The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-11-24
ABOUT CREMATION.
It's Method Explained ana it's
Adoption Urged--Growing
in Favor.

In view of the interest that il felt
at the present time in relation to the
subject of cremation, an Enquirer
reporter sought an interview with
MI. Ben Pitman. of this city. whose
wife, it will be remembered was ere
mated q few years ago, and was, 1t
is believed, the first female whose re.
mains were thus disposed of in this
country. MI. Pitman received the
reporter, when bis mission was
known, in the friendliest spirit.
'.You WILL" said he, ''be doing . real
public service if you aid in Kidding
peoples miads of misapprehension
with respect to cremation, and put
ting in its place some of the many
reasons in favor Of this method Of
dispcsing of the dead.'
MI. Pitman here reached from q
desk a large bundle Of letters, and
went on to say:
"There is nothing connected with
cremation that Is not reasonable, and,
in its way, beautiful, as compared
with the method of hiding away
dead bodies, and allowing them to
slowly rot away in the damp earth.
1 wish you would, in yonr own way,
disabuse peoples minds of the sup
position that the bodies If our friends
when cremated are actually thrust
into q blazing furnace. The body
when cremated does not In fact
'ouch the fire. The fire has been
used to heat the small horizontal
chamher built above the fire, made
Of fire-clay, and sometimes called a
retort, and this chamber by means Of
a fire fellow and around it is heated
to an almost incandescent glow, un-
til it becomes a glory like the sun
when seen through o veil of mist.
The body to be cremated is laid on q
light iron frame work or crib, which
rests on q THU iron plate; it is COW
cred with a sheet that has been satu-
rated with alum water, the friends
look q last adieu and the body Is
noiselessly slid into this glowing
spectacle; the lid is closed, and in a
few minutes all that was of the earth
save the lime Of the bones, has as
cended in invisible vapor to the skies.
In an hour there is nothing left but a
few handfuls Of calcined ashes and
irregular chips, white and pure to
the eve and touch. There is not a
single thing offensive to any sense in
this method of disposing of our dead
friends, and when people say it is
shocking as compared with our pres
ent method, it is clear they speak
without any knowledge or thought"
"There is one thing I would much
liz you to say" MI. Pitman contin-
ued, land that is that there Is far
more sympathy accorded to cremation
than l. generally believed. Women,
especially those of a sensitive nature
are supposed to be dreadfully averse
to this revival of incineration. It is
the greatest mistake. have here in
this great bundle of letters an express
sion Of sympathy that really sur
prised me. When my wife died, and
I complied with her request that her
body should be taken to Dr.. LIE
Moyne's and disposed of in his Gre
matory, I received a great many let
tiers: those from women I preserved,
and were it not violating the conf
dence of friendship I could give you
a great many extracts showing how
widespread is the sentiment In favor
of cremation. ! have letters here
from the wives of United States SEN
ators, authors, artists, clergymen,
women of distinction in literature,
art and science, and some from souls
noted only for their gentleness, and
one and all thank me for complying
with my wife's desires, and in almost
every case saying how much prefera-
BILE 1t seemed to avoid the lugubrious
and doleful customs incidental to
burial, and how great seemed the
load removed from the mind when
the dead were transported to the
skies instead of allowing them to rot
and tester in the earth, only to haunt
us at those times when we were least
able to endure the dreadful thought.
Many of these letters MI. Pitman
said, "are from ladies personally un-
known to me, but they make q re-
markable show of testimony from
those who are generally supposed to
be the most averse to q change in our
methods Of sepulture. If people
wish to escape the possible horrors of
grave dissertation, if they wish to
avoid the almost equally dreadful
thought that our loved ones are slow
w becoming a mass of loathsome cor
ruption ; if they wish to avoid the
uerve-racking association of the cus-
tomary burial. they will be willing
to think without prejudice of ctema-
ton, its simplicity. its natulalness,
and its economy"
"Another REFORM" continued MI.
Pitman, twill grow out of the disuse
of the old method and 90 hand
in hand with the adoption of the
more seasonable method Of disposing
Of u dead. People will simplify
and beauty our funeral trips; they
will get rid of the customary under
taker and his dolorous devices, his
ugly black, his sentimental white,
his absurd plumes and ostentatlous
show. The wearing Of the regula-
ton mourning is always ignored by
many intelligent families, and it will
be more and more the custom to
avoid so senseless and costly a tradi-
ton. The whole thing Is wretchedly
inconsistent with professedly Christ
ian people,"
Cincinnati Enquirer.