6 'Cbe Conservative *
TUB CONSHRVA-
INCINEKATION.
TIVE is indebted
to Mr. , T. H. Harrison of Davenport ,
Iowa , for a prettily printed and very in
teresting booklet upon cremation in
general and the crematorium at that
city in particular. It contains a good
representation of the building itself
which is architecturally much like the
public library of Nebraska City.
A I'J.BA KOIl CltBMATION.
Why , why consign the faultless form of clay
To pestilent and loathsome , HO\V decay ,
To he n food for worms , and mouldering ,
To poison earth and air and crystal spring ?
Yielding to Nature's law in kindlier way
'Tis thin" to cheat corruption of its prey ,
And yet , true to thy dead and to thy trust ,
Be to thi ) living and the coining just.
Rather with rosy glow and gracious heat
Bo cineration's pious task complete ;
Then , undcflled , will the dear passing frame
Bo waft , as on the golden wings of flame ,
Each during part of unenduring clay ,
Like the freed spirit , rise and float away ,
Leaving , ns the all-wise Creator designed ,
To earth a handful of more cartli refined.
This will accord with Nature's law , love , sense
And duty , 'tis wisdom's way. and hence
Of all man's methods since the world began
Doth best become the cultured state of man.
Then , prejudice away , none ne ds to turn
From the clean ashes in yon sacred urn ,
Th' innoxious fruit of fire's refining art ,
And lone chaste remnant of life's human part.
"Why hide or Reason's or Affection's eyes ?
The grave pollutes the furnace purifies.
J. H. H. . in The Urn.
"There is no tyrant like custom , and no free
dom where its edicts are not resisted. " Bovee.
"Wisdom instructs us to examine , compare ,
and rightly to value the objects that court our
affections and challenge our cares. ' ' Isaac
Barrow.
In these days of educational and in
tellectual advancement , intelligent men
and women are
The Introduction.
awaking to a re
alizing sense of the thrall whereby a
hoary and imperious custom enslaves
them , and to the fact that duty , both to
the dead and to the living , justifies , nay ,
demands , at least some investigation
and comparison for a system which
broadly claims to be more reverent ,
cleanly , sensible , and kind than the one
in vogue , and which is endorsed by
many and eminent persons of education
and refinement.
Inquires come to us from far and near ,
and this booklet is intended to be help
ful in answering those of most usual
expression , while giving a brief descrip
tive account of the Davenport Crema
torium , and of incineration as perform
ed there , with merely an outline of
argument.
The disposal of the perishable remains
of the human dead is ever a sad and im
perative necessity
The Argument.
which devolves up
on the living , and this responsibility is
peremptory in its demand.
"For when the course of life complete is run
That moment dissolution is begun. "
It is manifestly incumbent , then , in
this age of intelligent thought , in the
presence of our love and veneration for
the sacred dead , and of a bounden obli
gation to civilization , to consider whether
this dueness and decorum will be best
discharged by yielding to the tyranny of
custom or to the guidance of reason.
The resolving of the inanimate body
nto its elementary atoms , despite the
unwise and mistaken efforts of man to
defeat it , is one of the verties of fate ,
the finality of an inherent natural law ,
a sure , unchangeable decree ; and
whether accomplished in an hour , in the
rosy-hued retort , or in a long series of
years , in the dark , dark , depths of the
grave , the end achieved is the same ;
that is to say , the ultimate remains of
the human form is a handful of ashes.
One process "cheats corruption of its
prey , " is kindly , clean , and prompt ;
bho other , though hidden and unheeded ,
is lingering , slow , and dire decay a
pestilence prolonged.
As advocated by every increasing
numbers , and as practiced today in
Davenport , and in many other cities of
the United States , and abroad , offers a
ratioml , reverent , and offenseless
method , consistent with the tenderest
sentiments of human love , with the just
and reasonable requirements of sanitary
science , and with the higher culture
and wisdom of the time.
To encourage and to satisfy a growing
demand for this better plan , associations
have been formed , and at convenient
centers buildings of artistic and appro
priate design have been and are being
constructed , having every appliance re
quisite to adapt them for their solemn
use.
use.The
The Davenport Crematorium is one of
these , and since its completion and
first incineration ,
The Davenport . . , .
Crematorium. m 1891 , it has
abundantly veri
fied its usefulness and admirable adap
tability for its purpose , having well
served not only the people of this vicin
ity , but patrons , as well , from Chicago ,
Minneapolis , Omaha , Denver , Dnluth ,
Topeka , Sioux Falls , and many other
distant localities. The crematorium ia a
handsome structure of brick , cut stone ,
and terra cotta , in the renaissance style.
It has b , quiet and convenient river view
location , near the western margin of the
city. Its most commodious apartment
is the chapel.
The chapel is a well lighted well pro
portioned , and tastefully frescoed
auditorium , where
The Chapel. . . , , ,
may bo held such
services as accord with the wishes of
patrons. This , with a private waiting
room , adjoining , occupies the entire
upper floor of the main building. In
front of a speaker's stand at the rear is
the catafalque , so arranged that its
draperies obscure the casket , which ,
having been placed thereon by the pall
bearers , is , at the proper and desired
moment , silently lowered by a special
mechanism to the preparation room ,
3olow , where it is enwrapped in a sheet
of white cloth saturated with a solution
of alum , and then placed in a shallow
steel cradle with rollers , and this on a
special movable table , for convenient
transference to the near-by incinerat
ing chamber.
The preparation room is reached by
an easy stairway from the chapel , and
here the friends of
,
Preparation Room. . . . ,
the deceased may
repair to note the decorum always ob
served by attendants , and witness the
depositing of the remains in the heated
chamber. The other apartments are
the furnace and coke room , occupying
a one-story extension back of the build
ing , and a receiving vault or room , in
the basement beneath the chapel.
The incineration is accomplished by
intense heat ( about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit -
„ , , , , . , heit ) , and is aptly
.
The Incineration. , " , , ,
called "ethereal-
ization , " the fire and flame of the fur
nace being beneath and about the retort ,
but never within , never in contact with
the body , as on the ancient funeral pyre.
No gasses or odors escape , no sounds
are heard ; the entire process being
gentle and offenseless ,
1. Order for incineration must be re
ceived at least twenty-four hours in ad
vance. Persons at
Rules and , .
SuBB 8tioiK. a distance may
notify the secre
tary by wire or otherwise , mentioning
route and time of arrival , with in
structions for hearse or undertaker's
wagon , as desired.
2 The casket should bo of wood or
zinc , and is usually reduced with the
remains therein as received. No special
requirement is made with reference to
the body or dress , but metals are liable
to fuse with the ashes , and should as
far as possible , be omitted. Glass plates
and metallic trimmings are taken from
wooden coffins and destroyed. If the
casket is of metal other than zinc , it is
destroyed separately , the remains having
been removed therefrom.
8. In case of death from contagious
or infectious disease , the body is not
taken from the coffin.
4. Cremation may be private , if re
quested when order is given , otherwise
persons who so desire will be admitted
to the preparation room , application
having been made to the secretary in
advance.
5. The chapel is at the disposal of
the relatives and friends of the deceased ,
who may provide for such services and
ceremonies as accord with their wishes ,
and in this matter the secretary will
endeavor to arrange in accordance with
requests of distant patrons.
6. The retort is permitted to cool
slowly. In six to eight hours after the
incineration the ashes , contained in a