000_1882 Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings Vo 1, 2005.120.001

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HOUSE . . . . No. 313.

[House, No. 274, as ordered to a third reading.]

----- Commonwealth of Massachusetts. ----- In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-five. -----

AN ACT

Authorizing the formation of Corporations for the Purpose of Cremating the Bodies of the Dead.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1 SECTION 1. Any five or more persons may 2 associate themselves together in the manner pre2 scribed by chapter one hundred and six of the 4 Public Statutes, with a capital of not less than 5 six thousand nor more than fifty thousand dol6 lars, for the purpose of providing the necessary 7 appliances and facilities for the proper disposal 8 by incineration of the bodies of the dead; and 9 corporations so established shall have the same 10 powers and privileges, and be subject to the same 11 duties, liabilities and restrictions as other corpo12 rations established under said chapter, except as 13 hereinafter provided. The par value of shares in 14 the capital stock of corporations organized under 15 the provisions of this act shall be not less than 16 ten nor more than one hundred dollars.

1 SECT. 2. Every such corporation may acquire 2 by gift, devise or purchase, and hold in fee sim3 ple, so much real estate, not exceeding in value 4 fifty thousand dollars, as may be necessary for 5 carrying out the objects connected with and ap6 propriate to the purpose of said corporation, and 7 situated in such place as the state board of 8 health, lunacy and charity may determine to be

9 suitable for said objects and purposes. No build10 ing shall be erected, occupied or used by such 11 corporation until the location and plans thereof, 12 with all details of construction, have been sub13 mitted to, and approved by, said board or some14 person designated by it to examine them.

1 SECT. 3. Every such corporation may make 2 by-laws and regulations consistent with law, and 3 subject to the approval of said state board, for 4 the reception and cremation of bodies deceased 5 persons, and for the disposition of the ashes 6 remaining therefrom, and shall carry on all its 7 business in accordance with such regulations as 8 said board shall from time to time establish and 9 furnish in writing to the clerk of the corporation, 10 and for each violation of said regulations it shall 11 forfeit not less than twenty nor more that five 12 hundred dollars.

1 SECT. 4. No body of a deceased person shall 2 be cremated within forty-eight hours of decease, 3 unless death was occasioned by contagious or 4 infectious disease; and no body shall be received 5 or cremated by said corporation until its officers 6 have received the certificate or burial permit 7 required by law before burial, together with a cer8 tificate from the medical examiner of the district 9 within which the death occurred, that he has 10 viewed the body and made personal inquiry into 11 the cause and manner of death, and is of opinion 12 that no further examination nor judicial inquiry 13 concerning the same is necessary. For such 14 view, inquiry and certificate he shall receive the 15 fees prescribed by section nine of chapter twenty16 six of the Public Statutes, for a view without an 17 autopsy by examiners in counties other than 18 Suffolk County. Medical examiners within their 19 respective districts shall make such view and in20 qairy upon application therefor and payment or 21 tender of said fees.

1 SECT. 5. This act shall take effect upon its 2 passage.

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A NEW CREMATORY.

Elaborate Plans for a Chapel and Furnace in Philadelphia.

[SPECIAL DESPATCH TO THE EVENING RECORD.]

PHILADELPHIA, PENN., July 10. - It is announced, today, that a crematory to cost $40,000, and to be situated within ample grounds in this city, is soon to be erected. The scheme is in the hands of a stock company, of which Dr. Berthold Troutman is president, and sufficient money has been subscribed to insure the success of the plan. Eleven acres of ground near Manayunk have been secured, and the plans for the buildings are now being drawn. These plans contemplate a chapel after the Greek style, the pilasters, bases and columns to be of granite, and the walls of brick. The roof will be surmounted by a cupola, and both covered with copper. The building will be 100 feet by 80. The cupola will be surmounted by an angel of Peace 15 feet high of solid bronze. Within the walls of this beautiful structure will be a chapel. The catafalque upon which the coffin will rest during the ceremonies will be so arranged that when the services are over it can be lowered to the floor beneath, upon which will be the crematory furnace. Upon the chapel floor there will be a chamber for the reception of the dead, and in order that the relatives may be convinced that life is really extinct the apartment will be provided with electrical appliances so that the slightest movement in the coffin will sound on alarm to the watchman. Here corpses may remain for three days, if thought necessary. Within the chapel there will be 10,000 places of sepulchre for the ashes of the cremated. The grounds will be laid out in keeping with the buildings which are to be erected, and there will be lots laid off for the burial of the dead as in other cemeteries, so that those who dislike the idea of cremation may bury their friends in the orthodox way. A large number of influential men are interested in the scheme.

Opposed to Cremation.

BUFFALO, N. Y., Nov. 2.- The project for the incineration of dead bodies which, by the erection of a crematory, is soon to be tested in this locality, is meeting with considerable opposition. Bishop Coxe preached in St. John's Church last evening to a very large congregation on the subject of "Christian Burial," giving his views in opposition to cremation. His text was St. John's description of the burial of Christ. He claimed that incineration was repugnant to Christian civilization.

DISPOSING OF THE DEAD.

