000_1882 Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings Vo 1, 2005.120.001

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ONLY ASHES REMAIN --- Cremation of the Body of Frederic A. Henshaw. --- The Crematory at Forest Hills Used for the Second Time - Incineration a Success in Every Respect - Nothing to Offend in the Slighest Degree - Body of Mr. Henshaw's Wife to Be Cremated Today.

[Column 1 of 4] The Romans in the sepulchral chamber near the gate of San Sebastiano in their city, the natives singing their wild, wierd songs and incantations before the ashes of their dead in Hindoostan, the Saxons preparing their beloved friends' remains for their last resting place by incineration in Dresden, the loving mother seeing the body of a dear child lowered from her sight for the last time into the fresh grave in the family lot were not more impressed nor more satisfied with the disposal of the dead than the few relatives and witnesses to the cremation of the body of Frederic A. Henshaw in the new crematory at Forest Hills yesterday afternoon.

The relatives and friends of the man whose body was cremated were satisfied because they knew that his wish, oft expressed in life, and when near death's door, was being carried ourt.

The members of the Massachusetts Cremation Society were satisfied because they had succeeded in accomplishing incineration with no disagreeable features.

No doubt the cremation yesterday con-

[column 3 of 4] verted many doubtful believers to this method of restoring ashes to ashes.

It Was the Second Cremation

in the new stone and brick one-stored crematory in the shadow of the whispering pines just off Walk Hill street in Forest Hills. The first cremation was of the body of Lucy Stone last Saturday.

The crematory now resembles an artistic porter's lodge tucked away in a pine grove.

The chapel is not yet finished, but the crematory proper is built, and has exemplified its use on two occasions.

Mr. Frederic H. Henshaw was born in Attleboro in 1831, and died in Waban Nov. 30, 1893. Services over his remains were held Dec. 2, and the body was taken to the receiving tomb of Mt. Hope cemetery. In this instance the body was embalmed at the time of putting it in the receiving tomb, although such a precaution against the natural dissolution was not necessary.

In the matter of cremation, during life, Mr. Howard. A. Pickering, a lifelong friend of the deceased, and a retired Boston merchant, was invested with power of attorney. Mr. Henshaw was a stockholder in the Massachusetts Cremation Society. Mr. Pickering persuaded the relatives of the late Mr. Henshaw to allow representatives of the press and other interested parties to witness the cremation.

There were present yesterday Dr. James A. Chadwick, president of the society; Dr. Homans, secretary; Treasurer John Richie, Thomas A. Henshaw, Howard A. Pickering, Charles Burrell of Newton, Leonard R. Hodges, Prof. Richards of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Supt. Albert F. Tenney of the crematory, Moses P. Pickering, president of the Theatrical Mechanics' Association of the United States and Canada; Leonared L. Hodges, brother-in-law of Mr. Henshaw; Mrs. A. E. Russell, Mrs. M. P. Pickering, Mrs. L. M. [Column 2 of 4] Ham, Miss Mary B. Comyns and Mr. Charles P. Sanborn.

Messrs. Hobart Ames and W. H. Ames represented the Ames Oil Burner Company of New England, the concern which built the cremating apparatus.

Shortly after high noon the witness

Gathered at the Crematory.

Whether it was the grim fascination of the whole thing or the intense interest in the subject, it is needless to say that all examined the construction of the crematory with a curiosity not associated with the usual ceremonies over the dead.

Back of the retorts the room resembles very much the ordinary steam boiler or fire room in a small factory. There are two retorts or ovens, each 8 feet 6 inches long, 3 feet wide, 30 inches high on the side and 36 inches at the crown of the arch. These retorts are lined with the yellowish white fire bricks. Into these ovens, from three pipes is driven oil, which is transformed into spray before leaving the pipes by tiny propellers.

Connected with each retort is a flue in [Column 4 of 4] the great chimney, which stretches 35 feet skyward above the hearth of the retort. In order to make the crematory a success there must be powerful draughts in those two flues leading up the chimney. The chimney is kept heated during a cremation. In the bottom of each flue below the hearth of each retort is blowed the sprayed oil, ignited the moment it leaves the pipe.

The flames from the three feeding burners on the other side of the retort pass across the hearth of the retort; thence it passes below the hearth and then into the flue of the chimney.

