Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1907-08-20
BACK TO
STATE OF
NATURE
Los Angeles Graves DeseCrated and
klds Run Naked Among
the TOmbs

BY personal investigation Mayor
Harper of Los Angeles has found
out that there has been CHASTITY
desecration In the old Fort Hill ceme-
terry back of the high school in that
city.
1T is worse than imagined"
said the mayor, after he had viewed
vaults which had been broken into
by vandals. Many of the graves con-
tain the remains of men and women
who took a prominent part in the
making of the early history OF Los
Angeles. There are trenches around
some vaults, dug by treasure hunters.
who sought for valuables reported
to have been buried with some of
the bodies half a century ago. The
mayor inspected the mausoleum of
Robert s. Carlisle, which has been
forced open by ghouls. He found
the whole front part of the head had
been carried away.
The devils who broke into the
vault knew that Carlisle was buried
with diamonds in his teeth" said
Jerry Remsen. the guard who had
induced the mayor to see for himself
the shocking sight of the casket.
81 knew Carlisle WE'LL" said the
mayor.
when l was a boy he was one OF
the big men of the city. I remem-
ber he had diamonds settings In his
teeth. He was killed in a gun fight.
He received a bullet in the heart.
He fell to the ground, raised himself
slightly, leveled his pistol across his
arm and killed his assailant; then
he dropped back dead"
The old cemetery is in a terrible
state of neglect.
at seems a crime to find II in such
condition as this" the mayor went
on. 1T is 20 years since last stood
in this old burying ground"
Complaints have been made to the
mayor that II is rash disregard for
human life to permit bodies to re-
main In the cemetery, surrounded as
tits by the high school buildings.
Guard Remsen says the boys have
been in the habit of playing among
the old graves.
"They got to running naked among
the graves, but we stopped that" he
said.
"The skunks!" exclaimed the may
or in disgust.
"The girls came next" went on
Remsen. Pretty soon they were
running naked among the graves
too"
whats that?" asked the mayor
aghast.
"Well, they wore those little
blouses and pants, you know" the
watchman explained, "but that's
pretty near naked for a girl"
The mayor gave a sigh of relief
81 guess that wasn't so very bad, "
he said. "They are not likely TO
Ideseerate the graves"
Remsen showed the mayor a plot
containing two graves which he had
to guard almost nightly because of
a rumor that they contained treasure.
Mayor Harper read the names on the
tombstones and smiled.
"old man Wilson and his wife are
buried there" he remarked. They
left no treasure. remember when
they died. II took the whole estate
to pay for that lot and the stones.
Remsen related a number OF in
stances where two bodies have been
found In one grave, gruesome evil
dence of the religious fanaticism of
so years ago. Sometimes body
would be buried In the Roman Cath
Ollie cemetery half a mile from Fort
Hill. A Protestant relative OF the
deceased would remove the body
during the night and bury II among
those of the Protestant faith. In
order that the act might not be re-
vealed by the presence of a fresh
grave, the body would be placed In
a tomb where another lay buried.
The mayor is planning TO make the
old cemetery into public park.
n