge; there they. the living and the dead alike. will await the day of judgment"
 With that, thinking it was a hurt to his dignity to barley longer with a giaour, he gathered his robes about him, saluted majestically. then passed slowly away down one of the long. broad avenues leading , to the gates of the cemetery, leav- ing the stranger to wander at his pleasure through that forest of tall tombstones standing erect
 The coup d'9il is picturesque in the extreme. As far as onecan sOe, the long slender shafts of marble rise beneath the shadow of the mas sive cypreSs-tha tree of Allah, the Osnanh oanit-whioh points its fn- ger to the sly, while the luxuriant vegetation of the east clusters around the base of the slabs. ezn- phasiztng their snowy whiteness and preventing them from being too dag zling to the eye.
 Each tomb bears its own deoorA- ton. 4 single leadet, the dropping petals of a rose. or graceful frond of fern indicate that female form lies below. A turban or 8 fer shows that the dead person was 6 man Lamps, ostrich eggs, sashes. fringed and colored handkerchiefs of varied hue, all have their own significance; while here and there will be seen some tall stone, sculptured frOm end to end, its ornamentation in high relief, enoircled by e number of smaller ones, which proves that the father of a family-a man of wealth-reSts here surrounded by his wives and children. A curved soimiter shows that a man of war reposes there; an anchor marks the sleeping place of a sailor; a wand of office proves that the dead man held some post of command. So on, till something is learned of all, even though one may not be able to de- cipher the fantastic Arabic charsc- ters which tell with more detail the history of the dead
 The terms in which the Turk ex- presses his lamentations are often very pathetic, especially wben they refer to the loss of his wife or child
 Here is one, taken from the tomb | of a young girl, which effectually l combats the common western delu- | sion that the Osmanh believe that | women are born without souls or hope of a future life:
 The cold blasts of fate caused | this nightingale to wing it's way Co heaven. There it has found its await ed bliss ZeinAb is the name of her who lies below. and for her Lababa, who wrote these lines, offers hum ble petition. Weep not for her, for though dead she has become 6 so- icurner in the gardens of paradise St. Paul's