An engine run by ordinary steam power lifts the oil from the well outside into a small glass reservoir above the retorts, whence it gravitates to the ends of the tubes to be sprayed before ignited.

The oil used is the residue of petroleum, after kerosene and the naphtha have been taken out. It

Creates an Intense Heat.

The draught in the chimney is powerful in the extreme, while excess gases escaping from the retorts are burned by the flames from the draught creating burner at the bottom of the flue.

The retort room is finished roughly, since it is not expected that witnesses will care to visit that part of the crematory ordinarily. The south retort was used yesterday.

At 12:26 o'clock the burner in the chimney was started. At 12:41 sprayed oil was ignited in the retort by a torch, and the whirring wheels of the pump, with the rushing of the crimson flames across the hearth warned the spectators that final preparations for the transforming of ashes to ashes were begun.

The flames leaped and danced across the retort until the firebrick glowed with a white heat. At 1:30 o'clock the superintendent declared the retort ready to receive its human offering.

In the room opposite the engine room, perhaps 30 by 15 feet, the mourners and nearest friends of the deceases were gathered. One side of the room is a plain white wall. The opposite side is formed by the front ends of the retorts, the monotony of the white brick relieve, perhaps, by the black iron doors that open into the ovens.

The black draped casket lay on the cloth covered bier. Every head was bowed and hats were removed as four strong men lifted the casket from the bier. Supt. Tenney unlocks the small brass padlock and swings open the iron door. It is 1:41 by Prof. Richards' watch, and the flame have been shut off for 10 minutes in order that the casket shall not be charred as it enters the retort.

The casket is gently slid into place

In the Heated Oven.

A rope is pulled and the inside firebrick door falls. The iron door is slammed again. The brass padlock is snapped and the key is handed to Mr. H. A. Pickering, who sealed the keyhole of the padlock.

[two sketches] [Spanning columns 1 & 2] Caption: THE PEEP-HOLE TO THE RETORT One man looking into peep-hole while 4 others wait their turn

[Sketch: spanning columns 3 & 4] [Caption: THE RECEIVING ROOM] The attendees stand around the casket on the bier. Two women are seated at either end and one man is reading to the group. The iron door of the retort is seen off to the right side.

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[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 covered with a small iron door which swings on a pivot and in this small iron door is a still smaller aperture about three-quarters 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 unpleasant 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 outlined 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 minutes after the casket was put in the oven, the flames from the burners shut off.

It was thought that, perhaps, the cremation 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 together 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 interest 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 believing, doubt can never come again."

Mr. Henshaw came to Boston in 1847, and entered the employ of George W. Chipman, 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' sundries, he spending most of his time in New York until 1871, when he sold out his interest and returned to Boston. He then entered the Mercantile Saving Institution as assistant treasurer, where he remained under the affairs of that institution 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 inquiry. 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 believer in cremation from general principles, and really know nothing about it from a scientific point of view. Public interest has got to be educated to this subject, 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 subscribe. 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 cremated. I subscribed for a share in the corporation, but it does not follow from that that I shall be incinerated. I have purchased 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 Unitarian chuch of Cambridge: "Although I do not expect to die very soon, I certainly favor the idea of cremation and, if arrangements 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 assumed in respect to this method of disposing 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 encountered 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 attempt 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 matter. 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 cremation. 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 , however, 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 encouragement of the cremation movement, such as Bishop Brooks and President Eliot, will put into practice their sentiments and be cremated. As regards myself, I certainly 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 Commonweath ave., one of the vice-presidents o the society, intends to be cremated herself, and is enthusiastically in favor of cremation.

[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 corporation 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 society will become incorporated, and will at once begin the construction of the buildings.

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 stockholders.

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 professes himself, I take it, a cremationist - a believer that the custom of earth burial is a shocking, a loathsome, a perilous, a pestilent thing. It is all that or it is nothing worth opposing. - [Editorial in recent number of the Urn.

ASHES TO ASHES. --- The Body of the Late U.S. Commissioner 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 disposition. The clothes were removed and the remains 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 snowwhite pile of ashes. The hardest portions of the bones remained intact, but one blow from a small silver mallet, kept for the purpose, reduced them to dust.