The attention of the Strand board of guardians, London, was drawn at a recent meeting to the "entirely new method of disposing of the dead," with regard to which Mr. Pratt of Tavistock square, Covent Garden, recently invited the opinion of that board. Mr. Pratt suggested that Reculvers churchyard, Herne Bay, should be reclaimed, and used as a burial ground, that bodies should be placed in deal or wood coffins, enclosed in concrete blocks, which should be placed near the shore at low water upon a level bed, and secured at the top until a wall was formed. The blocks being heavy could not be washed away, but would, in course of time form a good sea wall and prevent the sea making inroads, as at present. This novel proposition has created a great deal of comment and referring to what occurred at the meeting of the guardians, when the letter was first brought up, Mr. Dart last night expressed the opinion that Mr. Pratt had not been properly treated by the board. The proposition, he said, was not so ridiculous as it seemed. The letter was written in a confidential manner, and for it to be made public, as it was, was rather trying to any man. Several members ridiculed the idea of constructing a sea wall of such material, and Mr. Dart was unable to induce the board to give the matter a more favorable consideration than on the last occasion.

1:6:8046. Patrick Donnelly vs. Boston Catholic Cemetery Association. The plaintiff in this action alleges that he is the owner of a burial lot in the cemetery of the defendant association, in which was buried the bodies of his father and child; that the defendant, by its servants, entered upon the lot, dug up the soil and placed another dead body over the remains of his father and child. He seeks to recover damages for the trespass. The defence is a general denial of liability. On trial. J. L. Eldridge for the plaintiff, and C. L. B. Whitney for the defence.

Suffolk, Jan. 9, 1887.

MOUNT AUBURN,

as hinted above, is the pioneer cemetery, on a large scale, of America. Projected early in 1831 by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, at the instance of Dr. Jacob Bigelow, its secretary, for the double purpose of a burial place and as an experimental garden, the sixty acres of Stone's woods, or Sweet Auburn as they were sentimentally designated, lying partly in Cambridge and Watertown, were consecrated in the fall of that year, as Mount Auburn. The success of the experiment was manifest at the outset, and the cemetery so grew in importance that in 1835 it was deemed best by the proprietors to form a separate corporation for its management, and the transfer was amicably made in that year. Since then improvements have been made from time to time. The original driveways and paths were cut irregularly through the thick forest growth to suit the abrupt topography, and the thinning out and pruning of the trees to admit of burial spots were vigorously pursued, and are even now going on. Being the initial attempt here at landscape gardening, mistakes of course were made which only became apparent in these later days; but they are being remedied as far as they can be without destroying the best primitive effects. In this respect of primeval beauty, Mount Auburn probably still stands the highest in the estimation of the admirers of forestry; while in its works of art and landscape gardening, where the opportunites occur for its exercise, it ranks well with the more modern cemeteries. The tortuous windings of the avenues in the older part, compulsory at the start, and the numerous lakes, still lend a charm to the enclosure; while the newly acquired open land sloping gradually to the south and west is being transformed into lots meeting the new idea so strictly followed in Cincinnatti, where there are no visible boundaries or curbs. In the older portions of the cemetery the iron fences are slowly disappearing, though some of the lot owners yet cling to their original idea of inclosing their plats. In the new portion they are prohibited in the deeds.

In approaching the substantial Egyptian gateway on Mount Auburn street, after a drive past Harvard College, and the Longfellow, Lowell and some other noted residences on the road from Boston, the visitor is struck with the plain solidity of everything pertaining to this city of the dead from an outside point of view. Even upon passing the portal this effect is not lost. The aim of the management seems to be, not a striving for the impossible, but the preservation, so far as it is good, of what Nature has generously provided in the way of foliage, this season so rich in verdure beyond many previous summers. To the right are seen the Sphinx and the fine stone chapel on the hill, while nestling in the intervening valley are some of the most elaborate above-ground tombs in the cemetery. Here also is an opportunity for floral effects, and they are modestly improved, the flowers being arranged in beds around an artificial pond, in the centre of which a fountain plays. In the chapel are the finely executed statues of Joseph Story, John Winthrop, John Adams and James Otis. But it is useless to select a route where all is so devious. An experienced driver will see that his company passes Indian ridge near the Longfellow lot, the receiving tomb with its 240 receptacles built into the bank overlooking the lake, the memorial shaft erected by the First Corps of Independent Cadets to its fallen comrades in the war; the Charlotte Cushman monument, and those to Charles Sumner, Rufus Choate, Louis Agassiz, William Ellery Channing, Edward Everett, Nathaniel Bowditch, Abbott Lawrence, Fanny Fern, Margaret Fuller, Johann K. Spurzheim, Fran cis B. Hayes, Harvey Jewell, Jonas Chickering, and Anson Burlingame, the latter overlooking the Alice fountain. These monuments over the resting places of those who bore these honored names are characterized by the best taste, and in some instances uniqueness of their design. Other prominent tombs and monuments are those of Bartholomew Cheever, Otis Norcross, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Dowse, Alvin Adams, William F. Harnden, C. J. F. Binney, T. J. Leland, Colonel John Mountfort, John Lowell, Jr., Gardner Brewer, Hannah Adams, W. H. Knight, Samuel Appleton, J. Foss, N. H. Earle, Henry Oxnard, J. H. Gossler, Elijah Loring, H. S. Chase, Hosea Ballou, W. H. Dutton, Harvey D. Parker, Thatcher Magoun, Solomon Piper, Ichabod Howland, and Paran Stevens. Of the living proprietors who have prominent tombs or monuments in their family names are M. C. Ferris, C. U. Cotting, N. J. Bradlee, David Nevins, General A. P. Martin, Leopold Morse, Thomas Mack, Joseph H. White, Charles Whitney, Henry A. Gane, Charles Amory, John S. Wright, George C. Richardson, Arioch Wentworth, David H. Hitchcock, Knowlton S. Chaffee and Hollis Hunnewell. But further particularization is needless where there is so much

