The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-10-02

The tendency of the age is towards
cremation. 1t is quite surprising how
many people have a horror of the tomb,
yet who have to accept it because there
is not proper means to dispose of their
bodies otherwise To the mind that
contemplates all the ghastliness of the
grave it is never ceasing source of
horror and then there is always that
added fear Of being buried alive. Such
cases are by no means so common as
some writer's would have us think, but
they have occurred and they will occur
again. $3.50 'ritr..,.... .....
However, leaving all this aside, Gre,
NATION when carried out, as it is now,
on modern scientific plans, commends
itself on two strong grounds which need
no argument. Sanitary reasons are the
first and strongest. Upon this all medi-
cal men are agreed, and a very large
number of the clergy of the protestant
church support them, while all think
ing laymen are a unit upon the point.
What is the chief consideration when
trying to locate a cemetery? To have
it so placed that it will not become
menace to those who are living. Where
ever it is proposed to have a cemetery
there is always a kick from any who
may happen to be residing in the vicin-
ity of the proposed site. Take for ex-
ample the difficulty that has been en-
countered to find a suitable site for
cemetery or cemeteries to supply rest
ing places for the dead in the vicinity
of Honolulu. For considerably over
year the subject has had the attention
of the executive and of private parties
and expeditions for the purpose of
locating such places have been made
from Halawa to Diamond Head, with
up to the present, no very tangible re-
suits, for bodies are still being buried
within the city limits. And all the
vacillation has been brought about by
the difficulty of proper hygienic safety
for those who may live in the vicinity
of the places considered
The second consideration is upon the
score of economy. Though the veal
thy can spend hundreds and thousands
upon the final obsequies of their dead
and may make a show and a pageant
of these last rites, the poor, who are in
the majority need the greatest economy
in the disposal of their dead. Some one
wrote with due regard to our dead the
living are nearer to us and their needs
must be consulted"
Even after the expenses of burial are
paid, the keeping of graves in order is
a constant expense which many cannot
afford to incur, and which even those
who can afford, fail to carry out There
is nothing sadder than the neglected
grave and the ostentatious monument
crumbling to pieces, telling of gradual
dying away of feeling for him or her
who has gone before.
Modern cremation takes its date 1874,
at BrestOn, in Germany. 1t was intro
duced into the United States. In 1884
there We're but five crematories in Anne
RIGA and Europe, but in 1888 it was re-
ported at a Congress of cremation So
cieties held at Vienna that there were
fifty in active operation and at the pre-
sent date crematories can be counted by
hundreds,
AS far as a orematory for Honolulu is
than that of the odd Fellows IN San
Francisco, which was erected five years
ago This institution also serves as a
guide to the expense of cremation. The
fee charged for incineration is forty five
dollars which is not very high, but a
person can provide himself with the
Certainty of his body being incinerated,
by payment of thirty-five dollars dur
ing life. These payments can be spread
over a term of months. So that the
final disposition of the body can be ar
ranged for on very easy terms when a
man is healthyand strong.
There does not seem any reason why
the cost of cremation in Honolulu
should be any greater than in San
Francisco. 1t is the cost that has
daunted some of the advocates. The
cost here given is from correct source.
Let us have a crematory in Honolulu
as soon as nossible '' 30 '