As soon as taken from the pan the ashes of Commissioner Hallett were placed in an elegant urn, which was carefully sealed and handed over to the relatives, who left for Boston 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 Collateral Offered by George Sellars for $100 - The Money Lender Unable to Levy on the Security

A peculiar phase of human nature is emphasized in a case which is just now occupying the attention of the trustees of Mt. Hope cemetery. The story involves a significant 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 collateral 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. Subsequent events seem to show that the son had not the faculty of adding to the estate bequeathed to him, as, in August of the present year he was endeavoring to raise money, offering, as security, the deed of his parents' grave. The document was regarded as first-class collateral by Charles A. Loud, money lender, of Boston, who advanced $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 specified 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, however, 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 trustees 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' restting 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 possession of the lot and have the bodies removed. How he can succeed in his determination 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 lawyer 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 occupants of the lot

Shall Not Be Disturbed

A telephone message was sent to Chairman 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 inquired 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. Questions 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.

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GRAVES NOT GUARDED BY LAW. --- Herald's Story of the Pledging of a Burial Lot Shows it. --- Officials Claim Present Statutory Restrictions Are Altogether Too LaxStatement from the Man Who Loaned Money to a Son on the Lot in Which His Parents Were Buried.

The story published exclusively in yesterday's HERALD about the pledging by George Sellars of his parents' burial lot in Mt. Hope cemetery as security for a loan of $100 from Money Lender Charles A. Loud has demonstrated the laxity of the law in regard to the transference of the deeds of cemetery lots after the death of the owners.

As the statutes at present stand, there is no legal security againsty such abuses as were detailed in the HERALD'S story.

City Registrar William H. Whitmore, who is custodian of the records of Mt. Hope cemetery and is quite familiar with the case in point, was asked his view of the matter by a HERALD reporter yesterday afternoon, and said:

"As the law requires that all transfers of Mt. Hope cemetery lots shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose in my office, my attention was called by Secretary Rideout to the Sellars-Loud transaction, and I refused to have the transfer recorded without the consent of the board of trustees.

"I regard the deal as outrageous and indecent, and do not think any such transactions should be tolerated.

"The present law on the matter is altogether too lax. Every one will agree that, after a lot has been bought for family burial purposes and has been used for the interment of the owners, it should be recognized by law as a trust property for that purpose and ought not be liable to be sold like merchandise, for debt, or the

Purposes of Unscrupulous Heirs. "Very few people when they die make any mention in their wills of their burial lots. These generally pass to the residuary legatees, and after one or two removes the title is generally befogged to greater or less extent.

"Curious points have come up in regard to this question before, but the law pays very little attention to them.

"It needs a flagrant case like the present one to bring any decided action on the part of the state. The timely bringing to public notice of the point involved by the HERALD's story, will probably result in a proper statute being enacted in which the rights of all parties, including the dead, shall be taken care of.

"In several cases people have allowed friends to be interred in their lots, and after some years the heirs, wishing to dispose of the lot, which in the mean time has increased in value, wish to remove the bodies and sell the lot. This should not be permitted, and it seems entirely wrong to me that burial lots should be considered to have an increased pecuniary value after a number of years, or from some other circumstance, particularly if bodies are buried there.

"It does not require great brains to see the question involved, and the trustees of Mt. Hope cemetery are now in a position to petition the Legislature for an enactment prohibiting the raising of

Loans on Burial Lots. and preventing their transfer to other owners, except by consent of all the heirs.

"It would be different if no bodies are buried in a lot. Then a transfer might easily be allowed under proper conditions; but where interments have been made heirs should hold the lots not in fee, but as trustees. When a proper and legal transfer of a lot has been made, it should be regulated by a police ordinance, that no body should be removed, except under proper suspension and into a proper tomb."

