, 1889-03-13
THE H OF THE DEAD.
URNs FOR PRESERVING THE RE-
MAINS OF THE DEPARTED.

try mt East Liverpool. o. Something
About the Vessels Used by the AncIents-
cremation Growing in Favor.
Urns for the ashes of the dead are
more in demand o than ever before
in modern times. Their manufacture
has become an important industry in the
potterics Of East Liverpool, o., about
forty miles west of this city. As Gre
nation grows in popularity the necessity
for these vases increases. AT first some
difficulty was experienced in keeping
the ashes of the human body free from
foreign materials. Even in ancient
periods that was a problem. The Greeks
used a shroud Of asbestos, the Egyptians
one of amianth and even the scientific
Mr.. cassie suggested a zinc coffin, that
metal being volatile. But earthen urns
were most generally used. Yet great
care was taken to protect these urns
from the ravages of weather and in
truders. The Romans had a chamber
partitioned off purposely for sepulchral
uses. 1t was known as the columbarium,
and was surrounded by mail holes or
inches, in which the urns were deposited.
The columbarium resembled the love
cote of today. Tombs of this description
were chiefly owned by the wealthy
families for depositing the ashes of their
slaves and dependents. Several of them
are still to be seen at Rome. One, dis
covered in recent years, contained two
urns in every niche, with the names of
the persons whose ashes were there in
scribed over them.
ANCIENT AND MODERN URNs.
And so in the United States today urns
of e-arthenwaro are exclusively used after
ncinerations The potters of East Liv-
erpool have a separate line of apparatus
for their manufacture, n put into the
vessels the very best kind of materials,
so hat they may he preserved an in
definite length of time. Care Is taken
to have the ~fastenings for the covering
perfectly air tight. Two designs of urns
are made for the trade. One is wholly
plain, tho other is ornamented with
flourish lines, the representation of ivy
leaves, or, in a few instances, with scrip
tural figures. These varieties are in
tended1o suit the different intentions of
keeping tho urn in the houses of the liv-
ing, inclosing it in the vaults in the
cemeteries, or interring it in ordinary
graves. All three methods of ina dis
position are pursued In this country.
One very rich and influential family, for
merly residents of this city, keep the
urn containing the ashes of the father
wrapped in an American flag and sitting
upon the top of his old secretary in the
library. Tho ashes of others who have
been cremate1 in Pittsburg have been
simply buried in the graveyards or
placed in mausoleums. There used to be
n custom among the Digger Indians of
scattering the ashes to the winds, or to
smear them with gum upon the heads of
the mourners. But among civilized poo
pie the urn is the symbol of refinement,
ven in n doctrine that is questionable to
many.
THE COST OF INCINERATIoN.
These potteries of East Liverpoolarebut
a shor distance across the country from
tho first crematory ever erected in the
United States. hat is at Washington,
Pa, only thirty miles from st. Pittsburg.
1t vas put up by DIR. Julius LIE Moyne not
more than twelve years ago. For two
years afterward the ncincrations which
were conducted there attracted wide
spread attention on the subjects being
brought from prominent families all over
the country. So rapidly has cremation
progressed in favor of Americans since
then that today there are furnaces In
operation at Lancaster, Pa, Buffalo, N.
Y, n Pittsburg, Pa. One society,
which has also erected q crematory at
Fresh Pond, l.. l., has about 300 MEM
bers. Similar societies exist in nearly
all the large cities, and SO common nave
incinerations become that half of them
l dIO heNtE lCuIu Vi. Inc ube OF NATURAL
gas In burning the body at the furnace
in Pittsburg has SO largely reduced the
cost of an incarceration and the attendant
ceremonies that expense is. o no
hindrance to the method, ut least in this
city. In other places, where they have
not got the wonderful fuel we have, the
cost, although higher, does not exceed
81 for the incarceration and S45 for the
whole service. 1t Is said, however, that
Il in Ionan tho nattrna La.r4 rNI,,.a1 A.
cost to 81.
EGYPTIAN VASES.
AS intimated above, the most prevalent
material In all ages for vases for the
ashes of the dead has generally been
baked clay. Multitudes Of Greek sepul-
chral urns have, after a lapse of more
than fifteen centuries, been brought to
light at a time when learned mon can
appreciate them and gather from them
valuable information in history and
archaeology. Egyptians made these
earthen vases at such early times that
they are contemporary with the pyramids
themselves. But the most remarkable
Egyptian pottery for burial purposes was
the SO called porcelain, made of fine
sand, or frit, loosely fused together, and
covered with a thick silicious glaze of
blue, green, white, purple or yellow
color. Objects were not only made out
of this material for the dead, but for the
toilet of the living, too. But for the first
object they were used most. They were
exported from Egypt to the neighboring
countries, and are found alike in the
tombs of the Greek isles, the sepulchers
of EtIuria and the graves Of Greece.
Most of the figures of deities, the sepul-
chral ones deposited with the dead, and
n few vases for household purposes were
made of this porcelain 1t vas at q later
period that figures of deities were
modelled in terra Gotta The objects most
remarkable in this material for size are
the large collins found at Warka (sup-
posed by some to be the Ur of the Chal-
dces). with oval overs. and ornaments
of the Sassanian period.-Pittsburg Cor.
st. Louis Globe Democrat.
Doubt Frightening Into Hops,
And hope into certainty, is the pleasing