The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-04-18
JREMATI0N'S ODD PHASE
WAY IN WHICH PEOPLE DISPOSE
OF THE ASHES OF THEIR DEAD,


Scattered TO the Winds-Bodies From
Abroad to lie Cremated.
a good many queer things have hap.
1ened In connection with cremation.
1ut perhaps the strangest of them all
was the case of Mrs. Matilda France
Fort relates the New York Sun. Ma.
tilda ate her husband, which sounds
canniballstic, but isn't.
In 1896 Mr.. Erancefort left his
sphere of usefulness in Brooklyn and
his soul, ii is to he hoped. scared TO a
better world. AS for his body, they
took it to Fresh Pond and cremated It,.
Then his widow went after the ashes
ana took them carefully home with
her All widows do not. Some don't
even buy a niche for them at the Gre
matory or pay storage for them in the
cellar.
But Mrs. Francefort was different
She got the ashes OF the late Mr.. L..
and carried them home in japanned
tin box. like tea canister or n spice
box. Perhaps that was what sug-
gested to the sorrowing widow the dis
position she should next make Of them.
At any rate she decided TO eat them.
There was much to be said in favor of
this plan. 1t was economical. She
would ss~@ the expense of an urn and
niche and Il monument by being all
that herself. Then. too. she and the
dear cremated had lived together for
thirty-one years and she was lonesome
without him. She was informed that
the ashes would enter permanently
into her system, and it seemed to be n
clear case of eating your cake and
having it too. Anybody could see that
under the circumstances it was the
only way Of keeping the family to-
gether.
Having decided to eat her husband
the next question was the manner in
which he should be served. Mrs.
Francefort went over his qualities
with sorrowful heart. He had been
n witty man, there was always a spicy
flavor in his conversation. Mrs.
Francefort made note: "Splce."
Then she defled anybody to say that
he had not been the salt of the earth.
Another note: Salt" Still she had to
admit that he had bit of temper.
Note number three: Pepper" But
then, he was always sweet to her.
Final note Sugar" Clearly, Mr..
Franceforts post-mortem specially
should be in the cOndiment line. Mrs.
f. determined to make a seasoning.
So she put a pinch of him in her cof-
fee at breakfast and sprlnklcd him
lightly over the boiled shad. At lun-
cheon he went into the tea. aud con-
tributed distinction to the lamb stew.
At dinner-well, at dinner the supply
OF Mr.. Francefort's ashes went down
in more ways than one. And what
ever the gentleman may have done in
lite. there is one thing sure, he never
disagreed with his widow when he
was dead, though a little of him did
perhaps go Il long way.
People who take to cremation seem
TO have a fondness for having their
ashes scattered to the winds. There
was the first man Who was cremated
in this country. That is to say, the
first in recent times. Toward the end
of the eighteenth century Il Southern
er by the name of Lawrence left n re-
quest to be cremated. His sons built
furnace especially and the first crema-
tion-not lndian-tooll place on Ameri-
can soil.
But in 1876 Baron Won Palm was
cremated in DR.. Lemoyne's private
a
his ashes were scattered upon the Hud-
son River. Then there was Ernest
Rosin, who, in 1897. stood on the Eads
bridge over the Mississippi and poured
his fathers ashes into the stream be-
low. In both cases the dead men had
asked to be thus thrown adrift. It is
said that Joaquin Miller has made
similar request.
Another case Of the same kind was
that of William Petersen Appleby, an
officer in the Mexican and the Civil
wars. His body was cremated at
Fresh Pond in 1898 and the widow
took the ashes to her home in Hemp
stead. Her husband had asked her to
scatter them abroad on the first windy
day after his cremation. She waited
until gale was blowing, and then in
the presence of some of her husbands
friends held the ashes out by handfuls
and let the wind blow them away
At Bromberg, Germany, in 1897, the
ashes OF one Robert Arons were sold
Mt public auction for S3.75. The pur-
chaser was not member of the dead
mans family. The records stop short
there, and one is left guessing who
wanted the ashes badly enough to pay
S3.75 for them. II would seem, too,
that there must have been more than
one bidder, for 1915 would hardly
have been offered as a star;e
The remains of Abbie Sage Richard
son, the writer, who died in Italy,
were brought to this country to be ere
mated. They were incinerated at
Fresh Pond Her brother died from
the shock and was cremated on the
following day.
Kate Fields body was also brought
home to be burned. She died in the
Sandwich Islands and was buried
there. 1t was long time before her
friends got the money together to
bring the remains TO this country, but
1t was iinaily DONE and they were Gre
mated at San Francisco. Mrs. Whit
ing, TO whose efforts the carrying out
Of Miss Fields wishes were due,
brought the ashes from San Francisco
TO Boston in n handbag filed with