St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-01-27
WITH FEET TO THE EAST.
A Old-1 .Me Burial Practice That
Has Fallen Largely Into
DiRuse.

There was recently repriI.ted in the
Sun, from western newspaper, par
Agraph about the disinterment and re-
burial of a body in a cemetery, because
i, had been buried in the wrong way.
1.-The undertaken" so the paragraph
said. "was a new man at the business.
and the body was placed with its feet
to the west. The relatives recalled the
fact, and would not be satisfied until
the remains were eNhumed and tarned
with the feet TO the east. in accordance
with the popular CUSTOM.
New York undertakers say that here
abouts bodies are buried according t6
the situation of the burial plot; with
the feet to the path in front, however
that may bring the body with regard
to the points of the compass. 1t was y
common custom in old times to bury
the dead with the feet to the east. SO
thta when they should rise, on the day
of resurrection, they would rise fac.
ing whence the summons was expect
ed. There are. it is said, whole church
yards filled with dead, all facing east;
but with the growth of cities, and OF
cemeteries outside of churchyard bury.
ing grounds. this practice fell into dis.
use. Cemeteries were vnriously stu.
ated, to start with; and then they were
laid out in such a manner as to bring
the land within them most advanta.
geously into use. Obviously. for illus.
tration. of n double tier of lots joining
at the back and each tier facing on a
path, one tier of lots would face one
way, and the other tier in exactly the
opposite way. 4 body buried in any
of these lots. facing either way. would
be buried with the feet to the path
upon which the lot fronted; so that the
bodies in the two tiers of this double
ticroflots would face in exactly opposite
directions; and it might be that neither
faced exactly east.
In laying out cemeteries there are
likely to be curving roads. and there
might be roads crossing diagonally;
with the result of some plots of irreg-
ular shape. and some triangular; and
there are likely to be found in ceme-
teries some circular plots. In circu-
lar plot that was inclosed by other
land, it might be that the graves would
be made with the feet toward the mon
ument at the center of the plot; if, as
would more likely be the case, the cir
cular plot had path around it. then
the bodies would be placed with their
head to the central monument and
their feet to the path, the graves radi.
aing from the center; and so lying as
to the points of the compass, in va
rious directions. In triangular plots
the bodies might not be inferred with
feet to a path! but lengthwise of the
plot in its longest section; in this or 9th.
er irregular plots they would be buried
as they could be most appropriately tc
the plot. But in most lots it is pos
sible to bury the body with the feet tc
the path and this is now, without re.
gard to the compass points, substan.
tally the common practice. And il
a body were disinterred from one lot
and reinterred in another, it would,
upon its reinterment, be placed with it's
feet to the front of the new lot whether
this faced in the same direction as the
old one or not. 1t is the location of the
lot that governs; the practice being to
bury with the feet and thus, of course,
the face, toward the path.
But while the direction in which bod.
les shall lie buried is nowadays CON-
monty thus determined, there are those
who still prefer to be buried facing the
east; and who accomplish that result
simply by buying a lot that faces in
that direction.-N. Y. Sun.