Mr. Charles A. Loud, who advanced the money to Sellars, called at the HERALD office yesterday afternoon, and claimed that his position in the transaction had been inaccurately stated. In the course of his remarks he said:

I never was in Mt. Hope cemetery in my life. I never said I was going to have the bodies now lying in the Sellars lot removed. I never said I was going to contest the matter in the courts, and never proposed to do anything of the kind. I did offer the deed for record, and did not know for two weeks that it had not been recorded. It is not true that I tried to find Mr. Sellars. The money was loaned to him to go to New York. from which place he

wrote me that he should be in Boston during the month of December, but as a matter of precaution I asked to have the transfer recorded. I had not then, nor have I now, any doubt but that the note will be paid. Mr. Morton was not asked to remove the bodies. A mountain has been made out of a molehill, and if I felt at liberty to give to the public the whole facts in the matter the most sensitive upon such matters could have no reason to criticise. Finally, I wish to say that with those who know me and my way of doing buseiness it can do me no harm, and, as for all others, I care not what they say. The

Publication of the Transaction was an outrage both to Mr. Sellars and myself. My interview with Mr. Charles was entirely pleasant and agreeable, as also were my interviews with Mr. Hall and Mr. Rideout, secretary of the board of trustees of Mt. Hope cemetery, the only parties outside my office I ever talked with about the matter. I have repeatedly refused to do the same thing, and only on the most positive assurance and the best of references that the note would be paid, and after two weeks' solicitation, did I consent to advance the money.

Chairman Hall of the Mt. Hope cemetery board of trustees was asked concerning Mr. Loud's denial of having visited the cemetery in regard to the removal of the bodies. He said it was Mr. Loud's clerk who called there, presumably at his employer's request, and had held the conversation reported with Supt. Morton regarding the disinterment of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Sellars.

Secretary Rideout of the board of trustees, in answer to the reporter's inquiry, said that Mr. Loud, unsolicited by him, had shown him the type-written paper signed by George Sellars that he would have the bodies removed within 10 days. This paper, Mr. Loud claims, was given him voluntarily by Sellars.

It was not stated in the HERALD'S story that Mr. Loud intended to test the matter in the courts Aug 7, [18]92

Steps Taken to Widen Mt. Auburn Bridge, A hearing was given at Watertown today by the commissioners of Middlesex County, in regard to the proposed widening of the bridge at Mt. Auburn, which connects Watertown with Cambridge. Improvements already made at Watertown, where the approach to the bridge has been widened to eighty feet, leave the public highway in an unfinished state, unless the bridge is made to correspond in width. The city of Cambridge is in favor of doing whatever may be decided the best plan for beautifying the roadway leading to that city. Various plans have been suggested, but that most favored by the Watertown people will necessitate taking a strip of land from the cemetery from which the bridge gets its name. The Mt. Auburn corporation decidedly objects to this plan. They were represented at the hearing by Judge Almy, who proposed another scheme, which appeared to the Cambridge representative as a feasible one. By adopting this the land damages would be small, it was stated. The bridge as it now stands has outgrown the demands of travel over it. the matter of deciding upon a plan was left unsettled at the hearing.

[Illustration: spanning columns 2,3,4] Caption: NEW CHAPEL AT MT. AUBURN CEMETERY.

The cause of cremation of the bodies of the dead progresses slowly, but surely. The increase in the number of incinerations at the Forest Hills establishment the past year was 50 per cent over previous years. And yet the total number was but 137 out of the upward of 11,000 dead in Boston during the year. Cremation still has to encounter a good deal of unreasonable prejudice, but it remains the most sensible and scientific method of disposing of the dead.

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[Letterhead] CHARLES H. ROYCE, NO. 1 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. CABLE ADDRESS: "ORION, NEW YORK," TELEPHONE NO., 4907 CORTLANDT.

CORPORATE PROPERTIES AND SECURITIES

CEMETERY STOCK AS AN INVESTMENT.

Comparatively few investors are acquainted with the value of Cemetery stocks, as an investment, and many have never even thought of them in this connection. This is not strange, however, since the majority of Cemeteries are owned by Associations, and managed in the interest of the locality where they are situated without any idea of profit, beyond the amount required for the preservation and beautifying of the Cemetery itself; at least this is the case in almost all the small towns and villages. In the larger cities, however, the formation of Cemetery Companies issuing shares, and conducted upon a business basis, is the most usual method. The laws of the State define explicitly the power of these Companies, and they are restricted in such manner as to insure perfect safety to the stockholders.

The usual method is for a few responsible men to organize a Company, and having secured a Charter, to purchase a plot of ground sufficiently large and adapted for the purpose, and proceed to lay out and prepare the same for Cemetery use.