in architecture and sculpture to be viewed in passing. Arriving at Consecration Dell, the scene in 1831, when the grounds were consecrated, may well be imagined when looking up the tree-covered amphitheatre of hills which contained on that day thousands of people, witnessing the ceremonies and listening to the eloquence of Judge Story, one of the founders. Overlooking this dell is the massive granite tower, from whose summit is a magnificent prospect-- Boston in the distance, Cambridge and Harvard College intervening, by which the serpentine Charles River flows, Watertown, Belmont, Arlington, Fresh and Spy Ponds, Medford, Somerville, Bunker Hill, Roxbury, Brookline, Brighton, the distant Blue Hills of Milton, and the Newtons completing the perfect circle. Driving back and out by a varied course, there is more to be seen than has been yet even hinted at.

Boston Transcript.

MT. AUBURN.

To the Editor of the Herald: Perhaps the last place one would look for "red tape" is in the laws governing the management of Mt. Auburn cemetery. The public, doubtless, regard this beautiful "city of the dead" as a coveted resting place for their departed friends, and fondly imagine the care and taste they will lavish upon the adornment of the few feet of ground they call their own. Let them be undeceived; they will do nothing of the kind. The only privileges in owning a lot at Mt. Auburn are entirely post mortem - the right of burial. The relatives who remain can exercise little choice in the memorial that shall mark the spot, an infringement on their liberties only outweighed by the denial of the last sad comfort left to the bereaved.

When Mt. Auburn was hoary with years - a thickly populated city - some of its officers conceived the brilliant idea of transforming it (already filled, as it was, with headstones of every conceivable height) to the more modern pattern adopted, from its foundation, by the younger Spring Grove cemetery of Cincinnati. Fashion decreed that no tablet at the head of a grave should exceed thirty inches; so, very properly, a part of Mt. Auburn was set aside as a landscape lawn, and the restriction regarding headstones was enforced. So far, so good. But absurdity was reached when this restriction was made to cover every unsold lot, surrounded, as they were, by unrestricted lots, rejoicing in the freedom of choice, thus increasing discord rather than uniformity.

It was recently a lady's sad necessity to buy a lot in haste. No mention was made of any restriction on her lot at the time of purchase, and she never heard of it until the deed was received a week after interment. Her keen regret was somewhat assuaged, however, by the encouraging statement in the deed that this restriction was enforced "except by vote of trustees," a clause that seemed to solicit the request for exceptional favors. Let no one be deceived. The deed bears a misrepresentation on the face of it. The "trustees" do not vote that way; they never, never intend to. The lady in question kept within the restriction, a matter of difficulty, as stonecutters have not yet reduced desirable models to the new law, and then she asked that this 30-inch tablet might be properly set, with a granite base of two or three inches, to give appearance of solidity and protection. She presented a petition, with photograph of the stone, to the honorable board of trustees, calling in addition, on each one personally, stating the circumstances of the case, pleading, arguing, entreating for the small favor of three inches extra height in all outdoors, in a lot paid for and owned by herself and can it be believed, after five months' delay, the favor is denied her.

There is some satisfaction to the law-abiding citizen in the observance of every good and sensible rule or regualation, but the injustice of this refusal is apparent in the fact that a stone only 8 feet distant measures over 3 feet in height; one near by, of same height and style as her own, is perched on 10 inches of granite, while other stones on the same path tower to nearly 5 feet, simply because these lots were sold before the restriction was thought of. Another inconsistency, if the desire be uniformity, is that this law covers only stones set at the head of the grave. In the centre of the lot, a memorial can rise nearer the sky; even a vase, or urn, 6 feet tall, can be allowed; but not even an inch of granite to the tablet beneath it.

This is not an isolated instance. Other petitions are refused, other hearts hold a lifelong regret, because they are allowed no rights and privileges in the little spot that represents all that is left on earth of a once happy home. A LOT OWNER Cambridgeport, Mass., Jan. 31, 1888.

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AGAINST CREMATION. Full Text of the Recent Papal Decree Sent to All the Bishops.

The following is a translation of the recent decree of the holy office at Rome prohibiting the practice of cremation.

Several bishops and prudent members of Christ's flock, knowing that certain men possessed of doubtful faith, or belonging to the Masonic sect, strongly contend at the present day for the establishment of the pagan practice of cremation, and found special societies to spread this custom, fear lest the minds of the faithful may be worked upon by their wiles and sophistries so as to lose by degrees esteen and reverence toward the constant Christian usage of burying the bodies of the faithful-a usage hallowed by the solemn rites of the church. In order, therefore, that some fixed rule may be laid down for the faithful to preserve them from the insidious doctrines above mentioned, the supreme congregation of the holy Roman and universal inquisition is asked:

1. Is it lawful to become a member of those societies whose object it is to spread the practice of cremation?

2. Is it lawful to leave orders for the burning of one's own body or that of another?

Their eminences the cardinals-general inquisitors, after grave and mature consideration, answered to the first question, No; and if it is a question of societies in any way connected with Freemasonry, the penalties pronounced against this society are incurred. To the second, No.

When these decisions were referred to our holy father Pope Leo XIII., his holiness approved and confirmed them, and directed them to be communicated to the bishops, in order that they might instruct the faithful upon the detestable abuse of cremation, and might do all in their power to keep the flock intrusted to their charge from such a practice.

