Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-12-18
ASHES OF THE CREMATE0.
What tn DO with the Urns becoming .
Question nj the Day.

What to DO with the Urns becoming
Question nj the Day.
Tho nnciepts SETTLED this question
nv placiuQ the cinerary urn either IN
n. own receptacle dedicated 70 the
uotis or In n "columbarium," which wan
. Lind Of stone cupboard with many
partitions. Such modern nations -
The Hindoos and Japanese, who Largely
follow the practice OF cremation, piace
the few relics left by the flames in .
vessel OF pottery ind deposit 1t either
temporarily or for good In their tenn
nles. Sometimes the selected ashcs,
After reposing in the SOLEMN spot, arc
thrown into holy river, such as inc /
Jumna or the Ganges, and in this way
no embarrassment arises. The custom
seems universal Of desiring to preserve
some little portion OF the scanty rag
ments left by the fire. With the lin
doos a whitencd bone or two sufhces,
but the Greeks gathered up oil ana
pIaced it in somewhat larger vessels
than the vases or boxes used in India
and Japan.
Every scholar recollects the touching
passage in Sophoclcs, where Orestes'
disguised brings back to his royal SIS
ter the funeral urn supposed to contain
his own remains. 1t may be doubted,
In spite of the reverence paid to the
classic morals, whether what Sophocles
writes was high dramatic art lie
makes Orestes relate long-winded
and utterly false story of how he HIM
self was smashed to pieces in chariot
race, and then he lets the lady go into
passionate and eloquent grief through
. hundred lovely iambic lines, shedding
tears as much wasted MS the water
from rainspout. Still, the Greeks evi.
IDENTIFY found much that was graceful
and tender in the two handouts OF
white dust shut in a little urn" and
they lavished art upon the receptacles
and knew where to put them.
With us, however, il the fashion
spreads there really must be some ar
rangement. In large family-through
long lapse of years, visited, perhaps,
by recurrcnt influenza-the collection
Of departed relatives committed to oil
sorts Of urns, vases and jars might be-
come a real inconvenience. Even II q
special cnbinet were ncviscd, with sep
|
ers-in-law, and SO on, the difficulty al
times of letting the house or leaving II
for another would be likely to prove
extreme. Besides, there would always
be this danger, which has just befallcI
France, of losing an ancestor or kins
man in transit; nor do we know b,
> what rule parliament itself could de
eide how to conciiate the value which
lover might put upon the remnants o
his mistress, on n residuary lcgatee up
ON the ashes of the millionaire who ha'
enriched him, with the comparative in
difference that railway companies an
common carriers would be inclined ;
show toward such goods. Clearly Their
would have to be tariff, but in draw
. ing up that tariff what puzzling quel
- tions might arise! How could we est
. mate the respective prices OF aunt
!, cousins and second cousins, or draw
"a pecuniary distinction between the n
y mains Of second, third or fourth hu
band CT widow?
II, as has been said, the ministers
!. various denominations have declined
find place of deposit for these interes
!, ing memorials the difficulty will real
:. press for solution rs the practice Of or
s, nation extends, and it must be born
!. - in mind, although new grief might fiji
= n certain mournful pleasure in havir
"a its lost ones ornamcnting the residen
in exquisite porcelain of Scvrcs or Sa
80 suma, still this feeling wears off, al
"a many people might be glad to have
-. better place for all that was mortal
"a an uncle or grandfather than Il
A parlor mantelpiecc or the Chippenda
4 whatnot.