The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-09-20
sFPULTURE IN CITIEs-wHNT ~ 10
nEa OWE OF THE DEADr

sFPUITURE IN CITIEs-wHAT ~ TO
EtOME OF THE DEADr
Within a few years past, burals in cities
have been the subject of much earnest discus
sion and investigation. 1t has been slti5lIc-
torily ascertained that the putrid exhalatlons
arising from churchyards are highly dele
terious, not only increasing the violence Of
epidemic diseases, but greatly reducing the
maximum health Of the vicinity in which the
dead are inferred. In England, especially,
much attention has of late been devoted to
this matter and large amount Of exceedingly |
valuable information has been elected in the
course of the inquiry.
In a report on the results of an examina-
ton as to the practice of interments in towns,
made not long since at the request of her
Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the
Home Department, it is said that the general
conclusion that al! "interments in churches or
in towns are essentially Of an injurious and
dangerous tendency is at least made strong
probability, and strong enough, coupled
with other reasons, to justify the Lsgisla-
ture in forbidding such interments, and
placing all burying grounds under such
TeBulhllOnS dS may plc'Chb Ilo tuluNla lIOl
the dead from becoming detrimental to the
health of the living"
But apart from any particular discoveries
which scientific observation and research may
| have arrived at, it seems obvious that yards
crowded with dead bodies, placed not more
| than six or eight feet beneath the surface, must
be continually emitting most unwholesome
vapor. The tendency Of the pestiierous gases
! thrown out in the process of decomposition to
ascend, and the absence Of any efI5ctual means
to conflne them under the ground, should
| satisfy everybody who reflects at all about the
matter, that they must escape into the air;
and that while they are too much tiffused to
be detected by our senses, they are yet capable
of so tainting an atmosphere in which they are
breathed as to render it decidedly preludcial.
Hence, it is manifest that the situation of
places of burial is worthy of our serious con-
sideration, in connection with public hygiene
It is no less important than any other pro-
visions of the medical police Of a city, and it
should be as strictly subjected TO municipal
regulation and control. Private enterprise, of
late, has done much towards correcting the
evil of intra-mural interments by opening
rural cemeteries. But public authority, in all
large communities, should positively interdict
sepulture within certain limits; and in all
instances in which it can properly or conve-
niently be done, the dead should be removed
from the old burial places in the city, and the
grounds converted to other uses.
There is a prejudice, and a very natural
prejudice, which we all feel, against having
the dust of our dead disturbed. But the
reflection that what we hesitate to do out of
a sentiment of reverence must in the course
of time, be done, and done too by those who,
perhaps, will perform the Office with rude and
unieeling hands, should induce, US while we
have the power, to take up with all becoming
tenderness the remains of our friends, and
transfer them to some resting place where
they will not hereafter be molested. And
, how infinitely more consistent with our ideas
, Of the sacred repose OF death is a grave in
, some quiet suburban spot, than one in the
midst Of crowded and noisy metrOpOlisl
There is something inexpressibly grateful
in the thought that we may sleep our last
sleep in a peaceful scene, where no irreverent
step may intrude, and where they whom we
leave behind may resort to pay their tribute
? of respect and love secure from vulgar obser-
l vation. Why not, them feel it duty to trans
l late our dead kindred TO a sepulchre such as
I, we so anXiously covet for ourselves, instead OF
suffering them to remain in vaults, where the
l incessant din Of great city is ever present to
: violate the idea of repose, and their bones are
4 literally shaken by the rough car as it rolls
along the stony streets
There are many old churchyards in Pha.
e delphla Some are already abandoned as
$ burial places, while others have been invaded
o by the march of Improvement, and then
r turned out to make way for dwellings, fac
:, tories, and the like. Others, again, are still
constantly receiving new accessiOns to thC
n numbers who rest in their bosom. Would i
e not be wise for those who are interested il
o these grounds to consider the cXpediCncy o
e finally relinquishing them for purposes o
+ sep1lmre?
0 Besides the possibility that just regarC
s for the public health may require all inter
T. ments TO be- made beyond the city walls, it i
? not improbable that at some not very remot,
Y day the necessities Of the growing population
4 may rudely break in upon these vacant squares
If with no very respectful regard for their char
Il acter. Il is very certain that this encroach
o ment upon the precincts Of the dead will in
It evitably come in the progress OF affairs; AM
= there are obvious reasons why this genera
+ ton should anticipate in a decorous am
h afIectionate manner, an event about whic
e posterity will feel much less conjunction am
n fastidiOusness,
+ Lyons, France, feels very unp'ea,autly abou