The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-10-11
TEMPLES OF SlLeNCEj


Experiences OF an American who In.
vaded . Persian Death Tower.
II know one place where psople have
no doubt a. to which way tho souls Of
their doad co." said Smith.
Smith had travelled all over the world.
He was as well acquainted In Cape Town
as at st. Petersburg, no had lolled In the
flower decked teahouses Of Japan and
eaten tallow beyond the Land of the Mid
night Sun. The clubs Of London and the
coffee houses Of Budapest were as-well'
known to him a. the streets Of New York,
and he knew his gray In the streets Of
STEAMBOAT AZ we'll as in those Of his native
Rhode Island town. He saw things as he
jourIeyed through the world and had o
happy way Of telling them, and when he
said, without cause or provooatlon, that he
know something about souls, we knew he
had story to tell, 30 we filled our pipes.
and then some one asked, "Where2"
"You fellows don't know anything
about the far east, and when your time
comes you'll be perfectly willing to be
planted In the orthodox way or oremated
according to the modern usage, but II you
died down there the higher distinction Of
being disposed Of In the Temple Of Silence
might await you. There are heathens
down there who will not bury their dead
because the earth is sacred, and they
will not burn them because they wor-
ship tho fire, and the dead would deflle IL,
and so they have towers built where they
take their dead and lot the vultures do the
rest. They have men to attend to the
business Of plating the bodies on shelves
IN the inside Of these grewsome structures,
and IT'S death to any one who Is not en-
ployed there to 60 into one Of the places.
Well, we were In Teheran and we wanted
/. to get into the temple there In the worst
why and did not wish to die to enjoy the
Rrfvilege nofto be killed for running the
blockade. We took a native to show us
tho country, mounted on camels and rode
toward the temple The man in charge of
tho place was drawn into conversation,
and we went so far as to offer him a drink
out Of bottle Of wine but he refused,
wine being prohibited by his faith. We
had flask of Scotch whisky in our kit
and offered him some of that. He had
little argument with himself and conclud-
cd that Scotch whisky was not wine and
took q drink that would have staggered
Russian sailor. He did not refuse second
drink when 1t was offered, and between
the heat and the whisky he was soon fast
asleep In front Of the sacred building
which he was under solemn obligations to
guard against intruders.
"It didn't take long to cut down some
bamboo trees, which We leaned against
the wallis and presently we were looking
over tho top Of the charnel house on the
gallery where tho partly consumed bodies
were laid out. 1t was an easy matter to
get In, and we went and picked up few
souvenirs in the way Of teeth, and my
companion took section Of vertebrm,
saying that he was going to bore hole in
1t and use 1t for candlestick. There were
shelves and galleries below, and all were
delighted with the grewsome burdens, and
when we had seen all We stole away, gave
a parting look to the drunken guard, who
was still In stupor, and returned to town.
Next day we made inquiry Of one Of
the officials as to the temple We told him
that we knew that no one was allowed In
the structure, but we Ind heard that there
were upper and lower shelves for the
bodies and asked II the arrangement had
any significance.
Eyes, he said, IL has. The bodies are
all placed on the upper shelves when they
are taken In, and then the carriers watch
for the coming of the vultures. II the first
Of these attacks the right eye, the soul of
tho body has gone to heaven, and the body
remains there; If 1t picks at the left eye
the soul has gone to the other place, and
tho body goes to the shelves below They
believe that implicitly, and that is why
say that I know one place where people
have no doubt on that subject"