The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1902-01-03
cUBA's STRANGE CEMETERY.
Placed I'm Niches In the Wall
for Term Of Years. ~ Ss2S5 N.

Placed I'm Niches In the wall
for Term q Years. q. .$s;
Behind the leper hospital in the San
Lazaro district of the city of HavanA,
there lies an old cemetery. Few Of
the many visitors to that city know
that there il such a place; still fewer
ever pass beneath its vine-covered porA$
tai. Thousands visit the Colon ceme-9
terry, with its massive gateway and itD5
beautiful monuments; not one in aD
thousand sees that city of the dead
which was established by Bishop Juan
De Espada in 1905. For rs years it has 4
stood unused for burial purposes. "' .5
In old Roman days, in the time of the \
funeral pyre, it was customary i, TO q
gather the ashes of the incinerated
dead and place them in funeral urns.
These were sealed and deposited in
inches in the walls of special buildings 4
or Enclosures, to which was applied the.
name of columbaria, for the reason
that their appearance suggested .
dovecote. The general idea of the CO.
lumbaria has been preserved and,
though unusual, is far from unique.
The more modern system. dispenses
with the burning and deposits the cof-
fined body in inches only differing from
those of the Roman days essentially
in their size. This is the system OF
the Espada cemetery in Havana, says
the New York Post. -.
The opening of a strongly-locked and
heavily-barred iron gateway gives pas
sage into a high walled Enclosure Of
some three or four acres in extent.
Neither monument nor standing tomb 4
stone breaks its fat and grassy area.
A gra ss-grown pathway leads straight
across the plat to the mortuary chapel
upon it's northern side. Allaround are
the walls, four to five yards in height,
showing four tiers of round-topped
inches, some open and some closed and
sealed. Midway the western wall q
gateway opens upon second inclo-
sure of similar area to the first, though
of different arrangement. A brick
paved walkway crosses it from east to
west, bisecting series of interior walls
which extend through its greater
length. Tiny memory serves me, there
are six of these structures, alternately
open and arching the pathway. Here,
too, the surrounding walls and the in
terror structures show the four rows
of inches. A little counting and rough
calculation gave the total number In
both Enclosures at about $4,000.
The ground Immediately around the
chapel, in the outer yard, is largely oc-
cupied 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 bishop, and there lies one
whose coroneted coat of arms, carved
in relief on the marble, indicates :
strain of royal blood. Many of the.
stones are broken, all are weather;
stained, bordered with untrimmed
grass and weeds. For the gravessof
many, who lie here. there is 40
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 customs =
prevalent in these countries, of rent
ing burial spaces for time only. At. ::
the expira ton of that time the bones
are removed to large uncovered re-:
ceptacle along the southern wall,
where they constitute CHASTITY heap
seen only from the top of the wall.
The vacated space may then be filled
by surviving tenants or by one whose
payment insures repose so long as the
place continues as burial ground. In
some of these now vacant inches beds
of dried grass and discarded clothing
indicate their use by the living. There
is no doubt that many of them were &C.
cupied as sleeping places during the
days of the RECOMMENDATION under Wey.
Ter.
Marble tablets, often exquisitely
carved, seal the openings of the inches,
taking the place of the now more gen.
orally used mausoleums, monuments
and headstones. Here and there some
wreath or other floral memento, at =.
tached to the tablet, shows that even
for quarter of century of sleep in
this unused 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 of the western
section a niche is shown in which once
lay the body of a man who, in his life,
had grievously offended group of
students in the University of Havana.
After his burial some of these students
manifested their bitterness by the
foolish prank of desecrating the tab
let which sealed the tomb of their en-
envy. They were caught and sentenced
to death. A tablet on the face of
building near La Punta, in Havana,
states that they were there executed,
shot by the bullets of Spanish SOL
diery. To-day one of the special sights
of Havana is the beautiful students
monument in the Colon cemetery, and
the anniversary of their death is pub
lie holiday.
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