VARITIES.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 994, 1 September 1877, Page 3

VARITIES.

A man in Kentucky was found dead, with several bullet holes in his head, and the astute jury summoned to hold an inquest returned a verdict of “ Death from undue excitement.” Soon Disposed Of. —When an original poem comes in written on both sides of a sheet of paper the editor is happy. It goes to the waste basket under rules that take the place of reading. It is thought that the meanest man on the street nowadays is the fellow who is seen hanging around a band of street musicians near enough to hear the music, but far enough away to avoid the hat. Mr M. D. Conway is the authority of the following anecdote connected with the late Lady Stanley:—“Last year Lady Augusta Stanley’s parrot escaped, and the Dean and a number of the clergy, including the Archbishop, who were with him at the time, went out into the garden to find the bird. The search was in vain for a time, but presently a voice came from the trees above, saying. ‘ Let us pray !’ It was a familiar voice, and Lady Stanley laughed, and the Dean laughed, and finally the whole ecclesiastical group roared, as the parrot cry came again, ‘ Let us pray,’ with unction.” In Italy the hour of interment is graduated by the worldly position of the deceased. The poor are buried in the day-time ; thus the expense of torches is avoided. Illuminated night funerals are reserved for the wealthy and persons of rank. At least, I believe that such is the regulation, though the reverse of this order may be the case. At Naples, I know, the interments in the Composanto Yecchio take place a little before sunset. Shelley said of the I’rotestant Burying Ground at Home that the spot was lovely enough to make one in love with death. Nobody would dream of saying that about the Composanto at Naples—a parallelogram of several hundred feet, inclosed on three sides by a high wall and on the fourth by an arcade. In this dreary space, approached through a dismal avenue of cypresses, are three hundred and sixty-six deep pits, one of which is opened each evening to receive the dead of that day, and then sealed up—one pit lor each day of the year. I fancy that the extra pit must be for leap year. Only the poorest persons, paupers, and waifs are buried here, if it can be called buried. The body is usually left unattended at the arcade, to await its turn. There is a curious burial custom at Munich. The law requires that every man, woman, and child who dies within city limits shall lie in state for three days in the Lcichenhaus (deadhouse) of the Gottesackc, the southern cemetery, outside the Bundling Gate. This is to prevent any chance of premature burial, an instance of which many years gave rise to this provision. The Leichenhaus is comprised of three largo chambers or salons, in which the dead are placed upon raised couches and surrounded by flowers. A series of wide windows upon the arcade affords the public an unobstructed view of the interior. The spectacle is not so repellant as one might anticipate. The neatlykept, well-lighted rooms, the profusion of flowers, and the scrupulous propriety which prevails in all the arrangements make the thing as little terrible as possible. On the Sunday of our visit to the Gettesackcr the place was unusually full of bodies awaiting interment—old men and women, young girls and infants. Some were like exquisite statues, others like wax figures, and all piteous. Attached to the hand of each adult was a string of wire connected with a bell in the custodian’s apartment. It would be difficult to imagine a more startling sound than would be the sudden tingling of one of those same bells “ Atlantic Monthly.”