Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-08-17
Manly POST -lHfELLIaEHCER
raE SANITARY CoNTReL OF BEAD
BODIES.

The request of General Garibaldi
that his body shall be burned. and the
announcement that his family will full
6ll the desire in disregard ct the pro-
tests that have been made against its
sxecution, % also their attempt TO DO
this and their pesvsntion By the Gov
ernmsut Of Italy, rensws public interest
In ths cremation Of the dead. Although
thu instsness Of it-in the Cnited S;ntss
remain few, nsvsrihsleas ths pesetes
has become 20 veil established that
It no longer causes much ynblie CON-
ment when one occurs. The fepoR-
nance of many Christians to It IL Civ
ing way to the reasonable opinion that
the disposal Of the dead should be con-
trolled BY sanitary considerations, and
that sentimental preference for burial
and decomposition in the earth shonld
not interfere with that control. "No in
tsllieent faith" says one Of the most
eminent bishops of the Church OF Eng
land in this connection, ''can suppose
pose that any Christian doctrine 10 a.
fected by the manner or the time in
which the mortal body crumblss into
dust"
In Great Britain or Italy, or any other
country 70 denseiy populated for 30
long that the present inhabitants are
dwelling on soil which In permeated to
the depth Of several feet with the de-
composed or accompanying remains OF
men and other animals who once lived
ON it's surface. the subject Is OF more
general importance than it is in Amer
lea. But even in the United States
there are centers Of population where
q perception Of its practical importance
Is forced upon intelligent and prudent
citizens. New York and its suburbs ART
one of them. II is impossible for sini-
tarians to 500 Brooklyn envslopinp
Greenwood and Calvary Cemeteries With
dwelling houses, and the rapid growth
of the dense settlements of New York
toward Woodlawn Cemetery. without
fear Of peril of the public health. New
Orleans IL another. No frequent Wis
itor Of the peculiar cemeteries Of tina.
city, where, on account Of the slight
depth Of dry soil, the dead nov are usn
ally sealed up in tombs above the
ground, can have failed in some Of his
walks to have become sensible OF pu-
trid effluvium from those RECEIPT .cles
Without an inordinats and impractica-
bic expense such exhalstions cannot be
prevented.
Whether General Garibaldi's wish for
the cremation Of his body was senti-
mental or sanitary, or 10th, We are not
yet informed. II may have been in
duced by the traditions Of the Italian
people, whose nationality he did 80
much to revive from its paralysis since
the days when the Romans burned their
dead. It may hava been influenced by
the sanitary studies and endeavors to
which his last years were applied. Its,
In any went, noteworthy rs an example
of q wish that some Of the most promi.
mont Europeans Of our time entertain
with regard to themselves, and others
are or have been prevented from ex-
pressing only because. Of tender regard
for the prejudices Of friends and fam
lily. Az an example Of tho latter, Earl
Bsaconsaeld was buried In an English
graveyard after putting ON record dec
lasation that "What in called Gods acre
10 really not adapted to the country we
inhabit, the times in which VIC live and
tho spirit Of tho age" As an example
Of the former, Gambetta isa member Of
q cremation society in France.