, 1889-02-22
TIE ASHES OF THE DEAD.
URNs FOR PRESERVING THE RE-
MAINS OF THE DEPARTED.

CREMATION SfDAlnE IN EAfor.
Urns for the ashes of the dead are
more in demand To- than ever before
in modern times. Their manufacture
has become an important industry in the
potteries. of East Liverpool, o., about
forry 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 n shroud of asbestos, the Egyptians
one of amianth and even the scientific
Mr.. cassie suggested a inc coffin, that
metal being volatile. But earthen urns
were most generally used. Yet great
from the ravages of weather and in
truders. The Romans had n chamber
partitioncd off purposely for sepulchral
uses. il was known as The c~olumbarium,
and was surrounded by small holes or
inches, in which the urns were deposited.
The columbarium resembled the dove
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
CONtIth III lC1tll 1Gdlb, SOIlllllCu W
urns in every niche, with the names of
the persons whose ashes were there in
scribed over them.
ANCIENT n MODERN URNs.
And so in the United States today urns
of earthenware are exclusively used after
incinerations. The potters of East Liv-
erpool have n separate line of apparatus
for their manufacture, and put into the
vessels the very best kind of materials,
SO that they may be 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, the other is ornamented with
flourish lines, the representation of ivy
leaves, or, in a few instances, with scrip
tural figures. These varieties are in
tended 10 suit tho different intentions of
keeping the 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 final 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. The ashes of others who have
beer cremated in Pittsburg have been
simply buried in the graveyards or
placed in mausoleums. There used to be
a 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 peo-
pie the urn is the symbol of refinement,
even in a doctrine that is questionable to
many.
THE COST OF ENUMERATION.
Tl,a-, ,,,ttnrsna 90 IN,et + fr,rNA,1 , - l,,t
a short distance across the country from
the first crematory ever erected in the
United States. That is at Washington,
Pa, only thirty miles from st. Pittsburg.
1t was put up 10y DIR. Julius lie Moyne not
more than twelve years ago. For two
years afterward the incinerations 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 f~avopTDf Americans since
then that today there are furnaces In
operation at Lancaster, Pa, Buffalo, n.
Y, and Pittsburg, Pa. One society,
which has also erected q crematory at
Fresh Pond, L. l., has about 800 men,
6erS. Similar societies exist in nearly
all the large cities, and so common have
inCinerations become that half of them
are never heard of. The use of natural
gas in burning the body at the furnace
in Pittsburg has SO largely reduced the
cost of an incineration and the attendant
ceremonies that expense is. now nc
hindrance t. the method, at 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 $40 for the
whole service. 1t is said, however, that
in Japan the natives have reduced the
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
han fifteen centuries, been brought to
light at q time when learned men 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 EtruTia and the graves of Greece.
Most of the figures of deities, the sepul-
chral ones deposited with the dead, and
a few vases for household purposes were
made of this porcelain. 1t was at a later
period that figures of deities were
modelled in terra Gotta The objects most
remarkable in this material for size are
the large cofiins found at Warka (sup-
posed by some to be the Ur of the Chal-
dees). with oval covers, and ornaments
of the Sassanian period.-Pittsburg COR
st. Louis Globe-Democrat.