The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1898-01-12
TOMB IN SOLID ROCK.
GEORGE NJ. PULLMAN'S BODY SEALED
IN AN IMPREGNABLE GRAVE.


Ills Family Fearful That Ghouis Might
steal the Remains, Like the A. T. Stewart
Cause.-The Cnsket Undecided In Cement
Handed With Steel Rails.
Learning wisdom from the pages of
history. wherein 1t is related that the
body of Millionaire A. T. Stewart was
stolen from the grave and held for ram
som, together with the frustrated at
Tempt of ghouls to secure possession of
tho body of the martyr President. Lin
eoln the family of George NJ. Pullman
decided to protect his remains, and
while the world slept men were engag-
I'd In the work of encasing the mahog
any casket holding the remains OF the
dead millionaire In the heart of a solid
rock banded by bars of steel. and I'M
pregnable to the attack of vandals with
picks or even dynamite itself.
The body of George NJ. Pullman will
lie undisturbed at Chicago as long as
time shall last
None of the Egyptian monarchs sup
posedly resting under the ponderous
weight of the pyramids. sleeps more
secure from the encroachment OF the
living world than does the sleeping car
magnate in his grave at Graceland.
The contractors having the making
Of the grave In charge moved their fur
naces, their cement and asphaltum In
to the seclusion Of the bushes at some
distance from the Pullman lot, which
oyerlooks the pretty little lake. A
great rectangular pit was dug thirteen
feet long, nine feet wide, and eight feet
dam A unnpiuv nf la il
strengthened and made solid by bands
Of expanded metal The work was done
with tho utmost care, and when COM
pleted there was mass of concrete
eighteen inches thick at the bottom OF
the excavation.
The foreman OF the work says that
nothing short OF dynamite could shat
ter the base. and 1t would take many
tons of the explosive to do that.
After the services at the grave and
the castet and It's contents. inclosed in
the heavy lead-lined mahogany box,
had been let below the surface, the
workmen descended into the sepulcher
and moved the lowered burden until 1t
was equldistant to a fraction of an
inch from the four sustaining walls.
Then they wrapped the polished ma
hogany box In tar paper and laid on.
about and under 1t an inch coating of
asphaltum. which hardened quickly.
This coating will prevent the ingress of
air. and. except in the case of some ex
traordinary disturbing event. will pre-
serve the body and the inclosing cask
ct for ages to come.
This work of asphaltlng the incloslng
wood being completed. the labor of
filling In great spaces at the head and
sides with concrete was begun. The
surface of the concrete floor was re-
heated and the fresher substance was
| laid on to 1t. The two masses coales-
| eng and forming one homogeneous
| bulk This process ineased the as
| phalted box In u stone-like mass to a
level with Its upper lid.
The men worked until the incloslng
walls were half an inch above the as
| phaltum coating Then eight heavy
steel "f." rails were brought and laid
transversely across the top of the box,
their ends resting on the concrete walls
at either side and their lower surfaces
clearing the asphaltum covering by
Just one-half an inch, the distance to
which the side walls of concrete had
been built above the asphaltum. This
space was left to make an allowance for
possible settling and to prevent the
steel bars with the weight of concrete
above them from crushing in the top
of the enveloping mahogany case.
AS soon az the rails were in place
they were bolted together with two
long iron rods which passed through an
orlfice in each rail- and ran parallel to
Tho side of thp lid of the coffin More
tar paper was then called into use to
prevent the flow of the concrete into
the half-inch space between the rails
and the asphaltum, and the work of
walling 1t up began again.
Soon the ends of the rails were firm
ly imbedded in concrete and the same
material rapidly rose under the quick
work OF the men until the steel bars
with their rod connections were hidden
from view, and the remains of the pal
ace car magnate had interposed be-
tween them and an attack from above
wall OF stone and steel
II was not until late nj night that the
last of the metal work was completed.
1t will take all Sunday TO fill in the
remainder of the concrete, the work
being slow on account of the interposi-
ton of the expanded metal sheetlng
which Is distributed through the con-
crete to give It consistency.
Earth was then thrown on top of the
stony mass and the sod placed and the
myrtle planted, and the grave of George
M. Pullman was different in no out
ward respect than the thousands OF
others under the shade Of the trees OF
Graceland