1882 Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings Vo 1 027

14

[Column 1 of 4]

On the other side the engineers,
the Messrs. Ames. have relighted the
burners again, the flames are crackling and
the heat in the retort is nearer 2000^o
Fahrenheit than 1800^o.

Opposite the iron door through which
the coffin was admitted in the engine room
is an aperture in the brick walls about six
inches in diameter. This aperture is cov-
ered with a small iron door which swings
on a pivot and in this small iron door is a
still smaller aperture about three-quar-
ters of an inch in diameter. One after
another the witnesses of the cremation
look through the tiny hole. They can see
the process of cremation as plainly as
though it were before them on a stage.

There is absolutely no odor. Only at the
very first was there any smoke and that
came from the lack of combustion oil
in the chimney. Everything is most neat,
most clean.

A few minutes - not more than 10 - after
the coffin was put in the retort, its wood
work crumbled in, but there was no un-
pleasant revelation. The flesh of the body
had been consumed before the wood, and
the outline of the body could not be traced
with the eye. The white skull, as it lay on
the end of the retort, near the peek-hole
was plainly visible.

As soon as the woodwork of the casket
crumbled, the crackling sound ceased.
The flames raced across and beneath the
retort like mad demons doing work that
years of slow decompostition in the ground
could not accomplish. In half an hour the
white skull had become detached from the
frame and rolled over to the left of the
retort, and yet even, in this sight

There Was Nothing Offensive

to the most delicate tastes of any of the
observers.

From time to time the relatives and
friends peeped in through the aperture
and appeared thoroughly satisfied with the
action of the flames. The frame was out-
lined by the whitened ribs.

The whirring sound contiues. The
friends chat. At 3 o'clock seven ribs stand
straight out of the black mass of crumbling
ashes like so many white pipe stems.
Faster and faster flit the flames. Faster
crumble the fast disappearing remains.
Now and again the engineer turns a valve
or twists a screw and the oil supply is
regulated.

At 3:41, exactly two hours and 10 min-
utes after the casket was put in the oven,
the flames from the burners shut off.

It was thought that, perhaps, the crema-
tion was complete. But a small yellow
light from the ashes showed there was still
fuel to feed the oil flames, so they were
started again. The excelsior in the coffin
burned slowly, as slowly, indeed, as the
woodwork of the coffin. It was the last to
go.

At 4 o'clock the flames leaped from side
to side of the retort but there was no fuel
to feed them now.

At 4:15 the supply of oil was again shut
off, and Prof. Richards, watch in hand,
knew that what remained on the hearth of
the retort, like a thin coating, was a mere
pile of ashes.

In 2 hours and 34 minutes cremation was
complete. No outline of bone was visible,
nothing to suggest a human frame.

The ashes remained in the retort over
night. Today the body of Mrs. Henshaw,
whose funeral was held the day before Mr.
Henshaw died, will be cremated in the
other retort. Their ashes will be removed
from the retorts at the same time, and to-
gether they will be put in a terracotta urn
containing a copper box.

The urn will be bured in the family lot
in Mt. Hope cemetery on Saturday.

The Sentiment of the The Society

is embodied in the words of the prominent
member, who says: "The sincerity of the
men and women who have undertaken the
work must arouse universal confidence.
Many of us are prepared to give our bodies
to be burned when it comes our time to go
and during the intervening years we
should be untiring in our endeavors to in-
terest the unbelievers, and, standing
openly and firmly by our principles, draw
ever-increasing converts to our cause.
Surely, one has only to think seriously of
it in order to believe in it; and, once be-
lieving, doubt can never come again."

