Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-10-08
Especial Correspondence.l

Special Correspondence.
 PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 2.-What is re- gartled by minimizing persons as modern method of disposing of the dead-that of crcmation--is only return to the one wisely employed by the ancients for a sim liar purpose, but it may be remarked that the crematory of the nineteenth century is as great an improvement, scientifically considered, over those employed in the days of Rome and Greece as is electricity ahead of the rushlight or steam is an advance over the crude primitive motors in use by our forcfathCrs. Now that the natural advantages of dispOsing of the dead by cremation have been dcmonstrat- cd iacinoratiOn is being more widely adopted, and il is only question of time when the barbarOuS custom of pOlluting the soil ny hurials will be altogether su- pcrscded by The moro clCanly. pure, health full and natural method of cremation. At the present time II states of the Union have organized crCmatory companies, built crcmatoricS. and more than 3, 900 bodies have bccn disposed of by cremation. So ciCtiCs have sprung up in nearly all the leading cities. the members of which have pledged themselves to have their bodies incincratcd. sO that in the comparatively early future far grratcr demands will be madc upon the crcmatories than are made at present.
 Modern Cremation.
 The important fact should not be over looked that cremation is not the burning of dead bodies by contact with flames or fuel. CrCmation is dccomposition-quick, artifcially assisted decomposition through the agency of extreme heat. It does in three or four hours what nature would take months to do under the most favora- bio conditions. The body is composed of certain gases, fluids and solids. Dccom- position is the separation of the cOnstitu- Cnt clements of the combination, the re- solving of it into its original gases and solids. By cremation the solids, as pure as snow, arc urnCd and preserved for ages. By burial the time eventually arrives when no VCStigc of an ancestors form can bo found. In modern cremation the body is quickly rCducpd by extreme heat to gases. There arc three staGes-CyapOra- tion, decomposition and incineration Briefly, the method employed is this: The body, in its funeral dress, is removed from the coffin in the preparation room. It is carefully wrapped in large linen sheet that has been saturated with alum. It is then placed in a steel crib, and the crib is by mechanical means slid into the retort where the CrCmatiCn takes place. The re- tort, made of firc clay. has already been heated To n r;sSy glow by several hours fir ing. bcgun pr, v-nu~ly and continued dur ing tho Pr,s,s~ of crcmatiOn- There are no flames in the rrtoTt nor any fuel. They arC outside and around the retOrt and are invisible There iS no impression of a roaring furnace. nothing to jar upon the nerves of sensitive persons. The crib con tainiu2; tho pIuains virtually suspcnds them in a current of Supcrhcatcd air of a temperature ranging from ?, GOO to ?, 700 dCgT,,s. and this air is constantly passing through Ilr rvtOrt. After the crib has bsCn plac I within the door iS tightly seal ed, hut ti.,. inside of the rctort may be vicw,d through q little window of mica.
 The Process of Reduction.
 The fiI~t , f, cc of tho heat is to evapo- rate all the fluids of the body. These cvap- orarcd fluids arise in dense cloud of steam, which is carried of by ducts The gases, dGCompu~,d and set free by the heat, pass directly out of the rctOrt through a small opening in the rtHr and circulate 50 ;O Ia>S through the flaming fir, the body thus contributing fuel for its own r,tiUctipn- The gs>s's arc purified by their C,nII,t with fire and their noninlamma- blc parts. absolutely without color or ot!or, pass of through ducts into the outer air at an elevation whCTc nature cIrCs for them.
 The bOdy may again be sCCn through the mica window as soon as the steam has clrard away. II is apparently unchanged except that il is in a rosy glow, and the alum saturated winding sheet. now ready