Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-10-20
ABOUT CREMATION.
Its Method Explained and It's Adop-
ton Urged in
Favor.

CfnclnnaCl enquirer.
In view of the interest that is felt at the
present time in relation to the subject OF Gre
nation, an Enquirer reporter sought an in
terview with MIR. Ben Pitman, of this City,
whose wife, it will be remembered, was Gre
mated few years ago, and Yves, it is be
ieved, the first female whose remains were
thus disposed of in this country. MIR. Pit
man received the reporter, when his mission
was known, in the friendliest spirit. ''You
will, said he, 'be doing real public service
If You aid in Kidding peoples minds OF mis-
apprehension with respect to cremation, and
putting in its place some of the many rea-
sons in favor Of this method of dispOsing Of
the deadn
MIR. Pitman here reached from desk
large bundle of letters, and went on to say:
'There is nothing connected with creUa-
ton 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 in the damp earth wish you
would In your own way disabuse peoples
minds of the supposition that the bodies Of
our friends when cremated are actually
thrust into a glowing fire or blazing furnace.
The body when cremated does not IN fact
touch the fire. The fire has been used toheat
the small horizontal chamber built above. the
fire, made Of fire-clay, and sometimes called
retort, and this chamber by means CT a fire
below and around it isheaped to an almost IN
candescent glow, until it becomes a glory like
the sun when seen through veil Of mist.
The body to be cremated Is laid on q light
iron frame work OF crib, which rests on a
thin plate Of iron; it IS covered with sheet
that has been saturated with alum water, the
friends look last edeau and the body is
neiselessly slid into this glowing spectacle;
the lid is closed, and in few minutes all
that was of the earth save the lime Of the
bones, has assembled in invisible vapor to the
skies. In an hour there is nothing left but a
few handfuls of calcined ashes and irregular
chips, Write and pure to the eye and touch.
There is not 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 present method, it is
clear they speak without knowledge or
thought"
"There is one think would much like you
to say" Mr.. Pitman, continued, land that is,
that there is far more sympathy accorded to
cremation than is generally believed.
Women, especially those Of sensitive na-
ture, are supposed to be dreadfully averse
to this revival Of incinerasion. It is the
greatest mistake I have here in this great
bundle of letters an expression of sympathy
that really surprised me. When my wife
died. and 1 complied with her request that
her body should be taken to DR.. LIE Moyne's
and disposed Of in his crematory, I received
a great many letters; those from women l
preserved. and were it not violating the con-
fdence of friendship I could give you q great
many extracts showing how widespread is
the sentiment in favor of crea1nation.
have letters here from the wives OF United
States senators, authors, artists, clergyman,
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 nay wife's de-
sires, and in almost every case say
ing how much preferable it seemed to
avoid the lugubrious and doleful customs in
cidental to burial, and how great seemed the
load removed from the mind when the dead
were thus transported to the skies instead of
permitting 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" Mr.. Putnam
me, but they make remarkable show Of tes
timony from those who are generally sup
posed to be the most averse to change incur
methods Of sepulture. II people wish to es-
cape the possible horrors of grave dissertation;
if they wish to avoid the almost equally
dreadful thought that our loved ones are
slowly becoming a mass of loathsome cor1up-
ton; if they wish to escape the nervezachng
association Of the customary burial, they will
be willing to think without prejudice of Gre
nation, its simplicity, its naturalness and its
economy"
"Another REFORM" continued MIR. Pitman,
twill grow out Of the dis1se Of the old method
and go hand in hand with she adoption of the
more seasonable mode Of disposing of our
dead. People will simplify and 'beautify our
funeral trips; they will get rid Of the custom
airy undertaken and all his do4orous devices,
his ugly black, his sentimental white, his alb
surd plumes and o5tentatious show. the
wearing of the regulation mourning is al
ready ignored by many Intelligent families,
and it will be more and more the
custom to avoid so senseless and costly
tradition. The whole thing is wretchedly in
consistent in professedly Christian people,"
Plugging Car E.onas OF Wheat.