Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-06-02
CREMATION.
ThE POETRY AND rEOss OF At
The rrs,t,csl way OF Borning - nods =
"The Irsmor OF the kosy h,snt at
tho Last sad Hour.

"The irsmor OF the kosy Lisnt at
the Last sad Hour.
In response to many inquiries made as
to the practical way Of disposiug Of u
human body by cremation, aud 20 afford a
clear conception of it's effectiveness,
beauty and attractiveness--we copy from
pamphlet written by IAN Eye Wit.
ness " of the process, who had before re-.
garded it with repugnancc, but who had
been led by witnessing it TO DO most
earnest advocate
"a furnace fire is built aud kept burn
ing for twenty OF thirty hours before tho
, cremation took place. lmmediateIy ABOVE
| the fire is placed in horizontal position
| a cylinder of clay called the incnerator
| three feet In diameter by seven feet long
| This fire clay incucrator the walls Of
| which are from one to two inches thick,
receives to itself the intense heat Of the fire
below. but does not admit tho flames
| The consequence is that the body, when
| placed in the iucinsIatOr, Is not, III
| proper sense of the word, burned. II
| Is reduced To ashes by the cheml-
cal application of Intense heat. Gases are
driven off or absorbed, aud, being carried
down into tho fire from the tOclnerator
| and led back aud forth twenty five fee!
through it's ilames are utterly consumed,
Even the smoke of the fire is consumed,
aud nothing can be seen from the chimney
| but the qulvcr Of the heat. The process
might be called, ~ wo have said, the
| spri.ualizatiuu of the body, the ethereal.
| iIItiOn or sublImatiOn Ot its material
parts.
" When tho iuciUerator has been
haa 4 - =
for the reception of the remains. As
the cover is removed from ito mouth
the inrushiug air cools it FROM a
white to q red heat, aud the whole inner
surface IL filled with beautiful rosy light
which is fascinating To the eye. IL looks
like the blush of dawn upon the sky, or
like the exquisite tiuts which sometimes
flicker along the Aurora BOrealis. There
is nothing Tepulsiye about it, and nothing,
as has been said, 10 suggest the idea Of hru
except the intense heat.
The body, beng deceutly clad for burial
and tenderly laid III the crib provided for
the purpose. is wholly covered with q
clean white sheet which has been dIppd
in a solution of alum. The effect of this
is entirely TO prevent smoke or fumes or
flame, which would otherwise arise from
putting anything iphammablc into the
midst of such a heat; but under its pro-
lection, even the extraordinary heat of the
iucinerAtOr does not produce upon the
body the appearance Of scorching or
any thing Of tie sort. There is no such
impression as that of burning
made upon the eye. The sheet, saturated
with aium, retains it's original position
over the crib, and Conceals the entire form
until nothing but the bones are left and
when the eye first rests upon the remains
after they are lerl in the rosy light Of the
| cylinder, it sees nothing but these bOues
gently crumbliug away into dust uCder
| the mystic touch Of au Invisible agent,
| whose only appearance 70 the eye is like the
| tremor OF the northern lights in the sky
or, more exactly, the radiation Of heat
from the earth beneath the summers sun,
You have laid white rubed form
within the rosy cylinder and have turned
away to think with gratitude that
all is we'll You have let your imagination
dwell lovingly upon the pleasing seuti'
ment that whatever may be lett-bcsidet
calciued bones, most pure and clean-ha'
gone 70 miugle with the upper air anC
dwell with sunshine, birds aud flowers
The darkness and dampness of the eartt
have been escaped, aud 50 have the per!s
OF grave snatching, the indccenGits
of possible dssectng room, ADD
the nameless horrors Of putrefac
tiou. You have pleasant memories
| 10 cherish OF the last sad hour which
instead Of breathing darkness and the
narrow house and the dreadful thud Of
falling earth upon the coffin, presents to
mind lovely bed Of rosy light, and 4
peaceful form clad in virgin purity resting
within its soft embrace. Ii lily had
been laid upon a bed Of pinks or roses, iu
the summer, and you had seen its frag
rance aud its beauty all exhaled amid the
shimmering beams of radated hea
beneath the touch of some invisible auC
gentle agency, you would have had no
dissimiar experience. Aud this is neithe
painful to the eye, nor distressing to tn,
sensibilities, nor ungrateiul 10 tn
memory"