Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1910-09-02
palms. with fragrant flowers every
Odd Burial Rites.

where.
Odd Burial Rites.
The governor of Bombay resides al
Malabar point, while further along are
the homes of men high in officialdom
or commerce, occupying every avail
able site in the neighborhood.
The towers, five in number, are OF
whitewashed stone and cement 10
feet in circumference and about tWeh-
ty-five feet high An iron door admlts
the corpse of the Parsee and once
within these walls it is proffered to the
birds of the air. While visiting Mala-
| bar hill and as we were about to leave
the gardens adjoining the Tower OF
! Silence we encountered funeral pro-
cession. Being curious to see just now
they disposed of their dead and not
take our guides say-sO for everything,
dens and as near the towers as they
would permit us. Four carriers OF the
dead came first with bier on their
shoulders, followed by two bearded
men (they only were allowed to enter
the towers These were followed by
twenty-five to thirty mourners ana
friends in pure white robes walking |
two and two, each couple holding a |
handkerchief between them in token
of united grief. The bearers delivered
the corpse to the bearded men at the
entrance to the tower and these carry
it within. The floor of the tower is of
iron grating with three circles where
in the corpses are places. The inner
circle is for children, the next for wo-
men and the outer for men.
The bearded men were lost to view
for only a moment or two Their con-
cluding office within is to remove the
shroud, leaving the body wholly bare.
The iron doors clang as they
emerge. There is mighty whirl of
wings and the corpse is in possession
If hundreds of greedy >vultures. In
ess than an hour not particle of
lesh remains on the bones. The loath-
'ome birds resume their watch from '
he edge of the tower for the next E
omer :
The human skeletons are left with
n the tower to disintegrate by action
# sun and wind, heat and cold. In h
ime the bearded men, gloved, and
With tongs, remove them to a vast :
Tell in the center of the enclosure, C
here, with lapse of time, they turn t
} dust L
Whatever may be claimed in defense e
( the Parsee method Of dealing with f
heir dead, from a sanitary standpoint, n
le custom possesses an aspect grue- r
)me in the extreme. The Hindu's
stem of burning on the river bank
even less repulsive. t.
Bombay from a historical view has
tile to offer the visitor, although she
rs many attractions that would in
rest one for days The public mar Z
It alone is worth a days time. In q
| immense building there are aisles, 81
indreds of feet long, lined with W
uits, vegetables and canned goods
fact everything to eat is displayed
tractively, while adjoining in smaller dc
ildings are thousands of birds of all it
nds and colors, snakes, bears, tigers tn
d all kinds of live wild animals.
We were offered a fine specimen of
er, caught about a month ago, for D.
500. He looked reasonable compar- us
with some of the rubbish carried ha
oard ship since this cruise began. tn
After a two days visit in this most co
'dern. of Indian cities, we boarded a
ecial train for an S40-mile run north
Agra, located about the center of an
liza. of
The weather both going and return Gel
was warm, the thermometer regis
ing 100 degrees in our car at 2
lock in the afternoon, but the nights Dr
re cool, which gave us a rest for IL
next days heat. From our car win an
v the country looks very similar to mo
own, the landscape is rolling with
nerous shade trees. The first few
ldred miles out from Bombay is VII
-ile. but as you go farther north tet
crops are lighter, caused by the tou
er climate and lack of water. If big
Y only had plenty of water this en-
country would be one large gar
. Agra has a population of about L
900 people, most all natives. Dal
ITO be Continued.) io