The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-16

picked skeleton. That is permitted 10 re-
main for several days. when the body car
riers a gain enter and throw the bones into
the great well at the center. where tneE
are left TO await the slow operation of the
transformation of "dust to dust.
The tower is rOOfless. Of course. and for
that reason receives the rain The rain
water is polluted By contact with the
corPses and decaying bones, and, being
one OF the sacred elements. il must be.
purified. The towers are drained into the
central well, and from thence conduits run
out in four directions. Under the tower
walls the water is filtered through several
feet Of charcoal. and again, at the end
Of the drain, through a filter Of sand and
gravel Thus purified. the water IS per-
mtted TO return again into the earth ano
the sea. OF the five towers of silence at
Bombay, one is reserved for the private
use Of the great ejeebhOy family. who
built it, and another for the use OF the
bodies of those who have committed sui
eide or who have died unnatural deaths.
Western opinion concerning this method
Of disposinE of cOrpses is divided some
persons advocating II because Of its IN
doubted sanitary perfection. but most tOT-
eign visitors look upon il with repugnance.
Even the burning Of the dead on open
pyres. as is done by the Hindus, seems
less revolving.
The white towers of themselves sug-
gest nothing half so grewsome as the
serried grave rows of a western cemetery;
the house Of prayer is "a simple platform
open at the sides and rooted over; the
garden is beautiful with the flowers Of
the tropic and the temperate zones; and
there is nothing in the appearance OF the
place to suggest anything unusual
But there is always the whir Of wings
above. q sound which banishes fOTgetful-
ness and insists upon constant conscious
ress Of the purpose Of this dread place
Hundreds of hideOus vultures sit AROUND
the rims Of the towers, forming a living
border of black to the pure white OF the
structures. The trees are alive with the
great, ugly birds, and as far as the eye
can see they are Circling, circllng cir
cling.
When the familiar cortege is seen wind
ing up the long road that leads to the top
of the hill. the vultures circle closer ana
closer. so that when the procession has
arrived within the compound the whole
tribe Of greedy sCavenEers is present The
moment the body carriers deposit the
corpse within and remove the shroud,
there is a mighty rush Of wings and the
swift work of destruction is begun.
Strange and grewsome as It may SEEM
it is even more pronounced when one
drives about the streets Of the city and
sees here and there a marble statue OF
some PaTsee benefdCtOr whose body was
eaten by those very YultureS, Wnen ne
sees at the bank or market or IN the Gu .
q wealthy and educated man, knight OF
England. perhaps, who knows that MS
body will eventually be food for those
same waiting birds
Western poets have glOOmily dweit on
the horrors Of the grave and the ravaSes
of the worm. but time and custom have
softened those dread pictures. The living
do not see the grave worm al MS WORK
but the vulture swoops down upon his
prey in the open light Whatever one
NAV think of the towers of silence and its
company of black-feathered. sharp-beaked
watchers, a visit to the place IS some
thing never to be forgot.
Tomorrow-The Empire of India; XIII
Many Gods and Many Creeds.
SUNDAY EXCURSION TO OGDEN