Cemetery lots are sold, usually, at 75 cents to $1.50 and as high as $2.00 per square foot. The average price can be safely estimated at $1.00. As there are 43,560 square feet in one acre, the enormous returns which must accrue to the original stockholder, when the lots are all finally sold, will be readily seen.

It may require 20 or 25 years to dispose of all the lots, but it is a mere question of time, and the final result is the same whether dividends are immediate or not. The stockholder gets the full benefit some time within that period whenever the land is sold. To make the value of stock still clearer, take as an illustration a Cemetery of 100 acres, chartered, and conducted as an investment for a period of 20 years. The result will be approximately as follows :

100 acres original pruchase. 25 [acres] deducted for walks, road, etc. –-- 75 acres available for lots.

75 acres x 43,560 = 3,267,000 square feet x $1.00	$3,267,000
Deduct 1/2 reserved by law as improvement fund	$1,633,500
Profit for stockholders	$1,633,500

Dividing the original investment into 5000 shares (the usual method,) and estimating the cost of the land and necessary improvements at $250,000–or $50.00 per share, we will find that at the end of 20 years, the lots having been all sold and money divided, the stockholders will have received for each share bought as follows :

Net amount to be divided among the stockholders as above is $1,633,500, which is equal to $326.70 for each of the 5000 shares. Taking 100 shares as example, it figures as follows :

100 shares at $326.70		$32,670 00
100 [shares] cost at $50.00 share	$5,000.
Interest on $5,000 at 7 per cent., 20 years	7,000.	$12,000 00
Net profit on each 100 shares		$20,670 00

This is equal to 20 per cent. per annum additional upon the original capital of $5,000. In other words, each original shareholder recieved back his money and an average interest for 20 years of 27 per cent. per annum.

The above estimate is made for a cemetery organized under the laws of New York State, which requires that one-half of the amount received for lots be retained as a permanent fund for the preservation and improvement of the cemetery.

Each State has its own cemetery laws. The estimate is based on a period of 20 years, but if it requires 25 years to dispose of all the lots, the investment would still pay largely in excess of anything that can be found in the market, while at the same time there is an absolute safety as in real estate mortgages.

Under the New York State law all cemetery property is exempt from taxation. With the large annual increase in the population of New York, the number of deaths must increase correspondingly, and the demand for burial lots will be much larger the next ten years, than during the last ten. Most of the old cemeteries are already full, or so nearly so that the price of lots has been advanced to very high figures, and this is turning the attention of the public to the new cemeteeries, and their sales of lots are increasing at a very rapid rate.

In addition to my regular business in Street Railroads, Gas properties, etc., I am making a specialty of these stocks and shall be pleased to furnish further information to anyone wishing to buy or sell them.

Respectfully yours, CHAS. H. ROYCE.

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A RELIC OF THE PAST. --- Practice of Baring the Head at Graves. --- Expressions of Opinion by Doctors and Divines. --- Medical Men Mostly Favor Its Discontinuance. --- A Majority of Clergymen Condemn the Custom. --- Large Tent for Mourners in Mt. Auburn Cemetery.

An effort is now being made by those interested in cemeteries and their conduct to counteract a danger which has become so pronounced of late years as to demand attention--that of standing with head uncovered at a funeral service in inclement weather. This question has been considered before. It is not a new one, by any means, but, heretofore, action has ended with considerations. Now the trustees of Mt. Auburn have taken the matter in hand, and have decided to adopt an idea which they think will produce at least a partial remedy.

There seemed to be a growing impression that some or such remedy should be adopted, or that the custom should be abolished. Doctors, clergymen and others whose attention has been called to the matter are almost unanimous in asserting that such exposure is attented with danger to health and not a few cases have been known to prove fatal. At some funerals the directors have been in the habit of keeping in their carriages all attendants except the immediate members of the families of the deceased, and in some cases, where the weather was extremely inclement, even the latter have been requested not to leave their seats and expose themselves. This plan seemed sensible if not burdened with sentiment, but it could not become entirely popular for the very reason that it places the practical before the consideration of sentiment. Funeral directors have stated that when they attempted such plans, they were exposed to the charge of heartlessness, and that those in whose interests they made the suggestion received it with decided coolness. It is a delicate subject on which to touch. So strong has been, and is, the reverence for people in this part of the country for a funeral service, that is has even influenced legislation, and obtained a legislative enactment providing that any person breaking through a funeral procession shall be fined. Such processions have the right of way on the streets.

