Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-06-23

SONiiLiOh
Madame President and Ladies':
To be perfectly frank with you
must confess there is no subject that
know less about than | do of European
cemeteries, and find myself much in
the same situation as a recent Com
mencement orator who crossed the
continent to make an apology.
Wonderful tombs of rare workman
ship marking the resting places of not
ed men beneath cathedral roofs. saw
many of, but any comparative obser-
vations on European cemeteries that
| can make will be sadly like looking
through the wrong end of an opera
glass. | fear I am not good Ameri-
can as | do not want to go to Paris
when | die. | much prefer to be there
in this life-and Rome for the rein.
carnation. and for the transitory per-
iod would be undecided between Oak
Grove and the Protestant cemetery of
Rome-and no comparison could be
Uawn between the two. they are both
so different and both so beautiful.
The Protestant cemetery of Rome is
an ideal city of the dead The old GEM
terry is an open space beneath the shad-
ow of the pyramid of Cestius and the
massive walls and towers which form
ed the circuit of ancient Rome,-lone-
ly and neglected, grass grown and COW
cred with daisies and wild callas. Our
pilgrimage was to the graves of Keats
and Shelley and to read the pathetic
inscription on Keats tomb. Here lies
one whose fame was writ in water, "a
mournful line.
Adjoining the old and surrounded by
| its own wall lies the new cemetery on
a grassy slope A tiny maid answered
our ring at the gate, and as we stepped
into the cool shadowy spot, l, too,
thought it might make one in love
with death to think one should be bur-
led in so sweet place. 1t is small
and the avenues of cypress and stone
pine throw an almost midnight shade,
| out of which gloom gleam the beauti-
| full marbles. the white gravel paths and
out beyond in the bright, burning sun,
the rose garden. Truly the most love
| ly and peaceful spot on earth. One
| feature of the foreign cemetery is the
well kept gravel walk. There are so
many single graves with narrow walks
| between, and the gravel path separat-
| ing lots is convenient and pretty. The
foreigner loves gravel next to paint
ings. and it is a great feature of their
public grounds. The French cemeter-
| les are made hideous by the awful
| tombs built over the grave and used
as a family shrine Fresh flowers are
seldom left as the token of remem-
brance, instead the graves are laden
with medley of headwreathes and
boquets in natures own colors-a GUS
tom that makes an unpleasant i'm
preston on an American. The French
man is essentially sentimentalist and
devoted to his memories This is
strikingly noticeable on his magnifl-
cent Place de-la-Concarde where Paris
has erected monuments to the French
Provinces. Alsace-Loraine is kept
covered with these emblems of mourn
ing The French still grieve over lie
loss of that beautiful possession. On
Sundays and holidays the streets of
Paris are filled with friends Of the dead
hurrying to the cemeteries with their
offerings of beads.
Even the bones of the poor Partisan
have but short rest, they are allowed
to remain in their original place only
ten years unless an annual fee is paid
i'm default of which the bones are
taken up an thrown into a vast COM
mon pit. The graves are often used
many times. Venice possesses a un-
ique island cemetery surrounded by a
high gray wall rising out of the lagoon.
A boat funeral with the heavy trap
pings of woe silently gliding out of the
HdTIO" Cdlldl lillO Jllt OpSh Wdlcl IL
depressingly sad. Here as in Paris
they have the awful custom of the COM
mon pit, and another bitter penalty for
dying is the fee of five francs which
must be paid to the municipality for
every name engraved on their tiny
gravestones. The conventional Latin
cemetery is usually flat and uninter-
esting in situation, and is surrounded
by the ever present wall which. mars
the landscape. Like Jim Fiske dc
not believe in walls, for those who are
in cannot get out, and we who are out
do not want to get in. 1t is in keep
! ing, however, with the foreigners ex
elusive ideas concerning his home In
the Old World as well as the New the
care of the cemetery varies with tht
size of the town, and there is apt to b'
the same difference between the Gene
teries of the city and the country
| ,,,,do ie IL