Commenting editorially upon the decree, the London Tablet, the leading Roman Catholic newspaper of England, says:

"Earth to earth" is the easiest and simplest way of solving this problem of the dead, but, if it should be proved to be otherwise, or altered conditions should hereafter make cremation seem preferable in the interests of public health, we may be quite sure that the present dicipliniary decree of the holy office will not stand in the way. There is wisdom at Rome to repeal, as well as to enact."

DISPOSING OF CORPSES. Improvements Suggested on Burial and Cremation.

PITTSBURG, Pa., April 13, 1888. Dr. George Hay, a chemist, advances a plan for the disposition of the dead bodies of human beings. He advocates an economic distribution of the remains so that they may return to the elements as soon as possible, if for no other purpose than to furnish a fertilizer. Dr. Hay would pulverize the body with the aid of machinery. He says: "The machines might be so contrived as to break the bones first in pieces the size of a hen egg, next into fragments of the size of a marble, and the mangled and lacerated mass could next be reduced by means of chopping machines and steam power to mincemeat. At this stage we have a homogeneous mixture of the entire body structures in the form of a pulpous mass of raw meat and raw bones. This mass should now be dried thoroughly by means of steam heat at a temperature of 250^o Fahr., or a pressure of 30 pounds to the inch, because, firstly, we wish to reduce the material to a condition convenient for handling, and, secondly, we wish to disinfect it, as no infectious or contagious disease can retain its vitality at this temperature. Once in this condition it would command a good price for the purpose of manure. "Another method is by boiling in close vessels. The oil which would rise to the top may be drawn off to be converted into soap or a lubricant. The residue may by various simple processes be converted into fertilizing material." His final and most brilliant suggestion is the "distillation method." The bodies are to be placed in gas retorts, and in about six hours will be converted into illuminating gas, water, ammonia, tar and animal charcoal. By subsequent distillations, such substances as sulphate of ammonia, aniline colors and carbolic acids may be obtained. It is this process which finds most favor with the writer.

Cremation is making rapid progress in Europe. The Gotha crematory in Germany was opened seven years ago, and it has received 200 bodies. There are 362 crematories in Italy. In Milan there are 6000 members of a single society. In France the topic has been discussed, but the practice is still illegal. A committee of the Belgian chamber has reported favorably upon a petition for a law making cremation optional, and in Austria opinion is about evenly divided for and against this method of disposing of the bodies of the dead.

BURYING THE DEAD.

How Various Asiatic Peoples Dispose of Corpses.

India, although a swarming hive of people, did not impress me as a "country of cemeteries," as did Turkey and Persia, writes Thomas Stevens in the New York Evening Post. This is, of course, owing to the Hindu custom of cremation, and the fact that the burying races form but a small proportion of the population. But as soon as China was reached, the silent cities of the dead come again to the fore, with greater prominence than ever. One stands on the walls of Canton, near the five-storied pagoda, and sees the hills to the north covered with graves. It is the same near any Chinese city. The living occupy the city and the level ground, the dead the hills No corpse is allowed to be buried within the walls of a Chinese city, and without, the vast cemeteries cover the hills, with no fence or other limitation about them. The Chinese family which can afford it, builds a "horse-shoe grave," or bricked vault on the hillside, with the end built up in the horse-shoe form. Poorer people stick their dead in shallow graves, on which a small tablet of wood or stone is put. In some districts of Quang-tung, near the headwaters of the Pe-Kiang river, the cemeteries consist of big jars set in niches of the rocky cliffs of the Mae-ling mountains. As you pass along the foot trails you see the steep rocks above, thickly studded with those big earthen jars, in each of which is a human body in a sitting position.

In the rich alluvial plains, where no uncultivable hills are available for burying the dead, a graveyard resembles very much a white ant village in Africa. The graves are sugar loaf mounds, thickly clustered together. While John Chinaman pays great respect to the dead, he takes care that they do not appropriate much ground that is of value to the living. The cemetery of a Chinese village among the rich rice fields, covers very little ground in proportion to the number of graves. It seemed to me that bodies must have been placed one on top of another, or stood upright, so thick were the tapering mounds. The Chinese graveyard is on the whole, a less disreputable looking place than the Turkish or Persian; yet the horseshoe vaults are sometimes seen in a very dilapidated condition. When passing through them I have frequently peeped in and seen the crumbling coffin and the skeleton.

In some parts of China one seems to be travelling through cemeteries most of the time. Particularly is this the case in thickly populated districts, where the topography is undulating plain. The ridges, where the soil is thin, are then the cemeteries, and a rigid spirit of economy has relegated the alignment of the public roads there, too rather than through the fields. In such a district the traveller is in the company of the dead all day long. Among some of the aborigines of China their cemetery is a bamboo grove. The dead, swathed in matting, are lashed in an upright position to the stems. Here they remain until the ravages of time, birds, insects, and the elements have reduced them to skeletons, when the bones are washed in hot water and buried. These people tie up the male bodies in one grave and the female in another.

The Japanese, in the matter of cemeteries, as in so many other things are more in consonance with our ideas than any other Asiatics. The cemetery is usually inclosed with a neat wall or fence, and, like the houses and gardens and everything else in that country, is often a work of art. The graves are miniature flower beds, and one sees there marvellous stunted trees, trimmed into fanciful shapes, quaint bits of rock, shells and other adornments. From the sea of Marmora to the gulf of Pichili, all across broad Asia, the western eye is offended by the bald obtrusiveness of the millions that have gone before, but the Japanese have learned, like us, to cover them up with flowers and fence them in.