The custom of a service at the grave is one which goes back ages and ages. It has been observed in this country ever since its discovery, and is generally followed today, particularly in the smaller towns, where a carriage is generally provided for the clergymen. It is a custom followed by all creeds, Catholic and Protestant, and has found its way into the rituals of many of the fraternal societies, such as the Masons and the Odd Fellows, and the Grand Army of the Republic.

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It voices a sentiment so deep as to be beyond criticism, except so far as it is a danger to others. For the greater portion of the year such a custom might be observed without the slightest danger, and while there are no statistics to show the actual consequences from such exposure, the opnions of many who have attended funerals, that such exposure is dangerous, is supported by the hearty condemnation of the habit by many doctors and professional men who have studied the matter. They claim that consideration for the health of the living is of more importance than the baring of the head out of respect for the dead. The latter, they argue, is not a necessity of the service, and might be dispensed with on a wintry day, when the exposure follows a ride in a close carriage.

In some cases, particularly at a Catholic burial, the attendants are in the habit of kneeling to pray, after having remained uncovered during the lowering of the body and filling of the grave. It is urged by those who demand a reform that devotions under such conditions cannot be entirely free from wordly thoughts, and that the physical discomforts attending such an effort must rob the spirit of the act of much of it that is best.

The plan evolved by the trustees of Mt. Auburn may not entirely alleviate the dangers which are spoken of, but it is believed that it will at least reduce them to a minimum, and the fact that they have introduced scuh a innovation indicates the sentiment of the pbulic on the question. They intend to build several large tents, fashioned in such a manner that a line of carriages can drive in at one endtrance and out through an exit on the opposite side of the tent, stopping under the tent to deposit the passengers. These tents will hold all the way from 50 to 500 persons, and in them it is intended to hold the services. They will not be ideal places for such services, but there can be little doubt that they will be at least an improvement on the plan of standing without any protection from the elements. After the service the undertakers will take charge of the internment of the body, while the mourners will enter their carriages again without going out into the open air, the carriages driving through the tent a second time and receiving them at the point at which they unloaded them before the service.

An undertaker who has been in the business for more than half a century said to a Herald representative while discussing this point: "It always has been a custom to uncover the head at a funeral service at the grave, regardless of the weather, and I, for one, have always followed it. I cannot say that I personally have felt and bad results from the habit, but I have no doubt it has been injurious to others, and I have frequently advised old people, or those whose health was delicate, against removing their hats. It seemed to me a dangerous habit at certain seasons of the year. The sentiment which appeals to such reverence is certainly a commendable one, yet I have always been of the opinion that such exposure is dangerous, and really unnecessary. It is a difficult feeling to overcome, however. It has come down to generations, and is so deeply rooted that even a suggestion of remonstrance is deemed almost an insult. I think in certain seasons of the year it would be wiser to abolish it."

Dr. Durgin, chairman of the board of health, said that he had often considered the matter as a physician and an individual, and believed in some reform. It was not a question, he added, which concerned him as an officer of the health department because people had the right to jeopardize their health if they so desired. As a physician, however, he had often considered the danger to which persons attending funerals and uncovering their heads at the side of the grave on a stormy day, during the burial service, were exposing themselves. He was of the opinion that any plan which would remedy the existing condition of affairs would be a public benefit.

The opinions of a number of clergymen and physicians on this point have been sought by Herald reporters, and their ideas as expressed herein reveal the interest which obtains in this matter. --- DOCTORS DECLARE IT FOLLY. --- Would Like to See the Custom of Bare Heads Done Away With.

At least 30 prominent physicians of Boston have expressed themselves as decidedly opposed to the custom of baring the head at burial services. A few believe that the practice is not attended with enough hygienic danger to warrant a change.

