Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-05-14
HIS ASHES TO THE WIND.
STRANGE FUNERAL RITES OVER
HENRY MEYERS REMAINS.

He Was Incinerated to the Music Of
Band-His Ashes Were Cast Into the
Air from the Statue of Liberty in New
/ YORK Harbcr-AII as He Directed.
A little white cloud doated out from
the head of the Statue of Liberty at A
O'Clock in the afternoon, and in it dis
appeared in the four winds of heaven
the remains Of Henry Meyer. hotel
keeper, of Staten Island
To be buried in this singular, half
I cynical fashion in midair, as it were,
1 was exactly as the dead man had often
I directed while he lived. AS he had
wished, his body vas cremated, his
handful of ashes was preserved in a box
until the next Sunday should come,
and then, with the popping of cham
payne bottles and expressions Of good
( will, but no grief, was cast from the top
I OF Liberty whenever il would 60. In
4 the clear sunshine of the beautiful day,
looking no bigger and Of no more i'm
\ portance than a puff Of cigar smoke,
1 the cloud hung for a moment under the
lee of the statue. Then the sharp north
/ west wind caught it, whirledit instantly
\ out Of sight in the direction Of the dead
mans old home, and that was the last
4 OF the body of Henry Meyer.
A jovial though an odd soul, and a
4 hotel keeper for thirty years at Port
Richmond, Mr.. Meyer was well known
to every Staten Islander and good
many other people, too. From the name
of his hotel he got to be called sEPuck'
I Meyer, so that his real first name was
I generally forgotten. He was skeptic,
a socialist, a strenuous advocate Of Gre
nation, a pretty good liver and man
Of great popularity in spite of thousand
\ peculiarities which viii be Staten Island
folk lore for generations.
Y No one saw Puck die. He was
found dead in his bed in the hotel on the
morning Of Feb. A. His wife was the
Z first to discover his death. AS his will,
made many years ago, directed, the body
I was taken to the Fresh Pond crematory,
/ on Long Island, two days later and in
cinerated. a committee from the Staten
Island Schuetzen corps, of which Meyers
had been a member, accompanied the
u
band
4 The body was dressed in the blue uni
( form of the Schuetzen corps, and after it
had been consumed the brass buttons
and other pieces Of metal whichithe fire
had not destroyed were preserved as
+ souvenirs The ashes, weighing little
more than three pounds, were of a
4 whitish color and as feathery as cigar
ashes They were carefully placed in a
round tin box and put IN charge Of First
Lieut. Moritz Wegerie Then, with the
band playing d lively air. the party re-
turned to Staten Island.
4 The special committee took the steam
I er Bay Ridge for Bedloe's Island.
To avoid curiosity Lieut. Wegerle had
! the tin box in brown Gladstone bag.
He swung this carelessly in his hand as
Y the party climbed to the top of the ped
( estal. Then they went outside the statue
on the stone platform surrounding it,
! and there the bag was opened and the
4 master of ceremonies disclosed four
I brown paper bags, each containing an
equal amount Of Meyers ashes. There
was a spoonful or two leftiin the bottom
of the case. which were saved for
4 "Puck's" married sister on Staten Island
at her request.
AS he handed around the bags Mr..
Rinschler made this speech:
"Here are the ashes of old Puck
Meyer He was a good man, beloved by
all never knew Of any wrong thing
he ever did,
Each man that got bag stuck it into
his pocket. Then the party proceeded
7 to climb the winding stairs to Libertys
head. Their movements, however, had
been observed by Watchman Horn, and
as they began the ascent he called out:
I "What have you got there? Puck
Meyer
CONSERVATION wa5 depicted on every
face until Horn shouted again: cts
all right. Go ahead, You can come
up" Up they went accordingly, but in
one of the sharp turns Capt. Fink who
is a portly man, got hopelessly stuck.
He handed his bag Of ashes to Mr.. Boehe
and went back to the pedestal. 1t had
been intended to throw the ashes from
the torch, tithat wssiInpossible. They
had forgotten the necessary iormality of
the special permit.
Each man took his station therefore IN
the head corresponding to the points of
the compass, and as each bag was emp
tied the members. cried, Here goes the
ashes Of Puck Meyer Happy daysp
'.Happy days to old Puck Meyer"
said Mr.. Rinschler.
s'He was a good fellow" remarked
Lieut. Wegerle.
tsVOr1srn rieybt ba xva- y ca11 tho nfhara
altogether, according to the prearranged
1 formula.
'Do You believe in the resurrection
asked one of the committee of u brother
member as they boarded the O'Clock
| boat
"Well, l guess there's something in
4 it, said the brother lacorHcally.
Then all I've got to say is that Puck
Meyer will f7ad hard job pulling him
self together when that day comes"
Meyer wasl So years old and came to
this country from Hamburg about thirty
five years ago. He was. one Of the first
volunteers from Staten Island on the
northern side during the rebellion. He
served through the war and got a wound
in his left leg ina skirmish IN Tennessee
He refused to let the surgeons amputate
his limb, although they said he couldn't
live unless he did, and brought the leg
and the rest of his body home safe and
sound st the erzd Of the war. He never
wore am overcoat, always wore a silk
hat the year round and always carried
cane. The Staten Island children al
most worshiped him.
Never provided in his will that his
| friends should have aschampagne supper
after SCI itering his ashes, but it was
found that no moneyIremained for this
In fact, the man died bankrupt. His
place at. Port Richmond was sold under
foreclosure the day after he died. He
left one,child, son 8 years old, by his
present wife. His life was. a fast and a
merry one, and his friends hardly knew
whether to laugh or cry over.his memory.
New York Herald.
He Takes the Cake for Ecoisomy.
There is a farmer in Wrfghtown town
ship who will perhaps in time get rich,