LONGFELLOW's OLDEST SON.

His Body Cremated at Germantown, Pa., Yesterday.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., April 17, 1893. The remains of Charles Longfellow, eldest son of the deceased poet, who died at Cambridge, Mass., last Thursday, were cremated at Germantown, Pa., this afternoon. The body was placed in the retort at noon, and the ashes will be taken out at 6 o'clock this evening and probably sent to Cambridge for interment tomorrow or Wednesday, final disposition not having yet been determined. There were no services at the crematory, and R.H. Dana of Boston alone witnessed the incineration.

Graveyards in Cities. I wonder that our people manifest such indifference to the existence of burial grounds in our cities' centres. I hear today that a suit has been brought in the Supreme Court, Brooklyn, against the trustees of Greenwood cemetery, in that city, that bids fair to cause considerable excitement among those who reside in the immediate vicinity of the big graveyard. It seems that one Martin Kennedy, a gardener, in the employ of James Weir, Jr., a florist, who keeps a large establishment opposite the main entrance of the cemetery on Fifth avenue, has brought suit for $20,000 damages against the trustees of Greenwood cemetery. Kennedy has been employed by Mr. Weir for some 15 years, and is engaged chiefly between the months of June and November in caring for and beautifying the graves of those who have not been forgotten by their relatives. He was steadily employed at this work all last summer, but toward the latter part was obliged to stop work occasionally for a day or two at a time owing to illness that at first puzzled his physician. Finally, in the early part of November, he was completely prostrated, and then Dr. James McManus informed him that it was a severe attack of lead poisoning. There was a heavy incrustation on his lips and mouth, extreme sallowness of the face and distressing weakness, especially in the wrists. Kennedy could not leave his bed for three months, and since then he has not been able to work steadily. Dr. McManus says it is very doubtful if Kennedy, who is over 50 years of age, will recover entirely.

In the complaint served upon the Greenwood Cemetery Corporation it is claimed that the blood poisoning resulted from Kennedy drinking water from a hydrant in the cemetery without knowing the poisonous nature of it, or being warned that such was the case. James Taylor, attorney for the plaintiff, when questioned by a reporter in regard to the case, said he was satisfied that it was one in which a good round sum of money would be awarded as damages by a jury. He said that early last spring the cemetery authorities had sunk a well in the grounds so as to save the payment of water taxes to the city. Early in the summer, several of the men employed in the cemetery were made seriously ill by drinking this water. Arrangements were then made by which the employees were supplied with water from the city reservoir, but none was given to gardeners employed by the florists in the cemetery, who were compelled to continue using the well water.

"How was the water poisoned?" replied Lawyer Taylor, in response to a question to that effect. "Why, that is a very easy quest on to answer. The singular part of it is that the cemetery authorities permitted such a condition of affairs. During the past 50 years, close on to 250,000 bodies have been buried in Greenwood cemetery, all of them in coffins in the composition of which lead and other metal largely entered. This, with the natural decay of the bodies in these coffins, has so poisoned the comparatively small area of land comprised in the cemetery that to expect water taken from a well sunk in the midst of disease-laden earth to be healthful and harmless seems to me to be the height of folly."

A resident in the vicinity of the cemetery said: "It is no wonder the corporation is anxious to keep the fact of this suit a secret. During the past 10 years there has been a large increase in the number of residents in its immediate neighborhood, and a growing feeling that the cemetery should be removed beyond the city line in the same way that other cemeteries have had to give way to the rapid growth of the city. It is only 30 years since there was a burial ground in Nassau street, near Jay; on Canton street, near Myrtle avenue, and other points in the city. In addition to these almost every church had its burial place attached. This has all been changed, however, and now Greenwood is about the only large cemetery within the city limits where interments are still permitted."

There is no doubt that there will be a fierce contest on this subject within a year or two, and this suit may be the entering wedge. It will be a lively fight, as the cemetery will have on their side many influential families of New York city and other places who are not at all interested in the health and improvement of Brooklyn. The Greenwood authorities claim that if Kennedy's illness was caused by drinking water in the cemetery it was his own fault. They also say that the wells were driven to save the expense of paying the city for the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water required to keep the small lakes replenished and to water the acres of grass plats and miles of roads and walks within the enclosure. It is further estimated that these wells are 50 feet deep, and that the only unpleasant quality of the water is that there is too much lime in it. For this reason it was unpalatable to the employes of the cemetery, and they were supplied with water from the city pipes. The fact is, New York and Brooklyn's live citizens ought not to be bothered by the dead ones. No cemetery should be allowed in city limits.

[Boston] Globe, Oct 1, [188]?

6

Consecration of Mount Auburn.

Just 56 years ago to-day, the 24th of September, 1831, Mount Auburn was set apart and consecrated as a place of burial for the dead. I remember the day as if it were but yesterday, as one of the lovliest of those bright and beautiful days which give to a New England Autumn an almost unearthly character, and when we feel that it is a blessing to live. The atmosphere was all purity and fragrance and the showers of the preceding night combined to make the day one of the most delightful ever experienced. The trees, not yet divested of their foliage, were beginning to show those rich and varied colors that indicate the decline of the year. The leaves of the maple were yellow and crimson; the oaks a sober brown; the ash the mellow purple, and the pines boasting of the everlasting green. I was then a lad of 18 years, and had been familiar with the spot from my earliest childhood. It was then known as "Sweet Auburn," and was the favorite resort of both old and young for rural excursions. It was a wild and romantic spot, and what is now a city of the dead was the habitation of the field-mouse and the squirrel. What a change has a period of fifty years brought about! The visitor now sees the marble urn and the granite obelisk marking the spots where repose the relics of departed friends and relatives. In its ample bosom now rests the venerable statesman, the beloved pastor, the able jurist, the opulent merchant, the soldier, the philanthropist, and they who were unknown to fame, but whose memories are ever green and sacred to loving friends.

