San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-08-25
The Failure of Cremation.
From the Boston Advertiser.

|
| From the Boston Advertiser.
The recent cremation of Mr.. Court
land Palmer has called renewed at
| ten ton to a subject about which a
vast deal has been spoken and writ
| ten, but comparatively little done,
during the past dozen years. A short
time ago the New England Cremation
society filed petition in the clerks
office of the Massachusetts, supreme
court for leave to dissolve. And now
the San Antonio (Tex.) Times pub
fishes a statement from DIR. Lindner,
president of the Crematory association
of that city, to the effect that the
large and costly building erected
there, near the National cemetery, for
the purpose of burning dead bodies,
will probably have to be abandoned
for lack of financial support from the
public.
There is something very curious
and suggestive in the fact that promi-
nent individuals in two cities so wide
ly separated in space and in every
other way as Boston and San An .onio
should sanction movement like that
which endeavOrs to substitute crema-
ton for burial, and after vigorous
struggle should simultaneously give
up the effort. The officers Of the New
England society have been content to
quietly withdraw from a useless I'M
dertaking, but DR.. Lindner, of San
Antonio, expresses with some full
ness his idea of the difficulties in the
way of success.
OF these the most important is GER
tain shrinking in regard to the mat
ter, even on the part of the members
of the society themselves. The Doctor
says that more than 800 people 'of all
nationalities and creedsn have their
names on the roll, but that "many
will not speak of their belief publicly,
and others are afraid to tell their own
wives" A difficulty of a very differ
ent sort arises from the objection that
there are circumstances under which
it is necessary to eXhume the bodies of
the dead, and especially that incinera-
ton, if commonly practiced, might
sometimes prevent the discovery of
crime.
But it is evident, both from DR..
Lindner's remarks and from many
other sources of knowledge, that the
one great and hitherto insuperable OBJ
stacle in the way of the cremationists,
is that seems to conflict with deep
seated reverence for the dead. Some
may call it mere sentiment, but it
doubtless does exist. Never was any
movement which its promoters re-
garded as a reform more earnestly
pressed than this has been. Science
and reason alike are urged in its ia
vor. And they have mainly had the
field to themselves. The science
is not seriously disputed and
the reasoning remains for the
most part unchallenged. Prob
ably the great mistake has been made
along the lines of what are called SEN
timents. The advocates of cremation
would have done well to take hint
from one of their own chief argu-
ments. They are fond of remindingus
that among the Greeks in..heir most
splendid period, and al er e'S e the Ro-
mans under the empf q colematiOn
was the chief method upon t5loyed in
disposing of the human and hams. But
they seem to forget tn ecs the Greeks
and Romans surroundEoy the funeral
pyre with all the gracfIT5of poetry and
Imagination. 1t wa ehot until the
end of the fourth century that
that burial was gene ally adopted by
the Romans, and thin the change re-
suited from the sacredness with
which the grave Pad been invested by
the Hebrews, from whom the new re-
ligion came. 1t has sometimes APP
peared as if the men who were urging
and giving practical examples of ere
nation were disposed to strip from
the last solemn rites not only such
tokens as Christian faith provides, but
even such as were cherished in pagan
days.
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