The New York herald., 1876-02-22

mens ana now remained 10 obtain the assent Of the
Hca au.norlties To make long story short, every
.ns was ~ last arranged upon the following under-
stanunB -Frst, the burning house 10 be erected
al the extreme end Of the new monumental cemetery
partly WITHIN and partly without It's precincts second.
the building, erected the sole cost Of Mr. KeIIers
heirs, should be presented by them as free gift TO the
city.
rHE BURNING Housn
All these points were satisfactorily settled toward
the end OF last july engineers architects at once
set TO work and the burning house. with ali lis air
somewhat complicated mechanism was ready for use
the end Of the year II slightly building or the
purest p4ric style ana appears in every way to be
thoroughly adapted to the purpose for which II was
constructed. have before at this moment a
minute account of all its parts and Of Their mutual re-
latons but in the absence Of explanatory diagram
despair Of being able render the description moro
Ineligible TO your readers than II Is TO myself The
process combustion takes place in the following man
ner:--The conn containing the body is laid
upon q perforated sheet Of platina, which, with
It's accompanying shallow pan for the reception OF the
ashes as they fall from above Is allowed 70 by
a simple mechanical contrivance into its bed OF fame
consisting OF less than 2l7 powerful gas Jets The
atmospheric air necessary to maintain the combustion
pumped into the chamber in high state of pressure
A circular hole, glazed with sheet OF mica, forms
window through which the attendant upon duty may
watch the whole progress Of the operation Inc ap-
pearance as learn from yewtness, IS that OF
single fame coilng and uncoiing itself In monstroua
wreaths like q huge serpent
rHK MILAAEsB CEMETERY
offered an unwonted spectacle saturday the 22d OF
January the day appointed for this unusual ceremony
All hilanoficial scientific and literary, military.
commercial and sacerdotal-was represented on the
occasion. The rain poured down in torrents, and tha
road leading to the cemetery was literally swamp;
but severity OF the weather availed 10 deter the
thousands including fair proportion of ladies, who
soon after midday 10 be seen trudging through
the sush from every point of the compass toward the
spot where the novel experiment about to be per-
formed The only previous instance OF cremation In
Italy took place some eight nine years ago
denly reduced TO ashes at the dead OF night
according TO the orthodox Hndoo rite, and,
as fortune would have IT, the present writer upon
the spot and chroncled his impressions OF the weird
ceremony But there is cremation and cremation, and
the rude, primitive appliances which our Indian
friends have Inherited unatered from their foreathers
for hundreds Of generations have little in common
with the cunnngly devised contrivances OF Messrs.
POLL and Cericet whose ingenuity has been taxed to
iectIons which might by any possibility be raised
against the revival OF this ancient practice the
either OF expense or OF onensveness to the physical
or to the moral sense.
TIE CEREMONY
announced to take place at two o'clock and that
hour the coffin of unusual dimensions was placed into
the hearse which waiting for its reception at the
entrance to the burial ground few minutes after
ward it lowered into the furnace and the fire
began Its work.
After q brief discourse by the Protestant minister
Professor Cericet dwe at some length upon the his,
tory and the special character Of the process employed
carrying the last wishes Of the deceased He was
followed by Professor Coett, of the University of Pa
dua who advocated the practice OF cremation on va
rious grounds chiefly sanitary. discourse Of similar
character from Dr. PM, closed the proceedings and
the crowd then great part dispersed, without wait
ing TO verify by ocular demonstration
RESULTS OF THE OPERATION
They briefly follows After having burned
for about hour and half the fire put out by
simply turning or the gas and the body found to
be thoroughly cacined for although it still retained
the appearance of q human form, single touch
reduced it at once to heap of dust This little
heap of dust on being weighed, gave an
immediate answer to the question put by the
Roman satirist -"Erpeide Hannibalem: quot libras
duce Invenies ?" Keller during his lifetime.
or at the moment Of his death, had weighed seventy
Kilograms, or 154 pounds All OF him that had re-
sisted the action Of the destroying element rather
less than Eve pounds OF the finest white ash
y. fas. TO BIZ REPEATED.
In few days the ceremony will be repeated in the
case of lady named Pozzi who in her WILL had given
the order that her should be disposed of alter
this fashion The deceased accompanied this wish by
an open profession of faith In the Roman Catholic
religion, and the Manese priesthood appears to be
divided in opinion upon the subject although it cannot
be denied that the clerical organs in general are op
posed to the innovation.