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Show I GUARDED i'OKGMVE.' 1 CCCCNTfllC UALTIMORE SEXTON ' M IS NO MURE. B IIU Hon. an trrlmny In Mi lmr f lliurcli liiterr.tlitf lleiuli.hr.ae ,,f lh lH.t n. llrt.ilwl br Hi. Olil Un. Ualtlruore Letter Just a little mora .than a half century hu passed since l'dgar Allan I'm, tioet and novelist, wns Inlil to rut In pea. r,il old Wnt-minster Wnt-minster graveyard, perhaps the oldest llurjrlUK Kround In llaltlmore Westminster West-minster wavejrard was In Id nut mora limn ii century and n half ugo and li Iho pruiierty or the Klrat I'n ili terlan 'church In the Maryland metropolis It lorcuplni nearly h hiilf siimr. being Inclosed Willi a substantial stone Hnil 'Iron fence llnlll a few month srii It I v. as guarded day anil night b tieurfte W. gpence sexton, nnd hi faithful log, 'Sailor" ilr Speiiri waa a poui-liar poui-liar nnd eccentric man and, although courteous nnd kindly at all limes. Ihcro were those who hnd n fear of coming In contact with him un nee oust of hlii constnnt nuoilntlon with the dead and the grate) anl, Ills homo for many years limine been In an nrch-way nrch-way of the ctmrih In this nnlioay aro n number of graves, nmle moro than a century ago nnd ocr which tbo present cliunli was built Just why this kindly old man nboto the av-crags av-crags In Intelligence and with wealthy and lnllucntl.il family connections, chose this uncanny place tor his abiding abid-ing place It Is dlttlcult to understand, but possibly the correct solution Is the fact that he was n great ndmlrer of lMgir Allan Too nnd whin tho unhappy un-happy nnd unfortunate poet was laid to rest In n gnlo near the nrcuwny Mr. Hpence thought tho place was good enough to make his home. Upenco never grew tired of talking of l'oc Tho old sexton dlcd'n short tlmo ngn and his faithful do, "Sailor" was given to n gcntli man living n long distance dis-tance from tho graryard. Hut whenever when-ever tho dog ran escapo from homo nt night ho visits tho graveyard nnd will whlna plteouily when ha finds that ho cannot get over tho high iron fence. "Sailor" will allow no ono to touch li I in whlta at the graveyard, nnd when lie finds that ho ennnnt get In will return re-turn to his home According to Sexton i Spcnco, Mr Too was n frequent vis itor to Westminster grave) nn! "Mr. Too would hunt In nftd nut among tho old tombstones and lulls," slid tho sexton, "and ho wns always quiet and gloomy, appearing deep In thought. Especially did ho look at the graves of the Toes, hut he would cvnmlno tho (Inscriptions on nil tho stones, mnnii-tmcnls mnnii-tmcnls nnd vaults' It was only occa- ... TUB r.UTIU'Ul. OLD auXTON. , alonally that ho would ask a question 4 about noma person or dato, 1 always , liked tho great man for ho ' was a .front man and I was pained when 1 hoard of Ids death, which I know noth- ' Ing of until Instructed to prepare tho gravo for tho 0th of October, 1819 1 I will never forget tho day. It was dark i and gloomy, not raining, but damp and raw nnd threatening I got everything In readiness with n sad heart, for I had grown to love tho man. You would uavo been surprised to havo seen that funeral procession. Thera wns only Just tho hearse and ono hack folluw- Ing behind There wasn't a single flower, not ono, sir. In tbo back was the minister, llov. Mr. V. 1. T. Clenini, Judgo Kelson Toe, Henry Herring nnd '. Collins Leo That was v all only four- except the gravo-dlg-" ger and myself. Tho scrtlro at tho T gravo was slmplo and- soon over and L tho gentlenun went away It was about tho saddest-looking funeral sorvlco 1 had cvir witnessed. 1 dcclaro most sacredly that I took as much pains ' with tbo burial of Mr. Poa as 1 ever did t with any, and yet somo busybody started a story In tho papers that Mr. 1'oe had been burled like n dog, and that trouble was not evon taken to have tho coffin placed In nn outs4Ja box, all of which was an untruth, for no ono has over been put away In this placo In that manner. For a long whllo Mr, Poo's gravo was unmarked, li Ono day I picked up a pleco of sand-II sand-II stono with the number 'SO' on It, that It had beep broken off one of the stones K marking tho numbers and divisions of II lots. I put this at tho head ot- Mr. roe's grave, and this was the monii-,'J monii-,'J rnent to tho great poet and author Jo-y Jo-y pearly thirty oars When his mother- In-law, Mrs Clemu, died, she wns bur- I led by tho slilo of Mr, Poe, she having ii made tho request of me during her last In Illness, as well as when aho would l romo hero to visit his grave, whlih alio often did. Mrs Clemm never left with-it with-it cut a sprig or grass or a weed from II Mr. Poo's grave She was devoted to 1 Mr. Poe, and I havo heard her. say, II lly poor Eddie' as the tears rolled (own her thlu cheeks Yes, yes, I II loved Mr. Poe, too, and I was ss happy IB as could be when that monument was ' t ted tj him In 1ST3 H U not a t lie n one ok he deicrn d It wjs I w 10 took tip his hones and thoe of till othe- and pirn cd (hem over there In the northwest corner win re the monument monu-ment Is. What a crowd there wits her on the day the monument was unveiled un-veiled There were eertnon am' speeches, and songs and oceans o( beautiful flowers, and all sorts or doings do-ings but all this waa too late to do poor Mr l'oe any good My friend, he needed these kindly nRerlna white ha lived, but nnwndaa people don't seem to ear ranch about the living and often less about the dead " |