New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-31

DANGERS TO THE LIVING CAUSED BY THEIR
PRESENCE IN SETTLED COMMUNITIES.
Louis Windmuller in The North American Re-
view.
Innumerable proofs furnished by scientific
men Of all ages, recently by the French doctor
Pasteur. show that earth retains instead OF
destroying the germs Of disease contained IN a
body, and that in some degree 1t Will vitiate us
surroundings.
Since HannibaTs army was decimated by
effuva from an ancient graveyard he unwit-
tingiy demolished history has repeated itself.
The cholera in London in 1854 was ascribed TO
the upturnng Of the earth where victims OF
previous plague had been buried.
The French Academy Of Medicine located the
origin Of diseases Of the lungs and the throat
in putrd emanatiors from the Partisan ceme-
terry Pere la Chaise. OF the older churchyards
of Paris. once hcneycombed with graves, that
Of the Innocents is remarkable. Established
on the present site Of the market called "Halles
Centrales" it bred pesti.encc for centuries with
out hir derancs Finally IL became notorious as
a nuisance, that 1t had to be abolished In
Vulnerable skeletons were unceremoniously
carted to the Catacombs on April I, 1856 Lyon
Playfair asserts that Roman fever originates
not in the Pontine Marshes. but in decaying
bodies Of the millions buried III the Eternal City
Doctor Domingo Freire found in cemeteries or
Rio Janeiro myriads Of microbes in corpses,
identical with those in persons stricken with
yellow fever. a year after burial.
Drainage from cemeteries in Philadelphia has
polluted water Of the Paramount reservoir The
Centennial dysentery OF 1876 has been attributed
to this cause. continued prevalence OF ty-
phod fever in this sparsely inhabited city must
be ascribed to the same cause.
Mortality by yellow fever was twice as large
In portions OF New Orleans where large ceme-
teries are located elsewhere.
In Cuba this plague RACES almost CT ntinualy
Bodies of the victims Of disease and Spanish
cruelty, estimated to number two hundred thou
sand. are inadequatey protected against high
temperature and moisture their emanations are
a menace TO soldiers more terrible than
Spanish guns American officers should be dele
gated to destroy these bodies before they do
harm. The Austrian Government permits the
destruction of those who have fallen on the
field Of battle by the erection of pyres prac-
tice which ought TO be made obligatory on the
military authorities OF ell civilized nations.
Over hundred thousand bodies Of Napoeons
army of invasion were cremated in 1919 by Rus
slams More men died before Sebastopol by in
hang midsma of putrlhed bodies than were
killed by the enemy. Some forty thousand
corpses poisoned the air after the battle Of
Sedan, until inhabitants Of adjacent Belgian
villages prevailed on their government 70 ap-
point in 1871 an officer to relieve the distress.
BY saturating them with naphtha, he succeeded
in burning three hundred bodies In an hour, until
all were consumed. Long experience in the
East Indies has shown that danger increases
with moist heat. Neither burial nor disnfectants
can sufficiently protect the health of our army.
DR.. Samuel Latham Mitchiil said In re-
port to our Common Council May 80, 1S23:
Earth purifes contents Of graves on the prin-
ciple that water in cleansing clothes becomes
itself foul"
A commission recently appointed to investi-
gate sanitary conditions of all graveyards In
Denmark was obliged to condemn 600 out OF a
total number Of go German authorities have
forbidden the OF water from any well stu
ated within 300 yards Of grave. Experience
has shown that cemeteries should by law DO
banshcd far outside the limits Of any city;
that no grave should be opened before complete
decomposition of the body. and that therefore
only body should be permitted in one grave
Graves not less than ten feet deep should be
located in dry. porous soil only.
Precautions like these would lessen the dan
ger but no method other than cremation will
absolutely destroy all germs Of sickness in
cast-off body-none by which, without giving
offence It can swiftly be converted into ashes
Our veneration for Alexander Hamilton did
not originate with his handsome memorial in
Trinity Churchyard: no statue In Westminster
Abbey can express the love Englishmen cherish
for Gladstone. DISCOVERIES OF the hidden powers
of nature, composers of sweet melodies.
teachers Of morals and religion need no lettered
stones to remind posterity Of their existence
Since thirty years ago cremation has been re-
introduced In civilized communities. many thou
sand bodies have thus been disposed Of, includ-
ing those Of Hans Won Bulow, George du
Maurier Jacob Moeschott, T. Gregorovius and
Anton Seidl. Instead of condemnng their
memory because they refused TO allow their
corpses TO become offensive. let us follow their
noble example and help TO remove one Of the
most odious stains on our civilization. Then we
may hope some day TO enjoy the pleasures OF
life without fear of the dead.