The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-06-04
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= ONE WOMAN'S VIEWS. ::
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and nlouruings for tho dead
Scranton people have seemed TO re-
alize the sorrowful truth this spring
as never before. Perhaps the pathos
of the words have been doubly inn
pressive this week with the shadows
of Memorial day yet lengthening
across the graves which on this one
day of the year. at least, are visited.
Certain it is that the angel walks now
with us and that the wreath of amar-
anth is laid softly at the doors of those
we love often and often during these
swift weeks. 1t Is so familiar, this
Death. SO well we know its insignia;
so surely we recognize it's approach
and yet never is the mystery less
Never are we done questioning the
dumb lips, never is our wondering sat
islied, never do we cease shrinking
from it's cold breath until earth grows
very gloomy to our eyes and until all
the sweetness is drained from life. In
this fair June sunshine, when the blood
thrills the veins and when we feel
deep in our nature that it is good to
be alive, it seems that Death should
have no place and somehow if we and
our beloved have escaped its shadow,
dimmed by it's presence.
THE infinite bliss of nature
We feel in every vein
The light and life of summer
Blossom in heart and brain.
But darker than any shadow
BY thunder cloud unfurled
The awful truth arises
That death is in the world"
Once a year is often enough for a
Memorial day. There are tombs in
most hearts where ever is kept alight
the candle of blessed memory, where
the flowers fade not through the win
ter of forgetfulness, and where the
tenderness that belonged to life falls
in unwept tears of the heart, But the
custom of remaining much in the
cemetery is not to be encouraged. 1t
was the demoniac who had his dwell
ing place among the tombs. | confess
to feeling of surprise that this un-
fortunate was man. Generally speak
ing, man, in or out of his senses, is
not prone to linger longer in the grave
yard than circumstances compel. WO-
men like to be there. Just what the
| sentiment is that draws them thither
is difficult to explain. While, to be
sure, many are of the class that heart
ily enjoy a novel which causes the
reader to cry, there are others, self
contained, unromantic and practical
who seem to gain similar pleasure
from frequent and prolonged visita-
tiOns to the city of the dead. That
this characteristic of femininity is gen.
eral and pronounced was illustrated by
| Scranton girl, now a young Wo-
man, who, when a child. complained:
| Mamma, why haven't we a grave? I
think it is too bad that we haven't
any grave at all to put flowers on
when it is Decoration day
| There is certainly a great fasCina-
| tiOn to most women in the cemetery.
1t is not altogether the cool beauty of
| the green turf, the briliance of the
| foliage, the quiet and restful air of the
! place Almost all women have at heart
a certain morbidity. Some indulge it
| in reading ghoulish murder reports,
| others in attending funerals. others in
wondering how she takes it" or "how
he takes it," referring to the probable
! inner sentiments Of the bereaved, while
! others reveal such tendencies by their
evident enjoyment Of meditation in the
cemetery Probably few carry their
morbid musing to the extent of
Amelie Rives Barbara Dering, who
wondered" if the buttons on the back
Of her deceased husbands coat had
| yet begun to shine through his ribbed
skeleton, but almost every woman has
a strain of mOrbidity more or less de-
veloped, if no more than a habit of
mildly wondering how soon after her
deCease John will marry again. John
never bothers his head about a prob
able successor to himself. He is rea-
sonably confident that he Is a person
of such infinite worth and character
that his widow will never dream of
replacing him with another. All these
remarks are preliminary to the advice
to not spend too much time in the
cemetery.
Speaking of cemeteries reminds me
that we have two of the most beauti.
full silent cities to be found, but it is d
| great pity that these twin burial
places should be divided. The methods
observed by the Forest Hill manage
| ment are not to be commended. There
is no sensible reason why such obnox.
ious regulations regarding the exit
from Dunmore to Forest Hill should be
enforced. The impossibiity of passing
from one cemetery to another without
going round by a great distance il
most distasteful to people who have
friends buried in both places and il
is to be regretted that they are no
under one management and that the
liberal one Of the DunmOre association
Dunmore is eXquisitely kept. TIL,
bcautifying of the grounds is constant
ly going on and no neglected grave:
are seen. There are almost no re
stTictions upon visitors, and surel!
these privileges a"e respected anC
would also be in Forest Hill. May W.
soon see the day when no hideOu'
fence divides the two picturesque Citie
of the dead. There is another thins
sadly needed and that is a publ,
receiving vault, where space can bt
secured for the temporal resting plac
of departed friends.
One would think that if there wa
place on earth where quarrelnl
would cease, it would be in the grave
Yet an elderly woman was heard Il
declare the other day that she re
fused to purchase a certain let in tn
cemetery because the neighbOr
weren't agreeable. Another grumbe
had a complaint to offer that
daughter law whom she did not par
ticularly adore, insisted upon covering
with flowers the grave of her decease,
father-in-law every Memorial day, no
leaving the bereaved wife space 70
her own contributions.