El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-01-08
CREMATION POPULAR.
Incineration Is Being Looked Upon
with More Favor.
The New Method of Disposing of the
Dead Is Commonly Employed
in New York-Cost OF
the Process.

Cremation, as a means of diSpOsing CT
the bodies of the dead, when first tried
in New York state, on December /, 1885,
attracted n great deal of attention, and
there was also considerable discussion
IS to the relative merits of the new
method as compared to the usual GUS
tom of underground burial. Many peo-
PIE were superstitiOus regarding incin-
GRAFTON. People We're at first loath to
give consent to this disposition Of the
bodies of their friends and relatives
I hose who favored the new method
urged its adoption, giving as their rea-
son for the change that it was cleaner,
cheaper, and did away with the necessi-
ty for Ella borate funerals. 1t was also
urged that the incarceration of bodies
Of persons who had died from Conta-
gious diseases would lessen the dangers
Of contagion and would be the safest
way in which to dispose of such bodies
On the other hand, the fear of burial
alive caused some strongly to advocate
incarceration.
AS an aid to the adoption of the new
method, indorsementsw were secured from
ministers and from others, in which
they said there was nothing unscrip-
of fire, and advocating the method as
more clearly than burial.
The first incarceration in this state
was at the New York Fresh Pond crema-
tory, on Long Island, facing the Luther
an cemetery, just north of Fresh Pond
station and the Long Island railroad.
This was on December /, 1881 Since
that time, despite assertions by some to
II
popularity, and it is said that there is
an increase of so incinerations year.
The number of excavations at Fresh
Pond up to the beginning of the present
year is given as 1851. OF this rumber
1913 bodies were those of men, 9S of boys,
1876 of women, and - were the bodies of
girls. Thirty-five dollars is charged for
the incarceration of a body. This charge
is only for the mere consuming of the
body by means of heat, the body being
placed in an alright compartment of
an immense furnace. Enough ashes
are left to fill a small-sized urn. 1t
takes several hours to dispose of body.
after which the ashes are collected and
placed in an urn which has previously
been purchased. Often the ashes are
taken away by friends, and at other
times they are deposited in alcoves in
the walls of the columbarium where
the body has been incinerated. BY the
request of friends endeavoring to carry
out the peculiar wishes of the departed,
the ashes are often taken and thrown
to the four winds.
There is a charge for the door which
g placed in front of the niche. The urnS
may be bought for from $3.50 up to $45,
while the niche in the wall costs from
SIS to S25, according to its location in |
the wall. To the cost of the incinera- |
ton, which is $35, must be added the |
cost of the urn for the ashes and the |
niche for the reception of the urn. When |
he body is borne to the columbarium |
n carriages there is extra charge, ac- |
,ording to the number of carriages |
brought into service. With this method |
mere is no necessity for the purchase |
If Il burial lot, although many people |
)ury the ashes. The maximum cost for |
including the purchase of |
IN urn, the leasing of a niche to receive |
he urn, the door of the niche, and all |
expenses, not including the hire of car
riages, need not exceed S125, or $3.50 |
1t most.-N. y. Tribune.