Do you know there are places in the country, including some right here in Washington, DC where the cemetery ISN’T a public gathering spot? Where kids don’t play, and dogs don’t run? That don’t have weekly tours and a sense of adventure and fun?
Yeah, I don’t get it either.
But we’re fortunate enough to have Historic Congressional Cemetery right here in our midst, and it needs our support. So there’s a couple things you can do to help out.
The first is Partners in Preservation, which is a cooperative effort by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express. Twenty-four local venues, all deserving of support and needing some care, compete to see which ones gets a cut of $1 million dollars. District 12, er, I mean, Capitol Hill only has ONE entry, Congressional Cemetery. The losers will all be burned to the ground and plowed under with salt, so we need you to help out. Or maybe they just won’t get the money, it’s unclear.
But how can you help? Well, you know that annoying person who’s linked their Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/MySpace/telegram accounts? So that every time they do something you hear about it six different ways?
Well, unfortunately you gotta kinda be that guy. Head over to the contest’s webpage (it uses an acronym I won’t repeat on a family blog) and register to vote. Vote. Then do it again each and every day until the contest completes itself. There’s a lot of great venues there, which you can read about after you vote for Congressional Cemetery.
“Fine. I’ll play your little game and do your social media blackmail thingy. But you mentioned another way I could support Congressional Cemetery?”
Why yes! I’m glad you asked! There IS another way. This is a cause that, while lacking in say, pressing need, more than makes up by just being awesome.
You see, the grave stones and markers at the cemetery only represent a fraction of those buried there, perhaps half or so. Uncle Joe who’s buried in the family plot because where else would you put him. Way too many children, lost to the tragedy of childhood diseases. And a dude eaten by a tiger.
A tiger? Where was, he, in Africa or something? No, he was right here in Washington, DC. In 1899, the circus came to town, and a young man by the name of Charles Siegert was with them, in charge of the show ponies.
For reasons that died with him, Siegert like to sleep on top of the tiger cage. Then one night, things got not awesome. A leg of the sleeping Siegert slipped through. As the Post reported:
“The beast appears to have put out one great paw through the bars, and with its long, sharp teeth clutched Siegert’s leg. Siegert felt the horrible grip on his leg, realized what had happened, and, as the tiger pulled his leg into the cage, Siegert was dragged over its side.The beast had his calf between its teeth and Siegert’s body caught at the knee of the imprisoned foot and hung full in reach of the tiger. His cries awakened the whole tent and while men ran to his assistance the other animals roared and growled at the uproar. Torches were pushed at the tiger; employees who were familiar with similar accidents got clubs and pushed them hard against the tiger’s nose.He hung on till his own pain caused the grip of his teeth to relax and the instant they did so Siegert was pulled away. His wounds were hastily dressed and the police notified.”
It was too late. Surgeons tried to save him, but it couldn’t be done. The circus moved on, and a local insurance agent graciously offered to pay for the remaining portion of Mr. Siegert to be buried at Congressional Cemetery. But no funds were available for a marker.
And that’s where YOU come in. The Cemetery’s director, Paul Williams, started a Kickstarter campaign to build and design a marker for the unfortunate Mr. Siegert. Think of the possibilities!
Come on folks. The guy got eaten by a tiger. Can we get him a stone?