Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-01-03
own within a radius CT 10 miles or

more.
Committees had in charge the various
branches of the preliminary work, some
securing attractions, others disposing
of privileges, etc, and others making
collections, and so forth. The collec-
tions were an important part. Every
person who could derive any benefit
from the presence of the crowds was re-
quired To subscribe in proportion to the
benefits Thus some subscriptions We're
as high as $3.50 and others as low as so
cents. but every one gave something,
and there was soon a fund guaranteed
of such value rs to cover all expenses
before any We're incurred
After the first announcement of the
street fair it was the esubject of conversa
ton foremost i'll the minds of the citi-
Zens, and it is not to be wondered at
that it should be the great success it
proved.
The street fair idea is said to be a
new thing, but it is i'll fact only new to
certain localities, many of the towns Of
Europe, for instance, having had such
things for centuries. But of course this
is All improvement over anything for
eigner could think of. Among these
European affairs is the jahrlnarkt, or
year market. held every fall. The peas
an,s'erect booths and display wares for
sale and indulge i'll high carnival gen.
orally. Then, too, i'll Berlin, where they
have the jairmarkt, they also have the
Wcihnachts markt, or Christmas mar
ket, which is held during the holidays
i'll the square Of the royal palace. In
Switzerland, England, Ireland and Scot
land such things as free street eNhibi-
tions and markets frequently take place.
New and Interesting Argument Pro
sentcd by Sir Francis Haticn.
1t cannot be said that cremation has
gained many converts during the last
few years. In spite of the one great ar
gulnent addnced in its favor-namely,
that earth burial is insanitary-pcople
have gone OH burying their dead III the
old way. The hygienic objection to
earth burial has been ignored rather
than comhated-in fact, many intelli-
gent people who would still insist on
the old mode of burial in the case Of
their own relatives would nevertheless
admit that the contention of the crema-
tionists rests on Il basis of fact
But in an address the other day at a
meeting of tine British Institute of Pub
lie Health Sir Francis Seymour Haden
took issue with the crcmationists on
that very point. He declared in the
strongest language that earth burial, if
properly conducted can never endanger
the health Of the living, and carried the
war into Africa by asserting that crema-
ton is itself insanitary, and therefore
so serious Il menace othe public health
that it ought to be prohibited by law.
The earth, he maintained, is the one
great purifier and renovator There re-
sides i'll the soil the chemical power of
forming new and innocuous combina-
tions out of the poisonous and miasmatic
substances buried in it. Not only that,
but the earth needs to be enriched by
the restoration to it of dead matter,
whose substance was drawn from it by
the protoplaslnic energy of life. SO
that, if all the etfete residuum of the
world We're to be burned, the earth
would soon be deprived, according to
Sir Francis. of the chemical elements
that support life, and all life would
cease.
1t would perhaps be the wisest course
for outsiders to let the distinguished
English scientist and the cremationists
fight this question out, as indeed III all
Likelihood they will. 1t is pertinent to
observe, however, that it is not the
purely speculative question that it may
seem to bo at first. 1t has a practical
application as we'll. If the contention of
Sir Seymour Haden is true, then the
system of burning garbage, so frequent>
ly advocated and i'll many cities adopt
cd, is unwise, fer it is destroying valu-
able nutrient elements that ought to be
returned to the soil. On the same theory
the practice of throwing the garbage
into the sea, i'll vogue in this city, is
even more vicious, so far as it's effect on
the soil is concerned. AS will be seen,
therefore, the question here raised is one
Of the greatest practical interest and i'm
portance and should be carefully con-
sidered by all cities that contemplate
the burning of their garbage. New
York Tribune