, 1876-10-08
CREMATION.
Dr.. lie Moyne's New Furnace at
Washington, Pa.
Description Of the Building, Etc..'.Dls.
position Of the Ashes.
Biblical Objections and Biblical Argu.
ments-..The First Test.
Special CarTysDondenoe Of The Tfioune-

WASHINGTON, Pa, Oct. 5.-ihe nrsI anu
only cremation furnace in this country Is stu
ated at this place, and It is now about ready
for the reception Of corpses. Its owner aud
originator is DR.. F. Julius lie Moyne, gentle
man of wealth and culture, and with vide
reputation as a physician and scientist he Is
an enthusiast upon the question OF cremation'
and he has been at the expense OF htting up
furnace for the fncineration OF human remains,
solely for the purpose Of making that metnoo
of disposing Of human remains popular. The
furnace that he has erected Is dedicated to the
Door. No fees will be charged for cremation,
and no person desiring the cremation OF bis OWL
or of = relatives corpse Will be refused the
courtesies Of the establishment The site upon
which the building is erected is made ghastly ny
"reminiscences OF its bloody history. 1t Is called
s.nilows Hill, and was formerly used as place
OF public execution. It Is about q mile OUTSIDE
of the town, and it is hemmed In on all sides o7
a small forest. Since the beginning OF the con-
structiou Of the Doctors building the drive lead
inp to the hill has been much frequented-
Every stranger who has an hour to spare in the
town takes a look at the furnace. One OF Tue
most distinguished visitors was Gen. Gfant'"no'
while sojvurning here, visited the hill, anu ex~
amined the preparations for carrying the theory
OF cremation into practice with great interest"
THE FURNACE
asinclosed in building which Is az once Inc eave M
Doctors pct hobbies, and the building has been
constructed upon economical principles. It Is
Of brick, but one story In height, Win TOOL 0!
corrugated iron. 1t has three Ghlmneys o.
ordinary size, one leading from the furnace,
res3n, one from the reception-room. and third
from one OF the corners Of the building. The
use Of the third is simply to preserve the aFchl-
tectural symmetry Of the structure. Inc house
is divided into two rooms the reception ana 1 Inc
twenty feet square. Its furniture is OF the
simplest kind, consisting only Of catafalque
for the bodies to rest upon, q shelved case, WITH
transparent glass door, 10 which the cremated
accommodation of the friends of the departed.
and q small stove to make things comfortable IN
cold weather. a door leads from this room into
the cremation department proper, which Is a
room Of about I0x3O feet
In the cremation room there is nothing but
the furnace. The retort has been made espe-
cdally Tor the accommodation Of coffins. It is
seven and one-han feet in length, twenty inches
In height, and twenty-eight inches in width
ALI these are inside measurements.
TIE KEToRT
somewhat resembles gas-retort, the difference
being that its sides are perpendicular, instead Of
being arched. Above the perpendicular line,
along. .wuich the coffins will rest, the rctort is
aTEuEA14 IL Ii QuUL AIANA HAtA ~ ~ nj -
the same STYLE that gas-retorts are. In the work
of cremation, coke will be used, and it is calcu-
lated that the retort can be brought to a white
heat in twenty-four hours When this degree
Of heat is obtained, the body to be c1emated-
will be put into the furnaca, and, in afew hours.
the work OF incineration will be complete. The
present calculations Q. DR.. LIE Moyne do not
provide for the elimination Of the wood ashes OF
The coffin from the human ashes OF the person
cremated. This, however, the Doctor does not
consider to be very great objection, as the
proportion Of the wood ashes will be only Us one
pound to five, and, after the furnace Is in prac-
tical operation, If this objection be found to Sc
riously initiate against its success, method
which the Doctor has In contemplation will be
put into operation.
NUMBER OF BOXES,
large enough to hold four or five pounds OF
will be made OF metal. or Of elastic glass, the
material not having vet been decided upon.
Upon one end Of the boxes there will be place
Tor the photograph Of the person whose ashes are
On the inside, and below the photograph viii be
record of the date Of the Heath and OF the date
Of the cremation Of the powdered individual
The boxes will b stored in the case in the re-
peption-room already described, and there they
will be preserved subject to the demands OF the
relatives Of the deceased In this same case
and these will be always accessible to persons
having the right to inspect. An index Of the
boxes will be kept, and the ashes OF any man or
his mother-in-laW can be gotten at with the
escape OF any part Of the remains after they
have been reduced to powder. The toxes will
be Theoretically sealed, and in packing them the
greotest care will be taken to get possession OF
every atom OF the cremated
Tue neigt!t ol the chimncys from the top ofthe
building is disappointing. Visitors confidently
expect to see great piles Of bricks rising scores
Of feet above the roof, and the majority OF them
believe that the failure to have such ch'mncys
by tie gases which will escape through the low
rentilators- THIS would probably be the result
but for tie arrangement that has been made to
effectuaily dispose of these gases At the back
Of the retort there Is vent-hole four inches IN
diameter opening into the furnace Through
this vent the gases generated 10 the rctort dur
ing the combustion Of body will be forced to
escape into the furnace, there being no other
outlet from the retort- In the furnace they
will be consumed. But little smoke will escape
through the chimney, and that which does will
be harmless, Us will the hot air which will &C.
company it. .--..-.-
FRANCIS JULIUS LIE MOTNE,
who will soun no uoubt come to be known as
the great American c1emator, is q remarkable
man in many ways He is over 70 years Of age,
and for years he has been crippled by the rheu-
natism, hut when seated he looks at least
twenty years younger than he Is. His face is
thickly covered with growth of 9earu q
color between iron-gray and white. His
countenanee is not speaking one It Is full OF
energy and determination. He is very blunt
talker, and upon cremation he never tires.
After Inspecting his building, your correspond
and the Information elected was Of a very en-
PERTAINING character. The Doctor met with
great deal Of opposition OF the morai-suasio9
sort from his old neighbors when he broached
and he glories in rcsounttng how he met the
cnllege Professors, and other gentlemen of