The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1898-08-17
In CUBAN CEMETERIES.
LADEN WITH DEADLY GERMS
THEY SPREAD DISEASE.
Graves Ara Rented BY the Year and When
the Rental Money Is Not Promptly
Forthcoming the Tenant
Is Elected

To reach the cemeteries at Santiago
one walks along the main street facing
the harbOr in a nOrtherly direction
and passes through a suburb where
the road turns to the left and follows
the half circle forming the end of the
beautiful harbor. In bend in the
shore just opposite lies the old-time
Campo Santo. 1t is utterly unlike any
Anglo-Saxon cemetery in general APP
pearance or general usage. In Cuba
as we'll as in Colombia, Guatemala.
Nicaurauga, and, in short, In Spanish.
American republics, burial and disin-
terment go on as they have gone for
centuries.
The system dates back to the earliest
times in things Cuban and Spanish
American, The boredas, or inches,
are built in stone masonry.
Generally the boredas have three tiers
of inches, one above another, the top
being finished in stone and plaster
As one stands facing a section they
look like the entrance to a bakers oven
In some cemeteries they occupy two
sides of the Campo Santo, or Holy
Field. In other cases, near large and
populous cities, they form a quadran-
gle, the outer walls of which are solid
masonry. They have a main entrance,
through which the funeral enters
They also have a rear gateway, gener-
ally facing field.
The first effect on entering one of
them Is weird. The newcomer is IN a
city Of the dead-on the fat system
Each niche is large enough to hold the
coffin Of an adult. The day of the flu
neral arrives, and the coffin is taken
from the hearse and borne by the at
tendants Of the cemetery to the niche
selected. 1t is pushed in feet fore
most, and the entrance is closed either
by plain masonry or by marble slab
fitting the end of the niche. The lat
ter Tai, aged ----, with Descansez en-
paz, or Requiescat en- pace, some pre-
ferrIng Spanish, others Latin.
This system is peculiar to the Church
of Rome in Cuba and IN Spanish
America, The majority Of buriaIs is
temporary. The rental paid for each
has to be for one year and in advance.
Descansez en- paz, ''rest in peace" is
the utterance Of friends and relatives.
Resting in peace depends upon the
affection and willingness of the dead
PERSONS friends to pay another year
rent, also in advance.
The cemeteries generally are manag-
ed by some church or some conces-
Esionario, Trusts of all kinds are old
time Spanish inventions. The year
expires and there is no Spanish ma
mana, or tomorrow, about rentals.
They are adjusted on strict Anglo
Saxon principles. The rent not being
renewed, Fulano or Fulano de Tai is
evicted, The early day evIcdons are
Spanish and not Irish. The coffin is
unceremOniusly taken out through the
ever useful back door and dumped with~
out the Campo SantO. The dump in
some places is large. Collins, bones,
remains of dresses, fashionable shoes,
all telling a tale of past pectabIlity,
are found. In other places the coffins
are buried and the bones buried. In
one corner of the great angle there may
be deep dry well. Looking downward
one sees skulls ana bones.
The nlches are used almost exlcu.
sively by che well-to-do people. In
many instances relatives renew the
rent for a few years. But few of the
dead remain permanently i'm the
inches. Some OF Che poor may be bur
led in collins All bodies buried i'm che
inches are placed in coflns. Collins
with the masses generally are a luxu-
ry. Most are buried in cofins rented
for the occasion. The first part Of
Jose's funeral may present the usual
features. once at the grave the body
is taken out of the coffin and placed in
its earth enclosure Jose's lot is rent
ell likewise. A years rent is paid in
advance. As general thing tile bur-
ial ground for the people-el pueblo
is in a separate enclosure and adjolns
the boredas If the common cemetery
is small and the death rate high, che
cemetery is dug over and over year by
year. From enc standpoint OF public
health Jose's burial is not always a
oot,aa re futura diaaoSa stshn t,n.3s, -