The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-12-03
The Burning II Lady Dukes BODY.
(Conway's London Letter to Cincinnati Com
mercial ]

ICOnWay's London Letter to Cincinnati Com
The sensational account of the ere.
nation Of the body of Lady Dixie,
which. | see. has gone the rounds in
America, as here, requires but little ex-
animation to show its apocryphal char
acter. The furnace used at Dresden,
and the intense heat around it, admits
of no such minute inspection of the pro-
cess of combustion as is indicated in
the paragraph that processes to describe
it. The twelve responsible persons who
were present at the event engaged SOL
emily not to disclose the details, and
there is no reason to believe that they
have broken their word. The para
graph has evidently been written by an
opponent-so at least the London Lam
Get believes-to try and produce in the
public mind revulsion against the pro-
cess. No dead person could have
been required for experiment; dead
animal would serve as well, and expert
ments have been so made at Dresden
and elsewhere, which have shown that
cremation is decent, swift, and free
from any unpleasant effects on the
senses. Lady Dixie was one Of con-
siderable number Of persons who, since
the agitatiou of this subject. have made
provision for having their bodies burned
after death. The fear of premature
burial has been shown to be much more
widespread than the fear of not being
placed together properly at the sound
of the Archangel's trumpet; and that
popular apprehension, along with Ger
tain unpleasant associations with I'M
derground decomposition, may vet give
the cremationists the victory over SUI
perstitions about bodily resurrection.
| was somewhat astonished, by the way,
to find how large an amount of feeling
favorable to cremation prevailed among
the learned men of the recent Oriental
Congress. On q certain morning
DR.. Leitner was exhibiting to the
Congress his magnificent Greco
Buddhist collection in the
Royal Albert Hall, and among other
things be exhibited small portrait
amulet, made Of the ashes of the dead,
and worn round the neck by Thibetans.
When these people have burned the
body of deceased friend, instead of
putting the ashes into an urn, they &C.
ment it into little oval forms, paint on
each the portrait of their friend. and
some little epi.aph, along with sacred
texts and symbols. These little me-
MORALS are then distributed among the
family and friends Of the deceased and
worn as lockets. The specimen shown
us by DR.. Leitner was decidedly pretty,
and the idea excited good deal of ad-
miration among those present, many
observing that the wearing of brooches,
etc., containing the miniatures Of hair
of deceased persons appeared to be a
survivalin Europe Of this Oriental Gus
tom. But, as might be expected, some
of the Psychologists rather frowned on
cremation. 1t was discussed by a
group of them among the mummies in
the British Museum. SLOW" cx-
claimed one Of them-'show should we
ever have known anything about Egypt
if it bad practiced cremation! Instead
of all these sculptured sarcophagi and
inscribed wrappings we should only
have little ashes.' One distinguished
savant, however, remarked that Just as
little would have been transmitted to
US if they had practiced Christian
burial-then we should have inherited
some ''rotten rags and dust"