The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-02-28
DEFERRED M
Robbing Death of it's Gloom.

Robbing Death of its Gloom.
A dispatch from Washington, Pa, dated
on the 18th. gives an account of the crema-
lion of the body of Mrs. Benn Pitman, of
in obedience to her own request
while living, and with the concurrence of
her husband. Her remains were conveyed
to Washington from Cincinnati by Mr.. Pit
man, incased in cherry casket, with an I'M
vanished mahogany cover, beautifully
carved, present from the Cincinnati School
of Design. The estimated heat of the re-
tort at the crematory at noon was 1900 Fab
renheit. The remains were taken from the
casket and placed in an iron cradle and
cloth, previously soaked in alum water, was
spread over them to hide them from view.
At o'clock the cradle was pushed into the
retort and the door closed. In eighteen
minutes the body was entirely reduced, and
at the end of an hour and three quarters the
cremation was pronounced complete, and the
fues of the furnace were closed and the door
sealed Theoretically to arrest combustion and
allow the retort to cool. This required thir-
ty hours, after which the door of the retort
was opened and the calcined bones removed.
The result Of the cremation is not ashes, but
fragments of calcned bone, white as snow
and entirely odorless. Mr.. Pitman eX-
pressed himself as more than satisfied with
the result. He is undecided as to what he
will do with the remains, but thinks he
will erect a monument. in the inside OF
which he will place the jar and contents.
The motive of such ceremony and such
disposition of the human body after death,
seems strange in this age and country, al
though it was common in ancient Rome and
in Egypt, departing as it does from the Gus
toms which have become the law governing
the remains of the dead. 1t becomes inter-
esting therefore to know who Mrs. Pitman
was, and when we learn that she was a lady
of refinement and cultivation, of the sweet
est life that ever shed fragrance and lnstre
over society, we are the more perplexed at
the singular will she made as to the DISPOSE
ton of her body.
In Cincinnati, where Mrs. Pitman died,
the following card was issued to the friends
of the deceased, as we learn from the Com
mercial of the 18th: 'tYou will be welcomed
at the home of Benn Pitman, Hill Side,
Eastern Avenue, on Thursday, February
IA, at II a. m. to p. M, at a gathering of
the dearer friends of Mrs. Jane Pitman." In
obedience to the invitation, friends gath
cred at the residence of Mr.. Pitman, and
were welcomed by him and his daughter in
the cordial spirit which had ever been a
marked characteristic of the family, the sole
thought of husband and daughter being that
the tributes of respect to the memory OF the
absent loved one should be received as far
as possible in the same spirit she herself
would have received them-cheerfully and
gratefully. No gloomy outlook into the
hereafter ever having been suggested in the
life of the living trio, it would have been
untrue to the character of the departed to
do other than to greet their dearest friends
with serene peace of mind, which pre-
cluded any revolving gloom so uniting the
departure of bright and beautiful spirit.
All the surroundings were in harmony with
the .sgood, the true and the beautiful" No
gloomy drapery or sombre trappngs marred
the beautiful thought which conceived the
gathering of devoted friends, to reflect upon
the virtues and spotless life of the one re
posing in casket, no more to move among
Il t,,t
welcomed it as a release from the infirmi-
ties of the body, to enter as child into the
smiles of the Creator, She, TOO, had given
the subject of cremation much thought, and
after death should be consumed by fire,
and not allowed to pollute the air and
the ground and the water with the pois-
onous gases generated in the process OF
decomposition. sWhat,'' said she, at
one time to the reporter of the Com
mercial, sis the difference whether the body
shall be burned up by a slow process of
chemical combustion, going on through a
series of years. or be consumed by artificial
heat in few minutes? In the end it comes
to the same thing-a little dust in the coffin
or a little dust in the crematory."
There was beautiful consistency in the life
and death of this lady. She dispensed hap
piness and peas ire wherever she associated
or moved, and seemed to study, as did her
husband and daughter, to rob death of its
gloom and the grave of its victory,-to in
woke perpetual sunshine, as foresladow-
ing that happier life into which che was con-
fident she would pass.