Dr. George H. Earl of 18 Huntington avenue is of opinion that there is as much impropriety in uncovering the head at an open air burial service as there would be in uncovering the feet. "A man's head," said he, "is always warmly protected outdoors. To bare it in the rain or in the cold east winds of this part of the country is absurd and altogether unccecessary. I think our funeral etiquette is a relic of barbarism anyway, and should be discopntinued. To expose a dead body to the gaze of the public, to march or ride in procesion behind it through the streets, and, finally, to stand bareheaded beside the grave in which it is laid should not be considered right. But a memorial ser-

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vice in a church or hall is decidedly appropriate. It is a perfectly safe and beautiful way in which to pay repect to the memory of the dead."

Dr. W.L. Richardson of the Harvard medical school was brief and to the point in his answer to the general quetion. He said: "I don't go to funerals."

"A feeble person," Dr. George F. Harding, 139 Beacon street, remarked, "is sometimes subjected to a good deal of danger when he stands bareheaded at a grave. But there is reason for believing that he is always liable to take cold - for instance, at an open window. People take cold anyway, and I think it isn't exactly fair to lay all the danger to the custom of removing the hat at a funeral ceremony. There is less hope that that expression of respect will be done away with than that the custom of bowing and raising the hat to a lady on the street will go out of use. I should say that the risk is caused by removing the hat at a grave is not serious enough to warrant a change of the present form of respect to the dead."

Dr. Bender, at the Exeter chambers, is of the opinion that every man should be his own judge of the amount of danger he might incur by keeping his hat off at a burial ceremony. "If a man is susceptible to a chill," said Dr. Bender, "he should be careful. When the weather is inclement, I touch my hat, but do not expose my head. There is no doubt that many serious illnesses, and, occasionally, deaths, are cause by uncovering the head at a grave. But the custom cannot go out in this country, I think, although it may not be strictly adhere to in inclement weather. In France, Spain, and the French settlements in Canada the custom is fast rooted. In Paris people raise their hats whenever a funeral procession passes. The habit, you see, is timehonored and universal."

"If," said Dr. Frederick F. Moore of Huntington avenue, formerly house surgeon of the Massachusetts General Hospital, "if men would keep their hats on at the next prominent public funeral the precedent would help people hereabouts to break away from custom. It is all a matter of habit, this particular expresion of respect for the dead, and, of course, the form will not change at once. Hygienically, it is attended with danger, which is great or little according to the health of the individual. I am opposed to bare heads at the grave."

The gist of what Dr. R.W. Greenleaf of Boylston street said is that he is opposed to the present custom. Passive people, standing bareheaded around a grave, are most likely to catch cold. The officiating clergymen and others who are moving about or are under excitement are naturally not as susceptible. A black skull cap, like a smoking cap, such as old ministers sometimes wear in the pulpit, might be worn at a ceremony beside the grave. The cap is light, convenient and cheap, and might come into general use. It would be as distictive as black gloves. Dr. Greenleaf is very much opposed to the present custom of uncovering the head.

Dr. Noble H. Hill of 35 Huntington avenue said: "In a case where a person is of feeble health or aged or thinks he would endanger his body by cold, he would do well to touch his hat instead of removing it. In all weather there is more or less liability to cold when a man's head is bared, and beside a grave there is a good deal - enough, as a rule, to warrant a change of the present way of expressing respect. In a case of burial in a cold tomb, a person would do well to be warmly clothed or else stay away."

Dr. David W. Cheever of 557 Boylston street is strongly opposed to the practice of baring the head. He is one of the directors of Mt. Auburn cemetery, and said, in substance: "Of course, I am opposed to bare heads around a grave. The custom of taking off the hat is attended with considerable danger in inclement weather, and persons of weak constitutions are always thus liable to take cold. But there is a remedy for the practice, whereby people are now to be protected, at least at ceremonies in Mt. Auburn cemetery. Tents are to be used there; perhaps they have been used already."

Inquiry at the office of the Mt/. Auburn directors, No. 5 Tremont street, elicited the information that within two months the board of directors adopted the tent plan. One tent has been used several times, and has given entire satisfaction. The tent is large enough to cover the burial lot, and has a door on the roadside, to which carriages drive up. The mourners are thus kept under cover during the whole ceremony. There will soon be tents to hold 50 and as many as 150, and a small fee of $5 is now charged to meet expenses of repairs and help to provide for new stock. It is believed that the tent plan will soon become general on account of its cheapness and value as a safeguard. --- CLERGYMEN'S COMMENTS VARY. --- Majority of Them, However, Think the Custom Should Cease to Exist.

