The herald., 1898-01-14
Murderer Durrant's Body
Incinerated
THE PARENTS HAVE HIS ASHES
LITTLE CEREMONY ABOUT THE
FINAL ACT
A Crowd Had Gathered, But Failed to
Satisfy Their Curiosity-shook
Hands Over the Corpse

w. H. T. Durrant has paid the full
penalty of his awful crime. His soul
had already gone to meet its Maker, and
yesterday his body returned to nature.
All that now remains of the man is a
small urnful of ashes. Obedient to his
desire. his parents caused his remains
to be incinerated, and seven hours after
they saw his body for the last time the
ashes of their son were handed to them.
When the funeral party arrived here
Wednesday Mrs. Durrant was exceed
ingly nervous. as she was fearful lest
ghouls had in some manner tampered
with the remains Of her son en- route.
That night she caused the zinc-lined
box to be opened and the casket re-
moved and the remains to be exposed,
in order to be assured that the body of
Theo had not been stolen. The grand
parents decided not to view the remains,
as they wanted to retain their last i'm
preston Of him in life. The parents
stayed at lodging house near the un-
dertaking establishment of Kregelo and
Bresee, where the body was held until
yesterday morning, when its last jour-
ney was made. At s o'clock the body, en-
cased in a plain redwood casket, was
placed in a hearse, and followed by Mr..
and Mrs. Durrant and F. o. Frazier, a
friend, the drive to the Pasadena ere
matorium, some ten miles distant, be-
gan. The roads were in poor condition
and the trip Of three hours duration
was a severe trial. At II o'clock the
crematorium was seen at the base Of
the foothills and within the shadow of
snow-capped Mount Lowe.
For several hours before the morbid
and curious had been gathering, and
when the tiny funeral cortege hove in
sight fully 800 people were clustered
around the building. OF these at least
half were women, the balance being
composed Of a motley crowd of men and
boys. Three hundred is not usually re-
garded as big crowd, but it is quite a
respectable-sized gathering from the
view of a Pasadenan. There they
come" was the cry, followed by an in
voluntary start in the direction of the
approaching vehicles. The people had
not long to wait, though, for the eagerly
anticipated arrival.
c. c. Reynolds and w. N. Van Nuys,
the proprietors of the crematory, had
everything in readiness, and the entire
affair passed without a hitch. At Z
o'clock Wednesday morning the fires had
been started in the furnace and during
the following rs hours the retort had
been gradually got to a white heat.
Twenty-four hours are generally taken
to secure the necessary temperature,
and the additional time had brought it
up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, which Is
considerably above the average.
The crematory is an unpretentious
brick building probably 15x30 feet, with
brick chimney thirty feet in height;
plain business-like structure with only
rows Of trees to modify its harsh look
There Is but one room, and just large
enough for the purpose intended. Into
this was borne the casket containing
the body of Theodore Durrant. The lid
was removed. In spite of the length of
time since death and the rough journeys
that had been taken, the remains were
in a very fair state of preservation.
Durrant was clothed in a black sack
suit, black slippers and tan colored
socks. About the neck was a standing
collar that concealed the dark stain of
the hangman's rope. A black bow tie
was also worn. The hands were folded
across the breast and were yet white.
1t was in the face, however, that de-
composition had begun to appear. The
flesh was puffed and colored dark and on
the left side was seen the bruise made
by swinging against the taut rope of
San Quentin, but all of the characters
tics remained.
AS soon as this preliminary had been
completed Mr.. and Mrs. Durrant left
their carriage. Mrs. Durrant wore
a street dress Of black material
and over her face q small
black veil. Trying as have been
the scenes of the last two years, none
had quite the significance, the solemnity
of this, yet the mother maintained
her remarkable composure through it
all. Many doubtless had expected to
hear of her breaking down at last and
giving way to her grief, but 80 far as
composure is concerned, Mrs. Durrant
was the same today that she was yes
terday, and those who best know her
think she will always be. She appeared
as matter -of-fact and business-like as
the little brick building in which she
stood gazing an instant at her son. She
pushed lock Of hair from his forehead
and with the father holding her arm
stepped around to the side of the cas-
ket.
This Is Mr.. Reynolds" said H. O.
Arnold, one Of the local undertakers.
Mrs. Durrant inclined her head, extend
ed her hand, and across the body of her
dead son shook hands with one of the
men who had come to her aid in dispos-
ing of the remains. With Mr.. Van Nuys
she acted likewise. Twice the mother
stopped and kissed the folded hands
and then did she manifest grief Quietly,
softly, she cried and during the balance
of the ceremony she wept.
Mrs. Durrant saw all except when the
body was being lifted from the casket
onto the pan, when she turned her face
away. This pan was of iron, lined with
asbestos, and rested upon a metal car.
Nothing was removed from the body,
and the final preparation consisted of
1t in a sheet that had been
saturated with alum water. This shroud
acted as temporary resistant to the in
tense heat and prevented the body from
bursting Immediately into flames. The
car was drawn to the center of the room.
directly facing the door of the recepta-
Gle. Then the thick, heavy iron doors
were pulled open, and as they fell apart
there seemed to fairly belch forth such
furious heat that all shrank back.