The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-04-02
INCREmAFrox.

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London, has contributed a paper to
the Contemporary Review in regard
to the disposal of the dead in great
cities, in which he advocates the
burning of the bodies and saving their
ashes in urns, if desired, as less revolt
ing than consigning them to the grave
to rot and be devoured by the worms.
His premises are: the horriblecharacte
of the changes in the dead body after
burial, the decomposition of gases, and
contamination of the atmosphere above
and water beneath; the impossibility
of intramural interment without ensu,
ing sickness, and the fact that most
extramural cemeteries will in the
course of time come in contact with
the growing population. On the
other hand, he insists that incremation
is perfect, clean, not unhealthy, con-
sonant to reason and law, and prefer.
able 10 slow decomposition in the
ground. A body weighing one hun
dred and Seventy pounds can be re,
duced to ashes in less than an hour,
the resultant being "a fine suhlimatc,
and not a portion of refuse In fact,
in a Siemens furnace a body weighing
two hundred and twenty-seven pounds
can be burned in 30 minutes, and the
ashes, which viii weigh about five
pounds, can beremOved with ease and
leave no traces of noxiOus matter. A
late London letter states that thi.
article created a great deal Of excite
ment and discussion, and that a large
party among the; utilitarians and
scientists are in favor Of the innova.
ton, but that the great mass OF the
people are already on fire with indig
nation at the insult offered 10 the
bones of their ancestors, or rather
their own bones, since we would be
the first victims sacrificed in case tht
custom should be established. One o
the most disagreeable features of Sil
Henry Thompson's plan, as he apple.
it to London, is that instead Of show
I ing reverence for the ashes of the de
parted, as did the ancients, who's
rites he desires to revive, he propose
to scatter them over the fields, so as t,
increase the fertility of the island,
thus, in the language of Mr.. Holland
who has replied to his article, "usin,
the bones of cur ancestors rs a sub
stitute for guano-turnip dressing
This feature of the project has given
bitterness to the discussion that other
wise would not have marked it. Lon
don journals state that Sir Herr
Thompson's paper in the Contempor
airy Review has attracted much motto
in Germany, having been translate,
twice, besides obtaining warm SUP
port from an eminent physician, DR.
Kopl. Moreover, the practical Austr
ans have taken the idea up Is one tina
has really now passed beyond tn
stage Of discussion. The Communal
Councils of Vienna and Gratz hay
adopted Il proposal to establish il
th,i cemeteries the necessary appara
tus for cremation, "the use of whicl
will he optional and open to all. I
"veritable agitation, We are told
has arisen in both places, thong!
whether the excitement is al in f3yO
of the fiery furnace innovation, o.
whether the attached supporters 0
their picturesque churchyards are III
dignant that these venerable deposi
tories of all that is mortll should b.
deprived of their prescriptiye right.
does not seem very clear. This Plal
Of dieposing of the dead was practice,
byso OF the great nations of antiqui
ty, and especially pagan natiol.a, bu
it viii be long time before it can b,
made popular with the English anc
American people. Where the lish
hearted Niennczc would burn thei
progenitors or descendants without
sigh or murmur, and afterward tran
gully contemplate the beloved re
mains in jar neatly labrlled and in
! scribcl with all the virtues of the In
mented deceased, the more prac,ica
English and American will yet pre-
fer the old traditional Christian form @
burial. But when thcfGrnace system
becomes fashionable in Continental
Europe it will spread by degrees, an,
! the more advanced spirits among Ii
will not be slow to defy prejudice BY
nobly bequeatling their works to- al
ages and :hcir bodies TO the consum
ing fire." There are already indica
tions p. hitting in this direction. TN
New York Tribune Of March % says
at will probably surprise mos
readers to know that there are a mum
Der of persons in the city really ain,
zealously in earnest in the effort to in
troduce the pra, tee Of burning til
dead instead Of burying them. Thcs
gentlemen, or some OF them, held
meeting last night at the Office Of DIR
Sexton, in West Thirty-ffth street
with view Of pertecling arrange
menls either for large meeting o
for some other form Of dcmunstratior
upon the public. They consider thu
subject solely from a scientific ans
sanitary point of view, and in tina
light it is certainly g question descrv
ing the faircst hearing"