It was of a Saturday aftenoon when the consercrtion services took place, and no one who was present can ever forget the interesting and impressive ceremonies of the time and place. A procession composed of members of the corporation and others, headed by the Brigade Band, entered the grounds through a common set of bars, where now is the imposing gateway of Egyptian architecture, and proceeded to the spot now known as "Consecration Dell," where temporary seats were erected and a stage from the orator and chaplain. The address was by that accomplished scholar and learned jurist, Judge Story, and was full of piety, devotion and pathos; solemn music filled the air, and a thousand voices joined in singing a hymn, and thus closed the ceremonies of the consecration of Mount Auburn, fifty-six years ago, an event that opened a new era in this country in every thing pertaining to our places of burial.

Whoever will look back for a period of fifty years cannot but be struck with the great change that has taken place in relation to the setting apart of suitable grounds for rural cemeteries. Instead of the wild and neglected "burying grounds" which were so common in almost all our country towns, we now see neat and appropriate places set apart as cemeteries, many of them being adorned with trees and shrub bery and neatly enclosed and kept in order. All this change has taken place since the consecration of Mount Auburn, fifty-six years ago to-day, which was the first rural cemetery in the country.

L.

[Printed Letterhead:

ESTABLISHED IN 1808. Factory Broadway

OFFICE OF

N. LIVERMORE & SON,

MANUFACTURERS OF

PURE EXTRA FAMILY AND SHIPPING SOAPS.

Also, Soda and Scouring Soap for Woolen Manufacturers.

Sole Proprietors of the Salicylic Laundry and Toilet Soap.

Cambridgeport, Mass. May 2^d 1888

Mr Farmer

Dear Sir

I enclose the lines refered to when at your office on monday last.

You may not think them worth preserving as they were but the hasty expression of my thoughts on that anniversary day Sept 21^st 1887

Very Truly yours John Livermore

287 Harvard Street Cambridgeport

The most beautiful of the many cemeteries round about is undoubtedly Mt. Auburn, with its winding walks thronged by the tombstones—all the pretty paths named after different flowers—its glorious views across the Charles river: its groves of stately trees and parterres of bright flower, kept so trimly and plously as to render the spot a veritable "garden of death" its galaxy of great names hallowing the air—Longfellow, Story, Winthrop, Adams, Channing, Margaret fuller, Dana. etc.

Edwin Arnold, Letter in Sunday Herald. Nov. 3. [18]89.

7

CREMATION IN EUROPE.

Recent Progress and improvements in incineration.

The following is a resume of the reports of Mr. Wegmann-Ercolani and Prof. Heim to the Zurich Cremation Society:

During the last years cremation has made great progress and spread everywhere in Europe. Italy, where the first move was made for its reintroduction, stands at the head. Cremation is not yet legal there, but simply regulated by royal degree. Every cremation requires, according to the sanitary law of 1879, a special permit from the prefect of the province. Milan is an exception. The society there is made legal by a royal decree. To December, 1885, 606 bodies had been cremated in Italy, of which 89 were at Rome. The reports for 1886 are not yet published, but the number is estimated at over 200. The many Italian cremation societies have formed a union, and often meet in congresses. In Milan they have a museum and a permanent office. The technique of cremation has also very much progressed. After the methods of Brunetti and Polli proved insufficient, three new ones, of equal value, made their appearance. They are the systems of Gorini, Venim and SpascianiMesmer. All reach the same end, at the same time and at the same expense. The system of Venini is preferable to the two others, because it considers more the aesthetic effect, and it takes away the character of an industrial establishment by omitting a chimney. In Spain there are cremation societies at Madrid and Barcelona. There is a large society at Paris, France. A law for cremation passed the French Chamber on March 30, 1886, by a vote to 371 to 174. The city of Paris has caused to be built at the cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise, at its own expense, a fourfold apparatus, in which the corpses (about 4000 a year) which come from the anatomical rooms are to be burned. The system used there is the invention of a Suisse technique, Emil Bourry, who, in a skilful manner, united the superiorities of Slemen and Venini. The same system is to be used at Zurich. There is a large society at Brussels, Belgium. There are societies in all the important cities of Holland, which formed a union. There is a Slemen's apparatus at the new cemetery of Gotha, Germany, and 386 bodies had been cremated there at the end of 1886, 96 of them in that year. Cremation there is still an expensive affair. The taxes to be paid to the city are from 70 to 80 marks (over $18), and with ritual service from 110 to 120 marks, beside the urn. A crematorium is to be built at Hamburg. There are a great many societies in the German empire, of which the one of Berlin is the most important, on account of its large membership and perfect organization. The society publishes a paper, the Flame, for the advancement of cremation at home and abroad. A petition was addressed to the Reichstag, bound in three volumes, containing 30,000 signatures, among them those of 2183 physicians, asking for a law to make cremation legal.

