Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-02

we saw the row OF heaps O Tourn1nS
wood, the leaping flames, here and there
g. barred human leg or arm prOtrudtng
from the pyres, some naked, demonlike
figures with pOkers experimenting the
little hell, and other persons seated in the
attitudes of grief in the far distance.
Then the journalistic instinct came up
rmO I studied the scene closely.
We are facing a long and narrow yard
between high walls. A small, shallow
ditch ran the length Of it near n side.
BESIDE this, in a row. were the pyres. each
ifive or six feet high. and made by bank
Ing small, rough tree branches and bits
og tree trunks between tall, slender iron
pillars, two on each side, to keep the
pyres in shape. A pair of spreading
trees, whose nearer leaves were shirvel-
led and dried, shivered painfully In the
ascending currents Of heat, as If they
were holding their fingers In the flame,
ard bravely resisting an inclination to
shrek with pain. The skull OF the mans
or woman's body on the nearest pyre
exploded at this momen with a loud
noise, and again turned my attention to
the pyres: Several bare-legged, bare
breasted black men, draped about the
upper legs anr and backs with smoky
cotton, poked at the pyres with long iron
rods. Here one seemed to be pulling an
arm from the embers; there one was
pushing back a leg which protruded. I
speak Of black and white in describing
these odius wretches, but, In truth, they
were Redeemed by the fire glow to the
color Of Mephistopheles' coat. Back
and to the right stood a group Of mo-
t1onless men and women in white, look
Ing at the glowing heaps which shot up
flames like fire fountains. These were
the mourners. AS we looked on, a po-
lite man came up to our bearer am talk
ed earnestly with him. 11e would not
HE says we are to go away" said the
bearer, "and that We "a get passes to
come again" Go away, I replied, by all
means, and at once. Again my eye
spewt the repellent scene. above each
glowing Gu beof fire rose tongues Of
flame; above these were yellow, fleeting.
gaseous sheets of fire that came and
went; higher still. the yellow flashes
turned blue. Then came the black clouds
Of smoke, which blended in one grand
Jet mass that drifted. lazi1y away to-
wards the seattle common pail of all the
dead.
At one o'clock at the Palace I could
have likened my surroundings to a Mos
lem's idea Of HEAVIER. Now. at two o'clock
I thought 1 had never been so close to
hell. We were hurrying home late, yet
without hope of sleeping, hag-ridden by
the weird and terrible conditions around
US. The night was abnormally quiet.
Now that the hideous flames were at our
multitudinous and brilliant stars Of the
southern sky. Out Of nothing, as II
from nowhere, there appeared beside our
carriage a figure muffled in white from
top to toe. It was shapeless, and yet It
was human in it's suggestion. It glided
rather h walked or strobe. Mr.. Well
o suddered. Ibid you see that?" he
asked. Then he added, ut was like the
figure of Death" "It would have SEEM
ed SO at home" said 1; but here Death
marches in battalions." WE leaned
back in our landau, and uring the re-
mainder OF the journey saw only the
snow-white figures of our bearer ana
driver high above US, with. the stars all
round them. They also looked ghostly.
And Tor myself it can. truly be said that
opposite gate. Death rode me A. II It
were a witch and ! was it's broomstick.
l was forever reading Of it, having It
discussed around me, seeing the dead, or
the smoke q. j pyres,- or he. swollen
pest. MercifuI powers! what a NOM
strous place the plague has made OF Iu-
Fol instance, we had but started
upon our visit to the ::Bazaar," or
native city. when we "a some coolies
and our boy CALLED cheerily from the
drivers seat: See! Look! Some plague
coming out!" The body was simply
wrapped in a sheet and carried upon two
slende rpoles, as its bearers bobbed
along with extra businesslike rapiditiy.
It's head rolled this way and that In =
which we agreed was horrible
until We had been longer in India and
could ~differentlate The. truly awful and
the commonplace. When Mr.. Weldon
went to the office of the Hindoo Burial
and Burning committee he met four Of
the dead. each wrapped N a thin sheet,
and being hurried along by shouting car.
riers through the busiest bit of the Bazaar.
1t went on We encountered the dead
everywhere We went. excpet in one place
-A0ra No rnnts fhon1 fr MY -
and upon country roads. We came up
on them set down in a busy roadside near
city. while their carriers rested from
the labor of hustling them along. We
found them arranged in rows, with their
in the river in two cities. In four
we saw them burning. When we visit
ed a lady on Malabar Hill, she urged US
to come out again n see the towers Of
where the vultures feed upon
the dead Parsis. THE towers are juse
trees" she said. sweetly; 80 you can
come in and see us afterwards" At q
when we rested a. moment. nv
partner murmured: isn't the plague nor
rible? We've had seven servants die of
It in our house already" When we were
servant urged us to hurry and see q
body burned on the open ground
behind our bungalow. I remember that
I saw her husband and children going
10 the spectacle, n that
I asked. will they weep and wall while
It goss on?" NO." my bearer answered.
in surprise. What for cry?" On sec
ond thoughts I did not see what for, and
10 l kept silence: But, dear me! it vas
not only the plague that made touring
gruesome In that resurrected land Of
dead people whose religion is a whost
Of one. who preach that life is a dream.
whose hopes are embalmed, and whose
chief monument is a tomb. There was
plague In half the places where we
found, death SO ~obtrusive. When we
picked up a newspaper we We're almost
certain lit may have only happened sol
20 read of some white mans sudden death !