A score or more of prominent clergymen of various denominations were approached on the subject, and the following expressions of opinion were secured:

Rev. Smith Baker of the Maverick Congregational Church, East Boston, said: "It seems to be a most proper

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mark of respect that the head should be uncovered during the services at the grave, unless special conditions of the weather should render it impracticable. I have known almost no cases of injury from the common practice. One way to be safe is for the gentlemen to provide themselves with skull caps, and then the hat can be removed with no peril."

Rev. Edward E. Clexton of St. Augistine's Roman Catholic Church of South Boston said: "For myself, I would be glad to see the practice abandoned. I believe that many severe colds and pneumonia cases are contracted by people standing with heads uncovered at cemeteries. I do not think that respect should go so far that a man who leaves a very warm room and goes into freezing air, with only the same amount of clothing that he has been wearing there, will very naturally contract a very severe cold. And soto stand in the open air, with head uncovered, when a person has not been accustomed to it, will surely be very injurious to life and health."

Rev. James DeNormandie of the Eliot Square Church, Unitarian, says: "My anxiety is often aroused abouth the exposure of persons attending funerals on days of cold and storm, and yet, in all my experience, I cannot recall that any serious results have been traced to these occasions. Customs vary in an infinite degree, but with us there is a prompting of respect and reverance one can hardly resist to uncover the head in worship, or as we stand by the open grave about to reeive a loved form. I have frequently asked persons not to do so, and promised to be careful myself, and yet, at the last moment, we have all yielded to a stronger suggestion. If it b for a brief moment during the prayer of the committal service or the benediction, perhaps so harm would ever come. The danger is much less than formerly, because so much care is now taken by the thoughtful proprietors of our principal cemeteries to have a floor to stand upon, or even a tent to temper the rigor of the climate.

"But we must remember," continued the clergyman, "that the heart will always take risks, and from its risks we do suffer as in our unexcited moments we sometimes fear. Whe I once remonstrated with a most delicate and even sickly frame against any exposure at the grave, there came the rebuke of love, 'What! Think of myself then!" A kindly provision of nature renders it possible for the body to undergo much neglect when the spirit has rule, and without danger. To remove the risks it is sometimes suggested that the custom of having any service at the grave should be given up, but it seems to be increasing rather than growing less frequent, because there is a fitness in it, often a yearning for just a word of scripture and of prayer, which will keep it from being entirely abandoned. Yet, sometimes silence is more impressive; and let it be not a mere custom, but what the heart prompts."

Rev. L.B. Bates of the Bromfield Methodist Episcopal Church said: "I have been convinced for many years that the custom of standing with heards uncovered at funerals in cemeteries during services of more or less length is very harmful and sometimes attended with great danger. I think in our climate it is seldom done without causing illness on the part of some. I believe that it is far better to have the service in the church, and if we must have one at the grave, to do so without uncovering the head."

Rev. D.J. O'Farrell of St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church said: "The custom of standing with head unvovered at funerals in cemeteries cannot be called prudent, because it is most dabgerous to health, as a sad experience has proved. Many have gone to funerals, and returned with severe colds, contracted by unnecessary exposure, which have developed into serious ailments, bringing sorrow and death into families. This danger, to be sure, is not so great in summer as in the other seasons, but it is always to be considered, especially by persons of delicate constitutions. If people must go to funerals, I would suggest that tjose in delicate health be not expected to go beyond the church. During the preliminary services of the burial, they should not uncover their heads; they should have their throats protected, and should not kneel on the wet ground. There is no rule or regulation in the ritual of the Catholic church, obliging them to act imprudently in these matters. The Herald, in drawing the attention of the public to these important particulars, deserves much credit."

Rev. Reuben Kidner of St. Anne's Episcopal Church said: "It seems to me a reverent custom, and so far as my experience goes, no harm has ever come from it."

Rev. Frederick Woods of the Saratoga Street Methodist Church, East Boston, said: "It is imprudent and unnecessary to stand with head uncovered at the grave, except in warm weather. I find that the people seeing this, and do not always practice it themselves, not look for it in others. The service at the grave should be very short, and if the weather is cold, the minister might keep