Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-27
COFFlNS.
The New Burial System to Be Organ
lied on the Showcase
Principle.

An invention has been recently pat
ented by which glass Is to be substi.
tuted for wood In the manufacture of
collins: ''It's almost worth while dying
to be buried In one Of them" said the
inventor to q Philsdelphia Times re-
porter. Henry "a. Barry, the speaker,
who lives on 9th street, Just below
Spruce, has for many years interested
himself In transparent systems Of
burial. After conceiving the glass
casket he kept 1t a secret until October
Oath of last year, when 1t was pat
ented. "Yes," continued the inven.
tor, II believe the success of this
thing is going to be immense. There
Is one San Francisco firm will take
thousands of the collins to sell to
Cinnamon"
what is the advantage of glass for
domiciles of the dead2"
"In the first place, n has perfect
preservation. Before being placed in
the vial the patient Is empslmed. I
may say that the coffin Is devised on
the walnut shell principle, in two
halves. After my customers are once
securely packed In coffi Us I apply an
exhaust pump, take out all the air,
and Theoretically seal up the aperture.
Then the thing Is accomplished.
There is the advantage that no infec.
tious disease can come through the
glass. The flesh OF the subject will
preserve It's natural tints, and rela-
tivea and friends will be able to view
the deceased for years to come.
"As a sanitary reform it is unpar-
alleled," he went or. "Tenanted
cofins can be piled up like any other
merchandise anywhere, and stay there
for years. Some people might prefer
to keep relatives In their own houses,
nicely put away In collins. There Is
nothing Objectionable about the idea.
When buried In cemeteries there will
be no exhalations whatever, and In
care of the removal of graveyards the
collins can be taken up and carried
away with nc more offense than would
be given by so many kegs of nails"
"Whst are the dimensions and
shape of the oofins2" asked the re-
porter.
"They can be made of all sizes. The
glass 10 three. Fights of an inch thick,
and the coffin Is oval with q ooncave
top. 1t would not do to have it fat,
as with q vacuum inside 1t the glass
would collapse"
"Wouldn't they get smashed In
cemeteries2" queried tho incipient In.
weston.
"On the contrary, We haze a System
of toughening the glass that makes 1t
like iron. A spade struck against the
coffin with q good deal of force will
not break II. Body snstchers would
get their fingers cut. There is no end
to the variations which can be made on
these collins. The glass can be
clouded,' 80 that only the face If Wis.
IDLE. II CAP be colored, or butterflies
and weeping willows can be placed al
intervals all over the surface. There
are a thousand ways of ormamentine
the exterior"
What will they COST" was tn,
next question.
"From seven up. Seven dollars ]
mean, of course They could possibly
be manufactured of such choice ma
terial and so beautifully etched as I,
cost as much as 81, 900 each. hav,
often wished that at the time o
President Garfeld's death I had ha,
q glass coffin. l AM sure II woult
have been used. I propose to form
company, with q capital Of $500, 900
y "This casket WA invented a. mucl