The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-05-06

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company's store. The casket which
his relatives had bought for him was of
much finer design than the others, but
was carried up the hill in a rough wag-
on, like the others. The widow led the
procession, supported by her brother
and sister.
She was in tears and moaned contin-
ually, but she did not shrek, for her
grief has gone beyond that form of ex-
preston. As the body was lowered in
to the grave Mrs. Patterson was
| brought forward to view it once more.
! She stepped back a few feet, and as the
! first shovel Of earth fell on the coffin
| she grOaned and her head fell forward
Her brother held her gently and the
friends with her attended her until she
recovered.
The dedication of this grave was an
| impressive scene. A large crowd cir
cled about Apostles TeasdaIe, SmOot
and Grant at the head of the bier
Apostle Teasdale delivered the dedica-
! ton address most effectively.
Some Of the most pathetic scenes
were witnessed about the plot assigned
to the Firms, There twenty-five
| widows and many more children waited
/ tearfully while their husbands and
fathers were being put away The Fin
nish women cried little, though the eyes
| of all were red with tears. There were
| about eighty-five graves. fourteen in a
/ WY ayld oil r
! They were to be filed by the bodies
! of about forty Firms and those Amer
| leans who belonged TO none Of the ben
evolent orders represented in the Gem
/ etery. The bodies were lowered slowly.
/ having been delayed in arrival from the
/ meeting house at Winter Quarters.
Here the Louma family furnished the
most tragic of all The scenes. The
mother of the family stood watching
( the progress of the burial and when she
/ found that the nine members of her
family were likely to be separated in
burial she protested greatly To please
her the bodies were placed in one row.
The burial ceremony cf the bodies of
the Firms was something that will
probably never be seen again in the
United States for many, many years,
1t was the last rites over the remains
Of more than forty victims of the dis
aster. All of it was in the native Ian
| guage by Rev. A. GraHholm, who came
for the purpose all the way from Rock
Springs, Wyo.
While the bodies were being lowered
he went about among the women. con-
soling them, and spent most of his
time, pencil and paper in hand, getting
the names and the graves correctly, so !
that there could be no mistake about /
the mounds that viii mark the resting /
place Of these foreigners who have died /
in strange land. The women gath /
cred about him and Wrung his hands /
and he did his best to alleviate their
grief. He told them over and over
again that they must look to Goa for
succor. They seemed much c011forted |
by his words
Impressive Ceremony.
The ceremony was begun at the last
row Of fourteen bodies, which had been
brought up by the wagons, while the
remainder waited down below, as the
funeral arrangements We're somewhat
delayed. Taking d shovelful OF earth
from the high bank of it nearby, he
threw it on the first coffin and he then
uttered a few words in Finnish. He
took another shOvelful and dropped it
on the casket, when he said the same
words over again, or words that sound
ed very much like them. A third
shovelful was thrown into the grave,
and he made longer recital in a clear,
high voice
The ceremony was very impressive.
even to those who did not understand
the language and could only guess at
its meaning. AS he proceeded down
the row of graves he repeated the same
ceremony, and at the end of the row
the minister delivered an eloquent in
vocation in his native tongue, which
seemed to move the Finnish women
very much.
They stood upon the mounds of
earth about them, and showed more
evidence Of grief than ever before in
public since this catastrophe. High
above the minister on the mound stood
old Mrs. Louma. the mother Of the
Finnish colony. She did not cry, for
her grief was too deep for that She
held her hand to her mouth and rocked
to and fro, seeming to keep time with
the musical intOnationa Of the Finnish
minister's voice. other women, young
er. and with babies in Their arms.
watched him anxiousy and tearfully .
While he cast his shovelfuls Of earth
upon the remains Of their husbands,
lying six feet below.
The Finnish ceremony was not COM
Dleted, because the collins had rot ar
rived from the charnal house up VIM
Ter Quarters guleh. But these foreign
women would not leave their dead.
Some Of them went to the. stores and I