The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-05-10
THEIR GRAVES UNMARKED.
Maine Victims Buried in the Potter's
Field at Kew West.

Key West, May 1O.-In the outskirts of
the town where the small Spanish cot
the he marrow street is the city cemetery of
he Key West: Near the main entrance,
Whlch is guarded by a creaking old gate,
is a group of newly made. graves. They
hne in the . Potters field the part of the
DEAD These are the graves of the heroes
Maine in Havana ne To on on me tba 6f dP
February Is. There are "a of them I'M
Above each mound of glistening white
limestone soil a small American flag
troops in the fierce sun that beats incess-
antly down upon the island. The flags are
faded and frayed. When breeze comes
up from the ocean they futter sadly for a
moment and again drOop to the Scorched
earth. On the center of each mound is
small glass goblet which still holds the
nITih1ey were put there by a lady from
Ptbh IIt 9h said the dreamy old sexton,
came here about ten days after the bodies
grayes e anq , put bowers on an ne
said: No matter .
And these faded little flags and wfthered
stems of flowers are all that mark the
resting place of the heroes of whom the
civilized world has been talking since the
There is nothing else to tell the stranger.
who passes through the. potter's field
ing;
the little white mounds on all sides are
unsightly heaps of litter. and rubbish. In
one spot stands an old hearse, weather.
and an gdhdt cSyv in t5 very pst d Of
but one day it broke down while carry
ing q body to the potter's field and there
resting place of the Names victims is
an iron enclosure which marks the grave
of Bridget Hoffman,, who died in 1864.
II guess we will have to call her Mother
Hoffman," said the, old sexton, for she
is the only one buried here who has got a
name and I think she ought to be mother
of v eyery d7o6 IN the Botter,s field
yellow fever: The sexton, however, was
there. Nothing on the little p inch slab
at the the head 5.ea of each group tells the story
The names and the words UNITED States
Navy alone are carved upon the slabs.
rock below and the scorching sun above,
seems fst tryi4g to do What the hand Of man
tropical species are ali about the new
tus lifts it's pulpy foliage high in the air.
On the opposite, side a row of tropical
som and with every breeze cover the sun
burned mounds with beautiful scarlet
flowers. Near another side of the little
burial plot is a row of royal spruce pines.
which throw shadow upon the graves
branches the sea breezes constantly sing
wR hano the sun sun goes down;
is without care or attention, corner of
the island where for two centuries Span
their dead and forgotten them. Perhaps
one-half the graves in the cemetery are
those of unknown sailors whose sleeping
places are unmarked. Most of the in
scriptions tombstones are in Spanish
The graves of the Names victims are sur
rounded by tombstones with Spanish in
scriptions. 1t is a picture of melancholy
desolation.
The cemetery is located on a high point1n
about the middle of the island and from
1t the great stretch of blue ocean may be
seen on either, side but half a. mile dis
tant.. There is no soil there. The graves
are. simply carved out of the limestone
and rock. All day the sun beats down
upon the barren white rock surface until
the. ,scanty. vegetation curls and crackles
in the heat Rarely is there a sound to
break the melancholy silence. Some
times one hears the weary cry of bird
or the soft, parrot-like voices of the Span
ish children in the cottages near by, but
that is all. The voices from the warshps
out to sea, the clatter of commerce in the
harbOr and the idle babble of the town
never disturb the sleep of our hero sail
ors here in their rockbound graves.
OF the "a who are buried here only two
are identified. They were a negro and
Japanese. 1t is probable that at some fu-
ture time they may be removed to an
oher burial place. If not a suitab BILE mon>
ument will be erected to their memory