Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-06-11
CREMATION.
The Process OF Barnfnz the Dead
nysdiy De<rrfbed.


The following graphic account Of
burning the dead was written BY an eye
witness of the process, who had before
regarded il with repugna,ce. but who
was converted BY witnessing IL into an
earnest advocate
a furnace fire is huilt and kept burn
ing for twenty or thirty hours before
creu alton is to take place. Immediately
above the fire Is placed, in horizontal
position. a cylinder of clay. called the
incinerator, three feet in diameter by
seven feet long. This fre-clay iuciner
ator, 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 the flames. The consequeuc e
Il that the body, when placed in the In
cinerator, is not IN the proper sense OF
she word burned. II is reduced to ashes
by the chemical application of intense
heat. Gases are driven of or absorbed,
and. being carried down into the tire
| from the lncinerator, and fed back and
forth - feet through the flames, are
utterly consumed. Even the smoke of
the fire Is consumed, and nothing can
be seen issuing from the chimney sut
| the QuIver of the heat. The process
| might be called, as We have said, the
capitalization OF the body, the ethere-
| alization or sublImation of its material
parts.
When the incinerator has been
| raised TO a white beat IL is ready for the
| reception of the remains. As the cover
| IL removed from its mouth the thrush
ing air cools il from a white to red
heat, and the whole inner surface Is
filled with a beautiful rosy light which
is fascinating to the eve. 1t looks like
the blush of dawn upon the sky, or like
the exquisite tInts which sometimes
flicker along the aurora borealis. There
~ nothing repulsive about 1t. and mott
ing, a. has been said, to suggest the
idea of fire only the intense heat.
The body. being decently clad for
burial, and tenderlv laid in the crib for
the purpose, is wholly covered with a
clean white sheet which has been
dipped in a ISOLATION of alum. The
effect Of this is entirely to prevent
smoke or fumes or fame, which would
otherwise arise from putting anything
inHammable into the midst of such a
heat: but, under its protection, even
the extraordinary heat of the incinera-
tor does not produce upon the body the
appearance of scorching or smoking or
impression as that of burning made
upon the eye. The sheet, saturated
with alum, retains its original position
over the crib, and conceals the entire
, form until nothing tut the bones are
left, and when the eye first rests upon
, the remains after they are left in the
rosy light of the cylinder it sees nothing
but these bones gently crumbling lnto
dust under the mystic touch of an i'll
visible agent, whose only appearance to
the eye IL like the tremor of the north
ern lights of the sky; or, more exactly,
the radiation of heat from the
earth beneath the summers sun. You
have laid a white robed form within the
cylinder, and have turned away with
gratitude that all is well. You have lei
: your imagination dwell lovingly upon
the pleasing sentiment that whatevt
I may be lelt-besides the calcined bones,
most pure and clean-has gone to min
gle with the upper air and dwell with
sunshine, birds and flowers. Tbs dark
ness and the dampness of the earth have
been escaped. and so have tho perils Of
grave snatchIng, the indecencies of a
possible dissectlng room and the name
less horrors of putrefaction. You have
pleasant memories to cherish of the last
+ sad hour, which, instead of 'breathless
| darkness and the marrow house ans
: the dreadful thud of falling coffin, pre-;
sents to mind lovely bed of rosy light
and peaceful form, clad in virgin
. purity, resting within it's soft embrace
J IL lily had been laid upon bed OF
pink roses in the summer, and you had
seen it's fragrance and its beauty all OK
hale among the shimmering beams ol
rAdiated heat beneath the touch of some
, invisi 10 and gentle agency, you woulc
8 have had a not dissimilar experience
And this is neit6er painful to the eye
T nor distressing to the seusibilities, no.
, ungrateful TO the memory"