Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-05-10
IN POTTERS' FIELD
TwENTY-FouR MAINE HEROES
SLEEP IN PAUPERy GRAVES.
MARKED ONLY BY FADED FLAGS
BUT TWO OF BODIES LYING AT KEY
WEST WERE IDENTIFIED.
They Rest Now With Other "Un.
knowns. in the Barren, Neglect
ed, Unlovely City Cemetery,
Which IL . "Picture
of DesOlatiOn."

which IL . "F1ctufe
of Desolation."
Key West, Fla, May Sin the outskirts
Of the town, where the small Spanish cot
tages cluster, silent and sunburned, along
the narrows. is the cemetery Of Key West.
Near the main entrance. which is guarded
by a creaking old wooden gate. is a group
of newly-made graves. They are in the
potters' field-the part Of burying ground
set apart for the pauper dead. These are
the heroes who lost heir lives on the bat
tleship Maine in the Havana harbor. on
the night Of February Is. There are twenty
four of them unmarked.
Above each. mound of glistening white
limestone soil. a small American flag
droops in the fierce sun that beats inces-
sanity down upon the island. The flags
are faded and frayed. When a breeze
comes up from the ocean they fiutter sadly
for a moment, and again droop to the
scorched earth. On the center of each
mound is a small glass goblet which still
holds the discolored and withered stems of
flowers. ''They were put there by lady
from Philadelphia" said the dreamy old
sexton, but don't know who she was.
She came here about ten days after the
bodies were buried and put flowers on all
the graves. I asked her who she was,
but she said no matter"
And these faded little flags and withered
stems Of flowers are all that mark the
resting place Of the heroes Of whom the
civilized world has been talking since the
fatal night, nearly three months ago. There
Is nothing else to tell the stranger who
passes through the potters' field where
the heroes of the Maine are sleeping.
The space where the graves are was
evidently prepared In great haste. Near the
little white mounds on all sides are un-
slightly heaps Of litter and rubbish. In one
spot stands an old hearse, weather-beaten
and chastity in its very aspect Of loneli-
ness and decay. The sexton said 1t had
once been used as the city hearse. but one
day 1t broke down while carrying a body
to the potters' field. and there 1t still
stands.
Just to the north Of the resting place
Of the Names sailors is a small iron in
closure which marks the grave Of Bridget
E. Hoffman, who died in 1864. 'I guess We
will have to call her Mother Hoffman,"
said the old sexton, "for she II the only
one buried here who has got name. and
I think she ought to be mother to every
body in potters' field"
Very close to the twenry-four mounds Is
a group Of thirty-six naval seamen who
died Of yellow fever. The sexton. however.
was unable to tell when they were buried
there. Nothing on the little twelve-inch
story Of the life or death of the dead sea-
men, The names and the words ~. 8.
Navy alone are carved upon the slabs.
But nature, even with the barren lime
rock below and the scorchmg sun above.
seems trying to do what the hand Of man
has failed to do in beautifyinE the graves
of our heroes Luxuriant trees Of tropical
species are all about the newly-mads
graves. At one side. a massive green cac-
tus lifts its pulpy foliage high in the air.
On the opposite side, q row Of tropical
trees, refreshingly green, are In fuu bios
som, and with every breeze cover the sun
burned mounds with beautiful scarlet now-
ers. Near another side Of the little burial
plot is . row Of royal spruce pines which
throw q shadow upon the graves TN the
afternoon, and through whose branches the
sea breezes constantly sing when the sun
has gone down.
Rarely does anyone visit the place. It is
without care or attention, by-corner OF
the island, where, for two centuries. Span
tards, negroes and fisherfolk have put their
dead and forgotten them. Perhaps one-half
the graves in the cemetery are those Of
unknown sailors, whose sleeping-places arc
unmarked Most Of the Inscriptions on
tombstones are in Spanish. Tho graves OF
the Names victims are surrounded by
tombstones with Spanish Inscriptions. 1t
is picture Of melancholy desolation.
The graveyard Is located on a high point
in about the middle Of the island and
from it the great stretch Of blue ocean may
be seen on either side but half 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 q sound to break
the melancholy silence. Sometimes one
hears the weary cry Of bird, or the soft
parrotlike voices of the Spanish children
In the cottages near by. but that Is all. The
voices from the warships out at sea, the
clatter Of commerce In the harbor and the
Idle babble Of the town never disturb lthe
sleep Of our hero sailors here in their
rockbound graves.
OF the twenty-four who are buried here,
only two are identified. They were a negro
and q Japanese. It Is probable that, at
some future time. they may be removed to
another burial place. II not, a suitable
monument will be erected to their memory.