Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-10-02
ADVOCATES CREMATION OF DEAD.
Prest Bower OF the Utah Medical Society Tells His Brother PLY
sCanS That He Would Turn All Cemeteries Into Parks; All
Graves Into ROsebeds Vaccination and Other Questions.

reverence TO the departed soul But let
us lay aside q sentiment af tahI. only,
for 10 Is not based on reason. "a s-nti-
ment OF earth burial for OuI friends and
ourselves Let as lay &c forever aside
and ask all doctors, all ClHrsymcn and
an people 10 Join with Us .l o cleaner.
sWlfter and better way of dlspusIng of
our bodies Socrates when asked where
he wished 60 be buried on WerCd Ike
a philosophers Ny body you mean. /
60 20 be With the gods 10 matters no
more tD us. when we are dead. than aha
10 t0 Socrates. what becomes Of our
bodies ana yet we may have a prefer
ence as :he sailor hoy cries.
It matters not have Oft been told.
Where the body lies when the heart ls
cold
Yet grant yea, Oh, grant ye this boon
unto me.
Oh, bury me not In the deep deep sea.
at is not so much Ourselves as our
friends who consider our .1.cdliol last
resting place, for It never is We do
not consider that death UsJ come 10
us until the approach . near. that
our thoughts are engrossoi with more
important things than that OF our
bodies. u is the reverence that all
civilized people hold for .Uo departed
spirit that make them consider the dis
position of their dead bodies
'I cannot help comparing The earth
burial of thirty years agI with the
present The then open grave with It's
cotiin.shaped depression wherein rested
the coffin and It's conteutg then the
cross boards, the dirt and mud falling
therein, with sickenlng thud. amidst
the silent mourners; then came the
casket. and the outside pine box, in-
stead Of collins then the metallic
and zinc lined casket. ana cement
vaults, and now the flower lined graves
an the more beautiful ar. pleasing.
but none the less horrible aud appalling,
when you think OF the contents inside.
decaying as they must. Fins, the dis
celebration OF decomposition and yutre-
faction the swollen appearance OF the
body, the sunken eyes and y0uuug lips.
IN a little while followed with hollow
cheeks. slow or fast This goes on
until finally the muscular and 8iipOse
tissue slips from of the bones and falls
into the mass called apOeere. The
brain falls out Of It's b0ny place that
NNtAN az hAAN AAAlAN hINt KIN .I lIIIMAAAA 10
a victorious army, or ruled an empire.
There II lays In a state that the worms
even viii not touch, though they eager
y feed upon the other parts 9f the
body and ErOyel In it The brain and
dbrln converted into pt0maine p0llute
the water We drink and the air we
breathe
II hesitate 10 go over lhls horrible
tale, but without how can we compare
the neatness the cleanliness. the very
sweetness OF The cir around the urn 20
that Of the grave. You may give
friend on earth a burial when you are
young, and IL may be a short time, or
you may have grown old and died be-
fore that body has returned % the
elements. Think how horrible, all
these years, this process Of decaying
Is going on, spreading poisonous gases
through the Underground air currents,
and coming 90 the surface through
crevices, and carried by percolation OF
water rendering the vicinity more or
less unsanitary. whilst. II submitted 60
the flames, In a very short time, fifteen
to twenty minutes. that same body
would have returned 20 dust IN a clean
or, sWifter ascepuc and more aesthetic
manner
Or. Bower considered many objec-
lions that are urged against cremation
principally from a religious standpoint
He quoted many eminent Churchmen
among them the late Rev. Phillip
Brooks. who held that Cremation was
not inconsistent with religion.
Leaving the raGc0us objection 90
cremation out uf consideration, said
Or Bower. "it seems 10 me that the
objections raised from q medico-legal
standpoint Inability 90 discover poison
after cremation can hardly have any
weight IN a case uf death from "a
chronic tuberculosis disease As one
OF the means ~ stamping out tuberCu-
losis IN the human race. / would cer-
tainlv favor the cremation OF all bodies
OF individuals having died OF a tubar-
CulOus disease.
Coming nearer home there were
buried within Our own city last year
from an diseases.
city cemetery. 90" ........432