Mr. Henshaw came to Boston in 1847,
and entered the employ of George W. Chip-
man, where he remained for nine years,
when the firm of Boyd, Fuller & Co. was
formed, as jobbers of dry goods, he being
the junior partner. In 1860, he formed the
firm of Henshaw, Faulkner & Cushing of
Boston and New York, as importers and
dealers in fancy goods and druggists' sun-
dries, he spending most of his time in New
York until 1871, when he sold out his in-
terest and returned to Boston. He
then entered the Mercantile Saving Insti-
tution as assistant treasurer, where he
remained under the affairs of that institu-
tion were closed by the receivers in 1883,
since which time he has been engaged in
the development of land in Waban, a part
of Newton. For many years he was the clerk
of Theodore Parker's church. He was
always active in the woman's suffragist
cause, in the orders of Sons of Temperance
and Good Templars, and was a member of
Revere lodge of Masons, St. Paul's chapter
and Boston encampment.

[Column 2 of 4]

CREMATIONISTS
---
Who Intend to be Burned Not
So Common.
---
The Cremation Society of this town has a
boom on, if one may speak thus lightly of
favor shown to this movement. But as the
Transcript has been allowed to say in a
merry moment that Boston seemed to be
dying to be cremated, the general assertion
of a boom will not be debated.

The secretary's recent literary venture,
containing a list of officials and several
cogent appeals to outsiders to come in and
prepare to be cremated, prompted some of
The Record's young men to a tour of in-
quiry. What they tried to find out was
whether the patriotism or loyalty of the
already en-rolled cremationists extended to
a desire for the actual demolition of their
bodies by fire after death. They talked
with some of the leading members.

B.S. Ladd, who is one of the directors of
the Massachusetts Cremation Society, said
in talking about the society: "I am a be-
liever in cremation from general princi-
ples, and really know nothing about it
from a scientific point of view. Public
interest has got to be educated to this sub-
ject, as people generally do not want to
break away from the long established
custom of burying the dead. The society,
of course, is not organized for the purpose
of making money, and this might look
funny, when there are stockholders
who do not believe in cremation.
But this may be explained in this
way, that there seems to be a demand for a
crematory and some one has to furnish the
money. The shares are put at the small
figure so that any one who wishes may sub-
scribe. It is just the same as a cemetery
corporation. Some one must furnish the
money. As far as I go myself, personally,
I have no objection to being cremated. I
think that on the whole I would rather be
cremated than to be buried."

President Eliot Says No

President Eliot: "No, I shall not be cre-
mated. I subscribed for a share in the cor-
poration, but it does not follow from that
that I shall be incinerated. I have pur-
chased a lot in a certain burying ground
and shall be interred in the usual manner.
Still, I believe that cremation is a good
ting, especially in time of an epidemic,
and encourage the movement.

Dr. E. H. Hall, pastor of the First Uni-
tarian chuch of Cambridge: "Although I
do not expect to die very soon, I certainly
favor the idea of cremation and, if arrange-
ments are properly made, shall see to it that
I am so cared for. "

Miss Alice Longfellow: "I could not be
other than earnest in the attitude I have as-
sumed in respect to this method of dispos-
ing of the dead, and, concerning myself,
shall endeavor to have my conviction put
into practice."

Dr. John Homans, 2d, of 184 Marlboro
st., said: "So far, we have practically en-
countered no opposition, although the
Catholic Church is set against the idea. In
going about, I have met a few persons who
would not sanction the plan as far as they
were themselves concerned, but did not at-
tempt to decry the movement among
the people who saw good in it.
We really do not expect any opposition
when people come to understand the mat-
ter. Some persons think that in the process
of incineration the flames actually consume
the body, but this notion is erroneous. The
body is not touched by the fire. It is the
intense heat that turns it to ashes.

"Now in regard to who will undergo cre-
mation. I cannot say that the persons who
have subscribed to the stock will all be
cremated, but I know that I will, and have
completed all the arrangements, which , how-
ever, I do not wish to make public."

Dr. Russell Sturgis of 190 Marlboro st.
said: "I have no doubt that the persons
who have lent their names to the en-
couragement of the cremation movement,
such as Bishop Brooks and President Eliot,
will put into practice their sentiments and
be cremated. As regards myself, I cer-
tainly shall be consistent with my ideas on
the subject, and will not attempt to restrain
my relatives."

