The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-03
CITY OF THE DEAD
CEMETERY EsTABLIsHED
 CENTURY AGO.
First Started by Bishop Juan de Espada--Mapy of the Eiches are
 Empty-Exquisite Marble Tablets Seen.

Behind the leper hospital in the San Lazaro district of the city of havana tnere lies an old cemetery, writes AL bert G. Robertson in The New fork Evening Post. Few of the many visi- tors to that city know that there is such a place; still fewer ever pass be- meath it's vine covered portal. nou- sands visit the Colon cemetery. with it's massive gateway and it's beautiful monuments; not one in thousand sees that city of the dead which was es- tablished by Bishop Juan de Eepada in 1895. For twenty-five years 1t has stood unused for burial purposes.
 an oid Roman, days. in the time of the funeral pyre, 1t was customary to gather the ashes of incinerated dead and place them. in funeralDurn These were sealed and deposited in niches in the walls of special buildings or inclos- ures, to whicn was applied the name of columbarla, for the reason thai their appearance suggested a dove cote. The general idea Of the columbaria | as been preserved and. though unusual, Is far from unique. The more modern system dispenses with the burning ana deposits the cofflned body in niches only differing from those of the Roman days essentially in their size. This is the system of the Espada cemetery in Havana. i The opening of a strongly locked and heavily barred iron gateway gives pas sage into a high walled inclosure of some three or four acres in extent. Neither monument nor standing tomb stone breaks its flat and grassy area. A grass grown pathway leads straight across the plot to the mortuary chapel upon its northern side. All around are the walls, four or five yards in height, showing four tiers of round-topped niches, some open and some closed and sealed. Midway the western wall gateway opens upon second fnclosure of similar area to the first, though of different arrangement. A brick paved walkway crosses it from east to west, bisecting a series of interior walls which extend through its greater length. If my memory serves me there are six of these structures, alternately open and arching the pathway. Here, too, the surrounding walls and the in- terior structures show the four rows of niches. A little counting and a rough calculation gave the total num- Der in both inclosures at about l2,000.
 The ground immediately around the chapel, in the outer yard. Is largely occupied by the horizontal slabs which mark the resting place of those whose rank, wealth. or influence has secured for them special interment. Here lies the body of a bishop and there lies one whose coronetted coat of arms. carved in relief on the marble indicate a strain of royal blood. Many of the stones are broken, all are weather stained, bordered with untrimmed grass and weeds. For the graves of many who lie here, there Is no one to care. Of Spanish birth, their friends and kindred have returned to their homes across the sea.
 Many of the wall inches stand empty by reason of an established custom, prevalent in these countries. of renting burial space for a time only. At the expiration of that time the bones are removed to a large uncovered recep- tacle along the southern wall, where they constitute a ghastly heap, seen only from the top of the wall. The va cated space may then be filled by sur- ceeding tenants or by one whose pay ment insures repose so long as the place continues as a burial ground. Tn some of these now vacant niches beds of dried grass and discarded clothing indicate their use by the living. There is no doubt that many of them wers occupied as sleeping places during the days of the recommendation under Weyler.
 Marble tablets, often exquisitely carved, seal the openings of the inches taking the place of the now more gen. erally used mausoleums, monuments and headstones. Here and there some wreath or other floral memento, at- tached to the tablet, shows that. even after a qHerter of century of sleep in this unusued burial ground, some dead are lovingly and actively remembered Here and there an English name ap- pears, but they are very few.
 In one of the walls in the western section a niche is shown in which once lay the body of a man who in life had grievously offended group of students in the University of Havana. Af:er his burial some of these students mani fested their bitterness by the foolish prank of desecra ting the tablet which sealed the tomb of~their enemy. They were caught and sentenced to death. A tablet on the face of building near Punta. in Havana, states that the y were there executed, shot by the bull lets of Spanish soldiery. Today owe of the special sights of Havana Is the beautiful students monument in the Colon cemetery. and the anniversary of their death Is a public holiday.
 Deprived of the revenue which it formerly received from the government the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba Is somewhat strained financially. The Espada cemetery Is church property and it is probable ere long 1t will be placed on the market for sale. The niched walls will give place to modern structures and the living will walk where the dead have laid