Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-12
AN IMPRESSIVE BURIAL SERVICE

Nearer, my God to Thee. Nearer to
Thee SANG the Salvation Army lassleS
on the street and Harry Campbell, mayor
of Anvil City. leader of the committee OF
| safety of all the Cape Nome country
standing six feet four and a hall lhehes
in height. stopped and listened.
Tho, like the wanderer, the sun goes
| down.
Darknass be over me, my rest a
stone,'
they sang. and Campbell. tossing a oolia1
an the drumhead. brushed ms name
across his ewes, and said under MS pfeath
ia himself, My rest a stone' theh,
! aloud. Come on, lets move An me-
there's many and many a DOOR oos ~
that God-forsaken. desolate country
sleeping tonight his last long steep. h'S
head pillowed on the rocks, his shfooo
the snow and ice. $500.
DO YOU know the last time heafd
that sone?' he said. 'Of course you
don't but I'll tell you. 1t was when we
buried poor Phil Grattan. Peter Pellle''
and Ezra Carr in the same grave.
"They had all struggled along with US
and one by one they had fallen by tAe
'yayside. We put them on sleds. AND
n1l,ed them into camp. Phil Grattan l
knew before | went to the klondlke:
Failure after failure has been his, and
the wife and baby at nome We're settihs
along. God knows how, when Pnll Wehl
down with the scurvy.
sHe was bad. From the first. we al
most knew we could never save him, eul
we talked him up. as miners will do. and
kept him alive. The other men were IN
two different tents, ard all we could &c
was TO see them once in a While, and send
them grub.
lone night had just crept into my
~sleeping-bag,' said Campbell. when Pm
called to me. Without getting out OF
my bag, I rolled over to where he was
lying.
Harry he says, I'm going to die to-
night
Dom be a fool I answered.: think
! of the wife and baby at home. Pui
through. You're all right
~ can't he said: and he handed me
two little letters. all folded up. with: See
that my wife and baby get them
'To tell the truth I didn't thinl
he was dying. and I rolled over in m,
bag and went to sleep. just when thu
dawn comes down here-for you know
part of the year is all daylight n par
all night up in Alaska-just when The
dawn should have come. a man kicked
me and said, 'Phil's dying
II hustled out of my sleeping-bag ant
took a look at him.
"UnderStand me. sir: men in Alasks
get to know death. They look into {
mans face. and know whether he has
been called for or not. On the trail. IL
the binding blizzard, in the icy creek
When the boat is overturned. you see
mems faces, and you learn to read wheth.
err death or life is written there. Man,
a poor fellow you pull out of the drift
or stream in that country. and know
when you get aim to your tent, that, dc
all you can, he must die. It's hard, hare
to see men die about you and not be able
to lift IA finger to save them.
But about Phil. He died that morn,
ing, and so did the other two men in thu
other tents. About noOn we Ven GU
with our picks, and dug a grave for Thu
three of them.
"There was no minister. and we had M
prayer book. but | had a Bible given tt
me years and years ago by my old moth
er. Not that I kept it to read, for I die
not read it, but I kent it With my Xxi
because she, my mother, gave it to me.
after we had dug the grave as deel
as we could in the frozen ground. we pu
the bodies in and covered them up. ant
on top of the mound we poured waite,
until it froze a thick crust over the earth
so as to keep the dogs and wolves from
digging uD the bodies.
Then ] read a part of a chapter from
my Bible, that ! knew where to ind.
don't remember ii all-mebbe YOU do. bu
it says: Then shall the body return un
to dust. and the spirit unto God, VIII
gave it,
"After reading the Bible, we all gath
cred around the crave aud sang, 'Neare
my God. to Thee and then we went bacl
to our tents and our work. and left tn
poor bows sleeping there in a frozel
tomb. their pillow a stone.
when I heard the Salvation Arm,
~lassies singing. ! was reminded of tn
thinG"-seatta CWashD P1st-Intelli
Sencer.