Martin Brimmer Don't Care.

Martin Brimmer, 47 Beacon str.: "I don't
care a cent whether I am cremated or not."

John Ritchie, 10 Mt. Vernon st.: "Yes
by all means, I expect to be cremated."

Miss Mary P. Comyns of 245 Common-
weath ave., one of the vice-presidents o
the society, intends to be cremated herself,
and is enthusiastically in favor of crema-
tion.

[Column 3 of 4]

The Record also asked if it was possible
to learn how many people had embraced
the doctrine.

But the directors of the society met last
night at President Chadwick's house, 270
Clarendon st., and decided that as the cor-
poration was a stock company, they could
not honorably allow the list of
the members of the society to be
published. The membership is now
260, and includes the best blood of the city.
Eighteen hundred shares at $10 each
have been sold, and are going off very
rapidly. When 2500 shares are sold, the so-
ciety will become incorporated, and will
at once begin the construction of the build-
ings.

The New England Cremation Society
exacts from each of its members a pledge
that he or she will be cremated, and, as
that association has no crematory of its
own, it will probably patronize the furnaces
of the Massachusetts society.

The price of the incineration will probably
be $20 (not including undertaker's charges)
Many Boston undertakers are stockhold-
ers.

The directors decided also that, as far as
they were themselves concerned, they were
a unit for cremation. Concerning the
other members, the following probably
represents the truth:-

In joining a cremation society one pro-
fesses himself, I take it, a cremationist - a
believer that the custom of earth burial is a
shocking, a loathsome, a perilous, a pesti-
lent thing. It is all that or it is nothing
worth opposing. - [Editorial in recent num-
ber of the Urn.

ASHES TO ASHES.
---
The Body of the Late U.S. Com-
missioner Hallett Cremated.
---
TROY, N. Y. , Dec. 17. - The remains of U.S.
Commissioner H. L. Hallett of Savin Hill,
Boston, were incinerated at the Earl crematory
in this city yesterday in the presence of a few
relatives and friends.

The fires which have been burning for
nearly 24 hours had raised the temperature in
the retort to a furnace heat, so that when the
big double doors were slid aside there rushed
out a draught of air so hot that the attendants
could scarcely approach near enough to allow
of their pushing the iron rack and pan into the
opening.

The body was prepared for its final dispo-
sition. The clothes were removed and the re-
mains wrapped in a pure white shroud
of gauzy material and placed on the movable
iron table, on which is the sliding iron rack
through the perforations of which the ashes
sift into a pan underneath. The last sad look
was taken before the remains were rolled from
the chapel to the ante-room of the retort.

The incineration was a success. The body
remained in the retort several hours, when the
pan was drawn out containing only the snow-
white pile of ashes. The hardest portions of
the bones remained intact, but one blow from
a small silver mallet, kept for the purpose, re-
duced them to dust.

As soon as taken from the pan the ashes of
Commissioner Hallett were placed in an ele-
gant urn, which was carefully sealed and
handed over to the relatives, who left for Bos-
ton on the evening train.

PAWNED HIS PARENTS' GRAVES
---
Pledged the Burial Lot of His
Father and Mother.
---
Peculiar Case Before Trustees of Mt.
Hope Cemetery - The Strange Col-
lateral Offered by George Sellars for
$100 - The Money Lender Unable to
Levy on the Security

A peculiar phase of human nature is em-
phasized in a case which is just now occu-
pying the attention of the trustees of Mt.
Hope cemetery. The story involves a sig-
nificant commentary on filial affection and
gratitude, illustrates the limits to which a
man may go in attempting to raise money,
opens up an interesting point in graveyard
property, shows the queer kind of collat-
eral money lenders are willing to accept
for loans, and points out to purchasers of
cemetery lots a problem to be considered
by them as to the perpetual holding of
these receptacles for the bodies of the dead.

