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Show IMPOSING FUNERAL OF BIRD. j Sparrow Buried by Spaniards witi Military Honors. Remarkable was tho funeral of a sparrow In Cuba which was attended by no fewer than G.OOO soldiers, says tho New York Tribune. Tho Btory ol this singular event is both curious and dramatic. At the commencement ol tho ten years' war tho Spaniards chose tho sparrow asi their emblem, typifying typi-fying the courage and pertinacity with which they Intended to prosecute the war, while the contemptuously spoke of tho enemy I ho natives as "cats." One day In March, ISG9, so runs the story, a Spanish sc Idler saw a cat pounce on a sparrow; ho rushed to tho rescue, disabled tho cat with a blow from his rllle, and took tho dy- I ing bird from its mouth. The tragic event vas reported to tho general commanding the Spanish forces, who promptly gavo orders that the cat should be court-w.rtlaled, and that the spariow should bo interred with military honors. All tho principal princi-pal oirtclals nnd residents of Cuba wore invited to tho funoial, which tho bishop of Solanz was ordered to conduct. con-duct. A bier was prepared, and tho dead bird wa'i placed on a bed of lilies and roses, tho sorrowful tribute of tlio officers' wives, nnd to the sound of mufTled drums, nnd tho tramp of 0,000 following soldiers tho long procession pro-cession wound Its way to tho outskirts out-skirts of Havana, where tho sparrow was laid to rest with full military hon' ors. To ilnd a parallel to this singular homage paid to a bird ono has to go back nearly 2,000 years to tho days of Claudius I., fourth Toman emperor, em-peror, when tho death of a crow plunged all nomo into mourning. For many a year tho bird had been a great favorite of tlio citizens, and its talents and tricks wore a constant topic of conversation. One day, to tho anger avd grief of thousands, tho bird was killed--a crlmo which cost the culprit Ms life anil It was decided de-cided to giv- tho crow a "stato" funeral. fu-neral. Tho dead bird was borne to its gravo by a couplo of slaves, preceded pre-ceded by a ml'Itary '"id playing mournful mu&ic, and behind tho corpso followed thousands of mourners, Including In-cluding tho most highly placed and tho wealthiest of Roman citizens. |