The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-29
MOVING ALONG TIE DEAD
Old Grayeyards Made TO Give Way
to Municipal Progress.
sepuichres On the Outskirts of the
They nee Possessed-other Quar-
tiers Found for the Dust of Their
No Longer Remembered Tenants.

1t would seem that in our modern go
ahead days there is not only no rest for the
living. but that the same may be said of
thee dead.
An illustration of this assertion is found
in the history of an abandoned graveyard
just outside the city CT the line of the
electric cars that carry crowds of pleas
ure seekers to various suburban resorts.
Few Washingtonians doubtless know by
name the Young Mems Baptist Gene
terry" Just as few. probably, have no.
ticed from the cars as they change from
the city to the suburban line, few tomb
stones scattered about in wild and DESC
late tract Of land that shelves abruptly
downward toward Rock Creek Yet the
limits OF this deserted burying ground are
only few yards from the track.
1t has been said that a few erect tomb
stones may serve to point the spot but
these are very few indeed
The greater part are, like those who
sleep beneath them, "hors du combat and
in many cases the names upon them have
been washed away by the rain, their only
mourner, doubtless, for many years. Tall.
rank grass and weeds have spread over
the whole place. and the stranger who
walks through the dark tangled under
growth becomes aware. If he be nervous
person, of a constant dread of stumbling
over something besides this vegetable
growth.
The fact that the earth upon the graves
has, in numerous instances, sunk below the
level of the ground instead OF standing in
mounds. indicates that the bodies beneath
have been removed as, indeed, the entire
number in the cemetery will be very short
ly.
But the main fact in connection with this
dreaTy looking abode of the departed is
that its silent tenants were moved here,
in the first instance, from graveyard
within the city limits. and it was thought
confidently at the time, that they had been
comfortably disposed of. But the city has
spread so rapidly and extensively that he
precincts OF the living have again n
croached on those of the dead, so Their is
nothing to be done but to move them along
again.
The young men, who were the origi-
nal trustees OF the cemetery, have either
died, or become old men. and prospector
has already purchased a large portion OF
the ground, while a bill is now before Con-
gress to Incorporate the same within the
Geological Park. which lies adjacent there
to- So it is pretty certain that the never
resting bones of the deceased must suffer
another removal. where, it would at pres
ent seem. nobody knows. nobody cares
Quakers' burial place previously ex-
listed on the site OF the present Young
Mems Baptist Cemetery" and both were
merged into one. and will suffer the same
fate. When the removal of bodies from
the old graveyard on Thirteenth Street, on
the present site of Garfield Hospital. was
attempted the people residing in that
neighborhood complained that the odor of
ha bnTiee faf1l
and upon complaint prompt action was TAX
en- by the Health Office which, in all prob
ability, prevented an epidemic in the city
No such baneful result may be looked for
in the forthcoming removal 1t has been
fully eight or nine years since an inter
ment was made or permitted in the pres
ent cemetery. and. according to the grave
digger in Hamlet, even the remains Of a
tanner will. in that period OF time, have
returned to native dust.
How many strangers, in how many de-
serted graveyards have moralized over the
neglect and desolat.on Of the abodes OF the
dead. Il is sad thing to trace the his
tory of any one Of our repositories for the
remains OF the departed Sooner or later.
like their occupants, they Will all be doom
ed to destruction, plowed up by the re-
ientless tide of life which is ever increaa-
ing, and will be known no more. But be-
fore this final end we can trace the fate of
our grayeyards in the signs of neglect
which gradually become more and more
apparent. Some to-nbs will be left entire
ly to the ravages of the grass that hides
and the rain that effaces. Others will
present such tokens of remembrance as
a living vase Of flowers. a bouquet, or a
living plart-small. perhaps, but pathetic
and appropriate marks of remembrance
and affection from the living. Other in
stances are seen Of ornaments, which,
however indicative of the like sentiments
display anything but good taste on the
part Of the donors. In fact. some graves
present the appearance OF miniature toy
shops more than anything else, and the
Inscriptions upon the tombstones in these
Instances are very likely to be in the vein
pf those beautiful poetic illusions which
tighten the gloom of the death notices"
In the newspapers.
Happily, however. these instances are I
comparatively few. And what can be more .
touchingly beautiful. disposing even the I
dispassionate spectator to quiet and Sc
rene contemplation, than a well kept CEN
etery.
It has been suggested that the Govern /
ment establish bureau for the proper
guardianship of these solemn gardens.
Those making the proposal have suggested
that as there is at present such an Office
In the interests OF the city parks for rec {
reation and pleasure, there should GER I
tainly be some consideration displayed in 4
preserving. to the respect OF future genera /
lions, the plots reserved for the dead
In no respect, perhaps, IT has been said, I
does our modern civilization compare !
more unfavorably with that of the pagan |
nations Of antiquity than In the yenera-
tion rendered TO the memory of the de-
parted. No maxim rings more grandly !
down the corridors of time" than that of \
the ancient Romans DE mortuis nil nlsI /
bonum," and this spirit OF respect for |
their dead was manifested by those won
derful people, not alone in their abstain
ing from casting odium upon their memory
but in preserving sacredly their resting
places from negligence and destruction
The ancient roads leading into Rome are
lined for miles, even 10 this day with the
ruins OF the stately tombs that contained
the ashes of the fathers OF the city"
AS the laureled conqueror returned in |
triumph along the Appian way, he passed, |
with bowed head, by these stately nonu- |
ments. Even the ashes OF the poorest |
were reverently preserved in the Column /
barium. We are very, very far ahead of /
the ancient Romans in many ways, but !
when it comes to respect for the dead, it 4
would seem that modern civilization must |
yield the palm to paganism.
search for n Missing Girl.
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