[Column 4 of 4]

In 1876 Mrs. Luretta E. Sellars became
the owner of lot number 1251 on Cary
walk, Mt. Hope cemetery. In the course of
time she died and was buried there, as was
her husband. The couple left an only
son, George Sellars, who, by inheritance
became proprietor of the lot as well as of
the other property of his parents. Subse-
quent events seem to show that the son
had not the faculty of adding to the estate
bequeathed to him, as, in August of the pres-
ent year he was endeavoring to raise
money, offering, as security, the deed of his
parents' grave. The document was re-
garded as first-class collateral by Charles
A. Loud, money lender, of Boston, who ad-
vanced $100 on the deed, taking for it
Sellars' note at 60 days for $110, and at the
same time obtaining from him a written
promise to have the bodies of his mother
and father removed within the time speci-
fied in the note.

The 60 days elapsed, and then Mr. Loud
discovered that Sellars' Boston haunts
knew him no more. He had left the city
presumably for New York as he had given
directions where mail would reach him in
the metropolis. Letters sent there, how-
ever, failed to elicit any reply, so, upon the
expiration of the note and several days of
grace, Mr. Loud looked upon the cemetery
lot as his property and applied to the trus-
tees for the transference of the title to him.
Here he met

A Decided Setback.

and if the trustees have their way in the
matter, Mr. Loud will have reason to regret
the $100 advanced upon the old folks' rest-
ting place. The question of transference
came up before the board of trustees at
their November meeting, and they decided
not to recognize the transaction which had
taken place between Sellars and Loud, and
refused to record any transfer of the sort
demanded by the latter gentleman.

The trustees stand upon the ground that
no sale of any lot in Mt. Hope cemetery is
legitimate which is made in violation of
their regulations, one of which stipulates
that no body shall be removed without
their consent. They hold that bodies buried
in the cemetery are in their care, and are
entitled to protection against an outrage
such as the present disinterment would
mean. They know of no place where the
bodies can reinterred except in the
paupers' lot, and they refuse to be party to
an act which would bring indignity upon
the dead.

Meanwhile Mr. Loud proposes to take pos-
session of the lot and have the bodies re-
moved. How he can succeed in his deter-
mination is not quite clear at the present
time. He claims that Mr. Samuel W. Creech,
former chairman of the board of trustees,
informed him that the advancing of a loan
in on that collateral was all right according
to the regulations of the cemetery. He has
called upon Mr. Salem D. Charles, the law-
yer of the present board, who declined to
recognize the propriety or legality of the
transaction, and told him that, so far as the
trustees are concerned, the present occu-
pants of the lot

Shall Not Be Disturbed

A telephone message was sent to Chair-
man Leforrest A. Hall from the cemetery,
stating that Loud had been to the cemetery
and had requested Supt. Morton to remove
the bodies. That official said he could not
comply with the request unless the trustees
permitted him to do so. Then Mr. Loud in-
quired whether an order from Sellars could
secure their disinterment. To this also a
negative answer was given. The money
lender seems to be stuck for the amount
loaned on the lot, as the trustees are going
to oppose his claim to the end, and have no
feat that the court will not sustain their
action.

The case brings forward the point of
what security a lot owner has after death
against the needs or heartlessness of an
impecunious heir. If the trustees can
carry our their intentions some legislation
looking to the protection of the dead in
cases of this kind will be enacted. Ques-
tions of a somewhat similar character have
arisen in other parts of the state.
At present some protection is afforded
in other cemeteries by buyers deeding
their lots back to the cemetery to hold in
trust. The present law on the subject is
defective and needs a remedy. The plan
of making a cemetery lot a trust property,
incapable of transference once a body has
been buried there, seems to be favorably
looked upon as a solution of the difficulty
by those interested in the present case.