Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-02-06
BURNING THE DEAD.
Ine Cremaforfum at Washington, PA.
and How it is Operated.

newspaper correspondent at Washington.
| Pa, writes:
While cremation means of disposing Of
the bodies of the dead is yet novelty to most
communities, and is in many places looked
| upon with the utmost disfavor it Is here an es-
| tablished and approved institution. No one
here looks upon it with more of curiosity. and
few with more of disfavor, than upon a church
burying-ground. The Lemoyne crematorium
here was the pioneer establishment of the kind
continued up TO the present date: Washington,
"a, or Little Washington" as it is called in
Pittsbnrg and Whereabouts to distinguish it
from Washington, d. c., is a borough of some
six thousand Inhabitants, situated thirty miles
south of Pittsburg. Its college was in former
iarnin Fl. Bristow and other men Of note are
alumni OF 1t. But OF late the crematorium has
risen up as a rival. This lies little to the
courthouse. In external appearance the build
ing resembles small brick country school
house, and one unacquainted with its real pur-
pose might easily mistake it for such an edifce.
Within are two rooms one containing the fur
mace and the retort for the body, the other
fitted up with chairs and tables as q reception
room for the friends OF the deceased.
The act OF cremating is very simple A fire
is kindled in the furnace about forty-eight
hours before the body is to be subjected to the
heat: In this time the temperature Of the re-
tort is raised to very high degree and its fire
clay walls become white hot. The corpse is
men introduced and in twelve hours nothing
is left of it but ashes. The flues in the retort
are so constructed as to carry the fumes from
the body down into the furnace fire where they
are consumed. Outside and surrounding the
building no unpleasant odors can be detected,
and the same is true in the reception-room.
The The crematory was built and completed in
1876. On December of that year the remains
OF Baron de Palm were the first TO undergo ere
nation in il. The day u stormy and cold
one, but notwithstanding, an cage. crowd of re-
porters and citizens waited hours for their turn
to take Il look at the di,integrating body. Since
that time many cremations have taken place,
n ,hpr
the bodies thus disposed of was that of Dr. F. J.
l.emoyne, the builder OF the crematOry, who
had it erected at his own expense, and to whose
heirs the property now belongs.
DIR. Lemoyne was an enthusiast in all he adj
vocated. He figured prominently in the anti
slavery agitations before the war, and he seemed
to believe just as honestly in cremation. Being
in easy circumstances and having dropped his
medical practice in later years. it was his de-
llgnt 10 get some attentive ear into which ne
could pour his arguments in favor Of burning
the dead. Once ortwice, though feeble with age
and disease, he appeared publicly in the town
nation and challenge DEBATE. The two consid-
eratiOns on which he laid much stress were its
heaithiulness and cheapness: The cemetery OF
the borough is situated high hill lust wit h.
out its limits to the southwest. He cOntended
that the water used by the people in the SOUTH
ern end of the town was largely impregnated
with secretions and gases from the decayng
bodies But 1t must be said that the vital stats
tics of the place never indicated any such thing.
The idea of burning the dead was at first re-
pulsive to the people here. When it became
known that DR.. Lemoyne was going to build a
crematory there was vigorous opposition. This,
however, soon died away and gave place largely
to q feeling OF Indifference. For some years
the cremations that took place were almost
altogether al, OF bodies from other places. But
arisen during the past two or three years there
is perceptible advance in public sentiment
here in favor OF cremation, and il is deemed
not unlikely that the crematOrium will eventu-
ally supersede the borough cemetery in local
favor as place for disposing OF the bodies Of