The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-17
"A PALACE OF Death.
"A NEW SYSTEM OF ENToMeMENT
ABOUT TO BE ADOPTED.

Security Against Grave Robbers and Pre-
mature BuriaI-Ths Undertaksrs and
Oonsn Makers Fear Monopoly and Op-
pose tho New scheme.
! The health board of the city Of New
York recently gave its sanction to a now
mode Of disposing of tho remains of tho
dead. which will doubtless Gro long be
adopted In other cities throughout tho
Union.
The sanitary committee Of this board
has approved the plans Of the New
lNausoleum company for the establish
ment of q sanitary mausoleum near
High Bridge. The mausoleum Is to
|hsve capacity Of from 10000 to a.
900 bodies.
It is proposed TO entomb the dead In
lcement receptaoles. The bodies are TO
be exposed for several months TO cur
rent Of afr made chemically dry by pass
ling IL over sulphurio aoid, tho air to be
purified afterward by hre. When the
body is thoroughly desiooated the reoep-
taole is to be made alright The COM
pany submitted . dossh plans to the
health board, all Of which were ap-
proved by the sanitary committee, and
the whole board will pass upon the
Ischeme.
DR.. George b. Fowler, chairman Of
the sanitary committee, 10 enthusiastic
over the new method of burial, and he
believes that 1t is eminently sanitary.
Dr.. Charles Roberts, the sanitary super
intendent Of the health board, IL of the
same opinion. The new mausoleum is
70 be 270 feet long, 75 feet deep and
three stories high. The interior will re-
semble that Of we'll appointed library.
with q main corridor and diverging
halls leading TO the different sections.
The sepulchers will be Of solid con-
crete, four inches thick, without seam
or joint, and little larger than an or.
dinafy coffin. They will be arranged in
tiers OF six ON either side Of the hall
ways The opening into each sepulcher
will be provided with two doors. The
inner door. Of plate glass, Is to be her.
metioally sealed after the space is oocu-
pied. The outer door will be Of bronze.
A portion Of the proposed mausoleum
will be arranged for families, with sep
arate compartments and sets of sepul-
chers. The mausoleum will also have O
chapel, where funeral ceremonies may
be held, as is now done at the cremato.
ry at Fresh Pond, N. Y. Each sepul-
cher will be numbered and registered,
and there will be abureau where rec-
ords will be kept of those whose re-
mains arc entombed, including the
birth. parentage, marriage, time Of
death and other data.
One Of the advantages claimed for
the new system is that of security
against grave robbers. A novel feature
Is that for protection against premature
entombment An electrical apparatus II
to be provided and 80 adjusted to each
body that the slightest movement will
sound an alarm that cannot fail to be
heard by the watchman. There will al
so be an indicator connected with the
electrical apparatus, which will show
exactly which sepulcher the alarm
comes from.
There is no doubt that when the un-
dertakers Of New York hear of the
elaborate plans approved of by the
health boards sanitary committee
there will be the biggest kind Of pro-
test, for, under these plans, undertakers
having charge Of the funerals Of those
whose relatives decide to entomb them
in the mausoleum will be compelled to
purchase ooffins from the burial compa-
ny or to construct them according to its
plans and under its direction, so that
the coffins will permit free circulation
Of air.
The representative Of the mausoleum
company said that he did not desire to
discuss its plans in detail at present.
He said that when the Greater New
York charter goes into effect there will
be more than go cemeteries In this city,
and in one alone more than 1900, 900
bodies are buried. The available terri
tory for burial purposes, he said, was
nearly all taken up, and the time had
come when something must be done TO-
ward solving the problem Of what dis
position shall be made Of the dead.
In 1885," he added, "a committee
headed by DR.. James M. Keller made a
report to section Of the American
Medical association, which was in ses-
sion in st. Louis. In that report DR..
Keller said that the horrid practice of
earth burial did more to propagate the
germs Of disease and to spread pestilence
than did all mans ingenuity or igno-
rance in every other direction. He said
that the proof Of the fact that the vicin-
tty Of graveyards Is unhealthy was su-
perabundant; that the dead do kill the
living, and that cholera, yellow fever
and the whole list of symotio and in
fectious diseases are propagated by con-
terminating the earth, air and water
supplies. He said that the graveyard
must be abandoned, and that the time
had come to face squarely the problem
Of how to dispose Of the dead with safe
ty to the living. He declared that the
earth was made for the living and not
for the dead, and that pure air. pure
water, and pure soil were absolutely
,,o<,oooo~x, Co. v>orfoct boa1th