The Worthington advance., 1896-09-10

honey locust. The agent who sold it to
her praised it very highly, saying it
had large racemes Of fragrant white
flowers and beautiful pendulous foliage,
making it most suitable ornament for
cemetery. In addition to these quail
tiles, it was thrifty and perfectly hardy,
and could he either grown as hedge
or trimmed to single trunk.
Following the printed Instructions,
which came with every tree, she planted
her honey locust in the family lot in
the old Chaplin cemetery on the road
from Orrington Center to Orrington-
No tree ever kept its contract more per-
fectly than that honey locust 1t
waxed big and strong in the dry, gravel
ly soil, and raised up many offspring,
all of which grew wonderfully. Fifteen
years later, when Mrs. Baker laid down
the cares of life, she was put to rest in a
beautiful grove of her own planting.
Around her grave the wild cypress grew
in rank yellow profusion. Above it the
red cinnamon rose bloomed all through
the summer months, and over these the
rare honey locusts swayed their fra
grant blossoms, until every dallying
wind stole away deeply laden with
sweetness. Surely, if there were ever
a place where death was robbed OF its
terrors, this was the spot
New tenants came to the little four.
acre cemetery as the years went on,
The Harrimans, noted for their
strength; the Chapins, famous, II
finance; the Bakers, with their hand
some children, and several other good
people, having finished their work, were
laid away for a long, sweet rest among
the flowers.
The people died, but the honey 10
Gusts lived. They not only lived, but
took such Joy in living that by 1850
the sexton complained bitterly about
the tough roots of the locust trees
which he was forced to cut off in order
to dig a new grave. In former years,
with q spade and q pickax, he could dig
a good grave in about four hours. Now
he had to take an ak and a crowbar
along, and when he had dug grave he
found the whole day was used up. Sew
eral owners of burial plots that were
inclosed with expensive fences, as well
as those who had erected stones or mon
uments, complained about the preva'
lence of locust trees, saying the tangled
growth concealed the graves. The lots
were thickets of brushwood, and even
the cemetery paths grew up 80 that
men had to swamp new roads whenever
a. body was inferred on the further side
Of tho inclosure.
About the time the war closed the
residents woke up to the fact that their
beautiful cemetery had been trans
formed into a wilderness, filled with
brambles and noxious thorns. Some
made onslaughts upon the trees, clear
ing individual lots here and there,
which at once grew up to young To-
usttrees from roots on the unreclaimed
lots. Meetings of lot owners were held,
bu no definite plan of action was adopt
ed. Meanwhile the locusts grew and
entrance to the cemetery became more
difficult every year. Shortly after it
was learned that the locusts could not
be eradicated the survivors began to
take up their dead and move them to
other cemeteries. Some went to Mill
Creek, others to Orrington village. and
still others to the hillside yard at Shows
Corner. Before 1870 nearly everybody
was up and away. Then the town voted
to pay for the removal of those whose
friends had all died or moved away,
and the grave diggers went all over tho
yard.
The work was done well-much bet
ter than the average of such jobs. Still
it is said that some five or six bodies
were never found. The rank trees
grew so rapidly and were such greedy
feeders that the ashes of the dead were
taken up to form wood and blossoms.
Chaplin cemetery has been abandoned
for more than 20 years. The locusts
are 40 feet high and stand as thiclzly as
troops in review. They SO thoroughly
occupy the lands that there is no room
for the living or the dead.-Lewiston
(AIe.) Journal.