There is also a lively interest in cremation in Denmark. Last year they erected a Venini apparatus at Copenhagen. Sweden has a union spread throughout the state. They have offered a price for a crematorium, and the plan of the architect, V. Carlson, was accepted. The cost is about 50,000 crowns. A lot has been bought at Stockholm, and the building will be begun this year. Last year they also began building a crematorium at Gothenburg. The King is a warm friend of cremation. Austria has also numerous disciples of cremation. They have societies at Vienna, Graz, Trieste, etc. Cremation is not yet legal there. The opposition of the Catholic chuch is too powerful, but the municipality of Buda-Pesth has erected a crematorium.

The society of London built a crematorium some years ago at Woking, but had not used it for some time, because it was said the law did not allow it. But it happened that a physician, whose wife died, had her body cremated on a pyre. He was sued, but acquitted by the courts, because the law did not forbid cremation, nor did the Bible command burying under ground. Since then the society has cremated any one who wised to be cremated after death. The Emperor of Brazil ordered the cremation of every one who died of yellow fever. The society at Zurich, Switzerland, is one of the best organized. The city government and cemetery commission granted it a place for a crematorium and a large piece of ground at the cemetery for mounuments and disposal of ashes. The society kept itself informed of the technical part of cremation, and has sent members to Italy to study the different applications and improvements. The result is that they decided in favor of the Bourry system. It is a great improvement on that of Siemen. Like Siemen, Mr. Bourry allows only heated air to communicate with the body. In both systems the corpse burns directly; no flame is to be seen singing the body, but it burns itself by the abundance of hot oxygen which surrounds it. Bourry uses carbonic acid gas, prepared in a coke regenerator, for heating the crematorium. During the process of cremation he uses, mainly, chimney gasses for heating the air before it touches the corpse, which allows a more economical use of the heat. It is of great advantage that the chimney needs to be only 10 meters high from the base of the cellar, so that it is fully coverd up by

the building. The ashes fall, without being touched, by an almost automatically-working apparatus into the urn. The dissolution of the body does not take place in the dark, unseen and uncontrolled, but the whole action is clear and open. Bourry and Venini place the crematorium, which has the shape of a sarcophagus, and which can be approached from all sides, in the midst of the hall in which the service is to take place. There is a little window on the back of the sarcophagus, through which one can see the process of cremation, which is completed within 1 to 1 ¹/2 hours, without smell or smoke. The process is solemn and beautiful and avoids every unaesthetic manipulation. The crematorium is to be built in the central cemetery, and will contain three rooms, the largest one, 13 meters long, 7 ¹/2 broad and 7 high, will contain the real crematory apparatus, in the shape of a sarcophagus; a smaller one is to hold the gas generator, and the third one is to serve as waiting room for those who wish to see the process of dissolution to the end, and also as a room for the officers and for storing the records. Along the walls of the crematorium are to be niches of marble and slate, intended to place the ashes of the dead in urns. A cover, with the necessary inscription, is the external finish of the enclosure. The expense of the building is about f.25,000 and the apparatus f.8000.

The expenses of a cremation are about f.50 ($10), urn included. The officers of the society are Prof. Heim, City Architect Geiser, Wegmann-Ercolani, Prof. Goll. Col. Oberst Bluntschll, Prof. Schur, advocate, Dr. E. Curti, Prof. Lunge, Schweizer-Lobhard, Muller-Scheer and Boutrey-Seguin. The crematorium will be ready for operation this year.

Rights in a Burial Lot. To the Editor of The Globe:

A widow, owning a choice burial lot at Mt. Auburn cemetery, sold one individual half of it to her brother-in-law, who sold and deeded it to me, both deeds being properly recorded. Now the widow, with whom my relations were very pleasant, has died, and her heirs show a disposition to ignore me and tell me they think I have not much hold upon it, as the bylaws of the corporation state that lots are indivisible, and I will not be recognized in giving orders at the office, etc. Now, have I a legal title to it, and anything the courts will sustain? When about to buy I made inquiries at the office of the cemetery and elsewhere, and was told it was something very often done, buying a burial lot with another in this way, and probably all right and safe enough. L.M.P.

The Public Statues and the bylaws of the corporation provide that "burial lots shall be held indivisible." I have some question in my mind whether that means that lots shall not be cut up smaller or whether the ownership shall remain in the same person who originally buys or his legal heirs. I think "L. M. P." having paid a valuable consideration for the property would have the right to what he had paid for, and have no doubt but that the courts would sustain him. It has been the practice of the corporation not to meddle with quarrels between owners, and they have recognized the first owner as the one to give orders as to burials, etc. PEOPLE'S LAWYER

If cremation becomes general the men who are unable to earn their living may then find it difficult to urn their dead.—[Chicago Post.

THE cremationists do not propose to surrender. It is a good idea that they propose to educate public sentiment in this vicinity up to their theory before spending any more money on a crematory. Previous enterprises of this kind have begun at the other end, and have accordingly failed.

CREMATION. To the Editor of the Post:

Sir—Those who are interested in this matter will remember that a few years ago an unsuccessful attempt was made to form a cremation society in this city. Since my return from Europe many friends have been urging me to try again, and after looking carefully over the field I am of opinion that the time is ripe for a revival of the endeavor. Before taking any definite steps, however, I should like to hear from the members of the late New England Cremation Society, and therefore ask the courtesy of your columns to convey to them, and to others interested in the question, the request that they will communicate with me at their early convenience. If from the letters received I find that, of those in favor of substituting incineration for inhumation, a sufficient number is ready for fresh action, I will call a meeting for the formation of a new society.

