Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1874-05-01
CREMATION.

The idea Of burning the bodies Of the dead
instead of burying them is gaining favor
rapidly. The matter is being discussed
every day in all hepa rers the Churches
have been appealed to fbr their opinion !;
in short, there is a great deal of genuine
feeling on the subject And the feeling is
all in favor of it. The idea of avoiding the
decomposition of the dead-of reducing the
mortal remains to ashes, and preserving
the ashes, strikes the people as something
ofan improvement. The tlergymen have
given it as their opinion that it in 20 way
crosses the dognas Of the, church, and
everybody seems to favor rit-bu, the under
takers. 1t would be hard on them. They
see in this movement an abolition Of the
ugly coffin with its sickly smell-o? the
gorgeous hearse. with its ghastlY trappiugs.
of carriages and all the absurd and costly
accompanyiugs Of funerals. Instead of all
this, dead body resolved into the elements
in a simple way by the action of fire, and
the remains, handful of whiLsh- gray
ashes, placed reverently i'll an urn, and
kept as q sacred household treasure. Is
rot this better than burying? l think so :;
and so does almost all of New York. To-
deed, society has been formed to intro
duce it, the members binding themselves to
direct in their wills that their bodies shall
he burned instead Of buried. 1t already
numbers eight hundred.
CALVIN.
! convicted of the robbery Of iewelry store
on Ninth avenue, and sentenced to twenty
years in the penitentiary, tgos rerV recently
q keeper in the 7ombs' mention this To
show the style Of men who attain place un-
der the City Government. This mans
character was as well known before his ap-
pontment as it is now in fact it was, pro-
badly, his character that gave him the ap-
pointment. A robber, an official in a pri-
son ! Is it any wonder that great criminals
have cared nothing for Imprisonment or
| conviction ? All they had to DO was to
''stake'' such keeper as Calvin and the
doors would fly open. --.-. ..s.va
=
How many Galvins are yet in these
places The Democracy are in control of
the city the same kind of men that put
Calvin in his place hand yet the appointing
power. New York is in a bad way.
MOCK AUCTIONS.
The mock auction business, which the
| authorities got under some yeara ago, has
broken out afresh within few months.
The Bowery is full Of them. Stores filled
with the vilest pot-metal jewe!ry, with the
| tongueist Of auctioneers and the usual as
sortnent of ropers-in and bidders at the
door. are becoming as plenty as in the old
days before the police killed them out. The
young man from the county is roped-in
the genuine gold watch" is put up: he
buys it and while the guaranty ia being
made out it 10 adroitly changed. and he
tinds when away that he has paid $40, so,
| or $50 for a concern that would be dear at
five dollars bushel. 1t is Il fact that re-
| spectacle jewelers. have beer driven out ot
localities by these Peter Funk concerns.
Rascality is irrepressible hold it in on,
way and it will break out in another.
FEMALE DOCTORS.
There is very much that is bad in New
York, and a great deal that is good. One
Of the best of the good things is the idea ot
the female physician. There are over fifty
regular practising physicians in the city OF
the softer sex-women who have gone
through a regular course Of study and hospi-
tai practice, too. Few of them have an in-
come of less than $1,000 per annum, and n
number of them earn as much as $4,000
Their practice is, of course, entirely among
women and children, and il is claimed by
those who employ them that they are moro
successful than physicians of the other sex.
| There is a reason for this. The invalid
woman can contide more fully in a woman n
| than she can in q man, and il is more tit
! ting that women should stand at the bed
sides of women. There are four colleges in
the city devoted to the training Of women
for this wide field of usefulness. There
NfRiiliOt 1C wv VI LbClAs
| BUSINESS AND RUM.
! Business has been dull. fat and unpro-
fitable all last fall and all last winter, and
! it continues in the same state Of health now.
The merchants have made no money, and
the same is true of all the professions. And
yet there has been more fine, costly liquors
consumed in this city this winter than ever
before. The amount of costly champagnes
that have been drank is really startling.
Now one would suppose that when money
is scarce and tight, and business dull, that
men would economize in their luxuries.
| But it does not so work. The harder the
times the more expensive the potations.
Does man get desperate from adversely
Tha. is the question. The tailors, shirt.
makers, shoemakers-everybo body who fur
nishes necessties-have suffered from tbs
hard times, because men have worn their
old clothes to economize; but the same
men are drinking the most costly drinks
money can buy. Curious. isn't :t2
! RAPID TRANSIT.
The city is and has been for years trying
to get some better way to get from one end
of the island to the other, but so far to no
purpose. With the exception Of the ele-
waited railroad on the west side of the city,
there is nothing better or faster than the
common horse-car or the primitive stage,
and as the companies owning these lines
have untold wealth. and as everything in
i'll Albany is governed by money, it is pro-
bable that there will be nothing devised for
years to take their place. But it is ter
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