The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-27
Ashes That Are urned.

An optlmist could find no better place
in which to study the vanitles of life. its
end and fruition than in the Cincinnati
crematory, while the cynic would just rev.
el amid its surroundings. barren of IDEAL
ity and those outward expressions of SEN
timent shown in stored urn or animated
bust, says the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Since the crematory has been in exist
ence, now nearly. twelve years, 4Jl incinera-
tions have taken place, and in all cases,
with the exception of thirty-eight, the
ashes of the dead have been claimed by
the mourning relatives. In a small side
room adjacent 10 the retort chamber is a
piece of furniture, not unlike a bookcase,
with glass doors, its five shelves covered
with unpretentious tin boxes round in
form, the outside japanned and closing
with a lid which is Theoretically sealed
with wire and leaden seal. Attached 70
the wire is a simple tag bearing a name
and a number. The capacity of these
boxes is about a quart, and they are thir-
ty-fiVe in number.
To an Enquirer representative the SUI
perintendent showed these limited recapta-
cles for the dead, handling them with a
certain paternal solicitude, and as he ran
his fingers through the sandlike contents,
he said;
You see some of these ashes are whit
er than Others
Yes"
''The cause of that is probably age, but
I think medicine has a great deal to &C
with the coloring. This boxful is almost
blush in tint. Now, l know as a fact
that these are the ashes of a man who
during life was an invalid for years aud
took powerful drugs"
"Of course, the size of the body has a
great deal to do with the weight of the
ashes2"
Necessarily, although bone plays a
prominent part. l cremated a fat man
who weighed more than a bony one, and
yet the bony mans ashes weighed nearly
two pounds more.
Four receptacles, the seeming aristo-
Gratis among these inglorious dead, at
tracted the reporters eye. One, box
shaped affair, exquisitely carved, told lis
own story, for it bore the name, Adelaide
Nourse Pitman, and held the ashes of the
Inflated second wife of Ben Pitman, the
inventor of the system of shorthand which
bears his name.
Two delicate japanese vases, with re-
movable lids, contained ashes almost
white and the superintendent explained
that they were those of Emma Burger and
Erich Herman Danus, whose history he
was not familiar with. Yet another vase
stood there, fragile and of artistic design
whose contents were as white almost as
new-fallen snow.
MY baby" calculated Mr.. Rudolph, as
he furtively wiped a tear from the corner
of his eye.
''Your baby?" queried the reporter
thinking he had not heard Alright.
Yes, my own child. That's all that is
left of my little Rosie" and he fondly ran
his fingers through the ashes. She was
only years old, and died after fourteen
hours of illness. l cremated her myself. y
With a view of changing the subject
which was evidently painful to the grief
stricken father the reporter asked:
How does it happen that these ashes
are unclaimed?'
well l guess it's like ths''-and a Gym
ical smile took the place of the twitchings
of emotion a the corners of his mouth
you've often seen large and elegant fu-
nerals, and a man or woman buried with
great pomp and ceremony. A year after
ward you go out to the cemetery, and you
see a neglected grave, perhaps without
flowers or shrubs, nor a single stone tc
mark the last resting place. Grief doesn't
last always, and the dead are soon for
gotten"