JOHN STORER COBB, President N. E. C. S. Boston, Oct. 4, 1890, 77 Boylston street.

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. [image: heraldry seal of the state of Massachusetts] [OFFICIAL.] CHAPTERS 265.

AN ACT authorizing the formation of corporations for the purpese of cremating the bodies of the dead.

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

SECTION 1. Any five or more persons may associate themselves together in the manner prescribed by chapter one hundred and six of the Public Statutes, with a capital of not less than six thousand, nor more than fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of providing the necessary appliances and facilities for the proper disposal by incineration of the bodies of the dead; and corporations so established shall have the same powers and privileges and be subject to the same duties, liabilities and restrictions as other corporations established under said chapter, except as hereinafter provided. The par value of shares in the capital stock of corporations organized under the provisions of this act shall be either ten or fifty dollars.

SECT. 2. Every such corporation may acquire by gift, devise or purchase, and hold in fee simple so much real estate not exceeding in value fifty thousand dollars, as may be necessary for carrying out the objects connected with and appropriate to the purposes of said corporation, and situated in such place as the state board of health, lunacy and charity may determine to be suitable for said objects and purposes. No building shall be erected, occupied or used by such corporation until the location and plans thereof, with all details of construction, have been submitted to and approved by said board or some person designated by it to examine them.

SECT. 3. Every such corporation may make bylaws and regulations consistent with law and subject to the approval of said state board, for the reception and cremation of bodies of deceased persons, and for the disposition of the ashes remaining therefrom, and shall carry on all its business in accordance with such regulations as said board shall from time to time establish and furnish in writing to the clerk of the corporation, and for each violation of said regulations it shall forfeit not less than twenty nor more than five hundred dollars.

SECT. 4. No body of a deceased person shall be cremated within forty-eight hours after decease, unless death was occasioned by contagious or infectious disease; and no body shall be received or cremated by said corporation until its officers have received the certificate or burial permit required by law before burial, together with a certificate from the medical examiner of the district within which the death occurred, that he has viewed the body and made personal inquiry into the cause and manner of death, and is of opinion that no further examination nor judicial inquiry concerning the same is necessary. For such view, inquiry and certificate he shall receive the fees prescribed by section nine of chapter twentysix of the Public Statutes for a view without an autopsy by examiners in counties other than Suffolk County. Medical examiners within their respective districts shall make such view and inquiry upon application therefor and payment or tender of said fees.

SECT. 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Approved May 26, 1885

A CREMATORY FOR BOSTON,

John Storer Cobb Hopes to Revive Interest in Incineration.

There is a likelihood that the subject of incinerating human remains will again come up for general discussion this winter. John Storer Cobb, editor of the Nationalist, has taken the preliminary steps with this end in view by inviting all who are interested in the subject of cremation to communicate with him.

Mr. Cobb has given the matter of reducing bodies to their lowest terms by heat a great deal of attention. He was instrumental in organizing the New York company which built the crematory on Long Island, and in 1883 had a company well started in Boston, when he was called to Europe, and interest in the affair lagged.

Since his return to this city he has been led to believe that another company could be organized without much exertion, and he now seeks to get a concensus of opinion on the question.

His idea is to form, first, an educational association with a view to establishing a sentiment in favor of cremation, and then to organize a stock company with a capital of about $25,000 and erect a crematory on the city or vicinity.

1020 SLEIGH BELLS.

An Item of Expense at the Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Why Was the City Made to Pay $76.50 for Sleigh Bells?

Among the reports submitted to the board of aldermen last Monday was that of the trustees of the Mt. Hope Cemetery. The report, like all department reports, was received and placed on file and it is doubtful if two members of the city council have critically examined it.

One portion of the report referring to the investigation of the department last year, contains a defence of the trustees. It denies that the trustees were derelict in the performance of their duties or that they were deserving of censure. The affairs of the cemetery they claim were honestly and judiciously administered.

This is an interesting statement, and doubtless all good citizens would feel pleased to know

[Image: Large sleigh bell, engraved with "$25", attached to a crooked tombstone.]

that matters were really so. Before accepting this statement as correct, it would be well to inquire what means the item in the detailed account of expenditures:-- Sleigh bells - $76.50

This item has attracted considerable attention. What connection has the affairs of a grave yard with sleigh-bells? Is there a livery stable connected with the cemetery, or are all the employees of the cemetery permitted to keep horses and sleigh-bells at the city's expense?

Seventy-six dollars would purchase a large number of sleigh-bells -- a great deal more than would appear to be necessary in connection with a cemetery.

It has been suggested that the cemetery is filled with spooks, and that they are kept in subjugation by the merry jingle of the bells. No complaint has ever been heard from residents in the vicinity of the Mt. Hope Cemetery as to the place being disturbed by spooks, and when this fact is considered the mystery of the sleigh-bells is greater than ever.

Until this item is explained there will be doubt in the minds of the public that the affairs of the cemetery have been "judiciously" administered. If the money was used to get bells to ornament or to charm the spooks, the public will doubtless admit the extenuating circumstances and forgive the expense.

In the meantime, Messrs. Trustees, speak up; tell just what the bells were for.

What Did They With 1000 Bells?

Mr. Monroe, of Burditt & Williams, 20 Dock sq., who make a specialty of sleigh bells, say that the best kind of bells sell at 67 cents a set, 45 cents to the trade when taken in quantities. This means 113 sets or 678 bells at retail, or 170 sets and 1020 bells, at wholesale. This is for the very best class of bells.