The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1884-06-13
Cr~Mation.

The following graphic account OF
burning tue dead was written by
an eyewitness OF the process, who
had before regarded H with repug-
nance, but was converted, by wit.
Messing it, into an earnest advo.
cate;
"a furnace fire Is built aud kept
burning for twenty or thirty hours
before the cremation is to take
place. Immediately above tue fire
is placed in a horizontal position
cylinder of clay called the incin.
orator, three feet in diameter by
seven feet long. This hre.clay in.
cinerator, the walls OF which are
FROM one OF two iuches thick, re.
eeives to itself the intense heat ot
the fire below, but does not admit
the flames. The consequences is
that the body when placed in the
incinerator, is not, In a proper
sense OF the word, burned. II 10
reduced to ashes by the chemical
application Of intense heat. Gases
are driven off or absorbed, and,
being carried down iuto the hre
from the incinerator aud led back
and forth twenty-five feet through
it's flames, are utterly consumed.
Even the smoke oi the fire is con.
sumed, aud nothing can be seeu Is.
suing from the chimney but the
quivcr of the heat. The process
might be called, as We have said,
the spiritualization Of tho body,
the liberalization or subllmation
oil its material parts.
"When the incinerator has been
raised TO white heat it Is read,
for the reception of the remains.
AS the cnver Is removed from It's
mouth the inruslng air cools it
from white to red heat, aud the
whole inupr service is filed with n
beautiful rosy light, which Is fisci
mating to the eye. IL looks like th,
blush OF dawn upon the sky, ol
like the exquisite tints which some
tines flicker along the aurora DO
realis. There in nothing repulsiv,
about it, aud nothing, MS has beef
said, to suggest the idea of fire ex
cept the intense heat.
"The body, being decently clad
for burial aud tenderly laid In th,
crib for the purpose, is holly cover
ell with n clean white sheet which
has been dipped IN u solution ol
alum. The effect OF this is entire
| ~ to prevent smoke or fumes ol
flame, whi:h would otherwise arise
from putting anything iniiimmalit
into the midst OF such u heat, but,
under its protection, even the ex
tia0rdinay heat OF the incineratol
does not produce npon the body
the appearances of scorching oI
smoking or anything OF the sort
There is no such impression asthai
OF burning made upon the eye
The sheet, saturated with alum, re
tains it's original position over the
crib, aud c0nceals the entire form
until nothing but the bones ar,
left; and when the eye first rest,
upon the remains after they are
left Ia the rosy light ct the cylin
der, it sees nothing bnt those bone,
gently crumbling away into dus
uh'ler the mystic touch OF au invis
ible agent, whose only appea:anc,
to the eye is like the tremor of th,
northern lights in the sky, or th,
radiation OF heat from the earth he
meath the summers suu. Youshav,
laid a white-robe,l form within tn
rosy cylinder and have turned ava,
TO think with gratitude that all /
we'll. You have let your imagina
ton dwell lovingly upon the pleas
ing sentiment that whatever ma,
be lei't-beside tho calcined bones
most pure and clean--has gone t
mingle With the upper air an
dwell with the sunshine, birds AM
flowers. The darkness aud th
dampness OF The earth have beel
! escaped, and so have the perils o
grave.sliatching, the indeceucies o
, possible dissecting room and th
, nameless horrors of petrefactiou
You have pleasant memories t
|, cherish of the last sad hour
, which, instead of 'breathless dark
! ness and the narrOww house, an,
the dreadful thud Of falling cart
, upon tue coffin, presents to mind
: lovely bed of rosy light, and
peaceful form, clad in virgin pnrit,
, resting within its soft embrace.
! u lily bud been laid upon u bed @
, pinks or roses ~ the summer, am
you bad seen Its fragrance and II
beauty all exhale amid the shin
! mering beams of radlated heat b,
meath the touch OF some invisibl
| and gentle agency, you would hay
7 had u not dissimilar experience
! And this is neither painful to III
/ eye, nor distressing to the scnsibi
tiles, nor ungratetul to the men
\ ory."
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/ A Western nnner nnnnnncei