Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-23
Friday, January 23, 1885.
CREMATION.

A lew years ago when the burning of the
 dead began to be talked about in this l country the idea of cremation excited much
 horror and protest. But now it finds great
 many outspoken and earnest advocates, and
 crematories will probably be found before long near many if not all of the large cities of l the land.
 l A very interesting and valuable plea in l favor of cremation has just been made bv Dr. J. O. Marble of Worcester, who is doing
 all he can to help t'the cause' along. His 1 plea is especially interesting because it con- talns extracts from letters received by him rom men of known religious opinions, who are heartily in favor of cremation Prefacing his letters by the preliminary statement that
 among English cremationists are many prom
 inent members of the Church of England and that in Italy jealous Roman Catholics
 advocate this form of disposition of the body,
 he calls attention to the fact that in this
 country the late Professor Gross of Philadel-
 phia was a churchman as we'll as an early
 advocate of cremation; that the president of
 the Cremation society of Brooklyn is clergy
 man, and that the new crsmatory at Lancas
 ter, Pennsylvania, dedicated by religious services, in which two of the local orthodox pastors united. The first letter which he publishes is from the Rev. Samuel May, who says:
 I certainly regard the reduction of the life less body to its original clements, whether by fire or by other chemical process, as a question of real reform-as a step forward in civilization. In all thickly settled communi- ties 1t seems to me measure of needful sanitation and safety-one of such present and pressing importance that a beginning both of discussion and practice should be made made as soon as possible. =. Whether in coffin or in urn, the remains can be placed in the grave or other mortuary structure there, and then now the memorial stone may be ''still erected high" People will not be slow to see which is the surer way to 1 guard those remains from violation or give them the greater permanence. l
 He next quotes the following letter from | the Rev. John J. Power, rector of St. Pauls | church, Worcester who writes:
 The resolution of poor humanity into ifs original dust, without passing through the state of putrefaction, whether this be procured by fire quicklime or any 1 other chemical, seems to me wholly unob- lectlonable, and for many reasons desirable l and sometimes even necessary.
 Another letter is from Professor Charles Thompson, formerly the president of the I Worcester Technical school, now of the Rose Polytechnic institute of Terre Haute, Ind, who writes:
 am in favor of the practice, especially as t can now be done by the Siemens process. The whole question which you discuss so airly seems to me often influenced more by 1 ace traits and personal caprice than by req on and sound judgment. If there was ever reasonable change proposed in hoary GUS ons 1t is the one you urge.
 One of the strongest letters which Dr. Mar 'le presents is from one oe whom he says: The eminent clergyman whom invite next I $ a witness would probably be the very last l nan in this community to give countenance 0 any cause tainted with infidelity or disre- pect for the dead" This is the Rev. C. M. t 4amson, ot Worcester, who says: II
 With me every sentiment is in favor of : remation. The thought of decay in the arth shocks me. There is no glad way of lsposlng of the bodies of dear ones in which l ' 7e have felt the soul of love, but cremation | eems the least bad. For myself I should 1 I refer going into the air and trees refined by re-this seems clean-to lying in the earth C source of poison to the waters that have a [ ight to pure passage in the ground. These letters indicate the progress of the lea of cremation very clearly. It will prob ply not be long before the burning of the r cad is so common in this country as not to I xcite special attention. s