The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-10-20
Cremating DR.. LIE Moyne.
The Eccentric Physicians Body Burned
in His Own Furnace-A Brief Religious
Ceremony and No Spectators.

The burning of the body of the modern apoA
tie of cremation, DIR. Julius LIE Moyne, was
done Thurday, in the furnace on Gallows
Hill, in Washington, Pennsylvania. Tie
event created very little excitement, as
had been anticipated, and since the several
cremations in the place, the novelty has worn
off. The LIE Moyne family, some of whom ar3
reported to be as greatly opposed to cre-
nation as the most orthodox, made every
effort to have the ceremony performed without
any display, in which they to large extent
succeeded The furnace fires were started OIL
Wednesday, and by the next morning it was ro-
ported that the requisite heat had been ob-
tanned. There was one departure from ths
usual custom of these scenes. In this instanc,
it was preceded with religious ceremonies.
These were held in the LIE Moyne homestead,
and were conducted by the Rev. George II
Hays, D. D., President of Washington and
Jefferson College, who delivered an address on
the occasion of the cremation of Baron de-
Palm. The family, the relatives, and soma
friends assembled at the house at about
o'clock, where the services were held. Tie
Rev. ID. S. Brownson, of the Presbyterian
church of Washington, assisted DIR. Hayj.
At their conclusion the remains were removed
to the hearse in readiness, DR.. Frank LemoyEe
Julius Lemoyne, Vachel Harding, Charles
Harding, William Willis and Mr.. Proudht
acting as pall-bearers. The family and their
friends then entered the carriages and were
driven to the crematory. The clergyman also
accompanied the remains to the crematorJ.
Upon arriving there it was found that about
bod cd
the body had been placed on the catafalque,
Dr. HAYS standing on the steps OF the build
ing, said: "We have now brought our de-
ceased friend to the place OF his choice and
here we leave him." After announcing thas
the relatives requested all persons TO return to
the town, the doctor pronounced benedictlon
and the door was closed, shutting out all Dut
the relatives and those employed to do the
work. The pall-bearers and Mrs. wade, MRS;
Willis Misses Sophie and Annie Harding and
Miss Jane Lemoyne remained in the building.
Four special policemen had been employed TO
guard the place from intrusion Ihey were
not specially needed, however, as the people
went away and seemed to care nothing about
the affair." The body was removed from the
coffin by the pall-bearers and placed upon the
iron cradle, aud at 1890 the door OF the reI
tort was taken down, the body was thrust
quickly in, and the mouth was again cioseu;
Instantly dense volumes of black smoke rolled
out of the chimney, and the odor OF burning
flesh was distinctly noticeable to the score or
more of persons on the outside lt was then
apparent that the furnace was not not enough,
the heat being many degrees below what lt
had been in the De Palm and Pltman Gre
nations. The firemen kept stirring the nre,
however. The sizzling OF the cooking 1esh
could be heard i'll the building, although there
was no perceptble odor. Outside, however,
the smell was strong and the black smoke from
the chimney indicated that the work was being
imperfectly done. AT about II O'CLOCK the
body was still sizzling and the process OF Gre
nation was slowly going on. A look through
the peep-hole of the retort revealed nothing,
However as thesheet saturated with alum water
which enveloped the body was standing up
and concealed the body from view. AT O'Clock
the heat had perceptibly increased but still
the work was slow. At 2 O'Clock the surface
indications were that the work was gong on
properly. Each half hour careful observations
were made, and at 4.40 O'Clock, six hours after
the body had been put into the furnace, the
last vestige of the frame had crumbled and
fallen through the iron crib to the retort Inc
furnace was then sealed up and will remain
| closed until Saturday morning, or longer, II
| necessary, to cool off In the De Palm cre-
nation the time occupied was only two hours
| and in the Pitman case it was less. The fer-
| mace tonight is guarded by relative. a GU
| rious fact in connection with the case IS that
| the post-mortem examination OF the BODY de,
| veloped that DIR. Lomoyne's brain weigned
only 43 ounces six ounces less than tnat OF tiio
| average man and one less than woman ).
| The cremation is not generally considered -
much of a success as the Others as there were no
scientific persons IN attendance. ~ ,a,sne saae
that in Dr. Lemoyne's will there is clause
making it void unless the persons benehted
sign q paper agreeing to be cremated aiter
death AS he was wealthy, this is an inter-
estinn clause Only two members OF the FAM
lily, it is said, have signed the agreement.