Daily camera., 1901-05-28
B CREMATION'S PHASES.
WAYS IN WHICH PEOPLE DIS
POSE OF DEAD.
Many Seem to Have FOndness for
Uaring Their Ashes Scattered to tho
Winds - lsaron Won Palms Ashes
StreWn on Hudson.

Iiaving Their Ashes Scstter.d d to the
Wind. - Baron Won Palms Astes
Strewn on Hudson.
People who take to cremation seem
to have fondness for having their
ashes scattered 20 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 a southerner
by the name of Lawrence left re-
quest to be cremated. His sons built
furnace especially, and the first Gre
mation-not Indian-took place on
American soil. But in 1876 Baron Won
Palm was cremated In DR.. Lemoyne's
private crematory at Washington, Pa,
and his ashes were scattered upon the
Hudson river. Then there was Ernes-
Rosin, who, In 1897, stood on the
Eads bridge over the Mississippi an1
poured his fathers ashes into the
stream below. In both cases the dead
men had asked to be thus thrown
adrift. 1t 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 Hampstead. Her hus-
band had asked her 20 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 whirl them away. At Bromberg,
Germany, in 1897, the ashes OF one
Robert Arons were sold at public auc-
ton for 1915. The purchaser 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 1915 for them.
II would seem, too. that there must
have been more than one bidder, for
1915 would hardly have been offered
as starter The remains OF Abbie
Sage Richardson. the writer, who died
in Italy, were brought to this country
to be cremated. They were incine-
rated 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 Is
lands and was buried there. 1t was
long time before her friends got the
money together to bring the remains
10 this country. but II was finally done.
They were cremated at San Francisco.
Mrs. Whitney, to whose efforts the car
rying out OF Miss Fields wishes was
due. brought the ashes from San Fran
cisco TO Boston In a handbag filled
with flowers. The ashes were finally
buried at Mt. Auburn. beside the
grave OF Miss Fields mother. Emma
Abbott, the singer. was cremated AT
the Washington crematory. An In
teresting item about this case Is the
costlincss Of the gown in which the
body was burned. IL was an imported
gown OF silver and gold brocade. and
the papers OF that date placed its cost
AT $1,000. That may have been a tritle
high. but the gown was certainly
worth great deal A peculiar case
was that OF ]. z, Davis and his wife.
Davis was a California millionaire.
The wife died first. She was cremated
and the husband put her ashes in a
box twice the usual size. because he
intended TO have his own mingled
with his wife's when he should die In
his turn When he did die 1t was in
Philadelphia, and the undertaker's
first orders were TO embalm the body.
He had no sooner embalmed II than
ne received orders by telegraph to ere
mate 1t. So he cremated IL Then he
was instructed TO send on the ashes,
but this he declined 10 do until his
bill for embalming and cremating had
been settled. In the meantime uou-
BILE over the dead mans will had
broken out in California ard nobody
was paying bills just then. So a pc
culiar state OF affairs came 10 pass.
The urn with the wife's ashes-which
ratified lonesomely around in their
ample receptacle-was produced as ey-
idence In court, while the husbands
ashes were held In Philadelphia Us
security for an undertaker's bill Aprc-
pos of California cremations, there
was that OF Durant, the young muir
derer. The crematories In San Fran
cisco were so squeamish that they re-
fused TO burn the body. and the father
had to take 1t to Pasadena The medi-
cal men OF the state had been keenly
interested in the young man and were
anxious to have the brain for examina-
ton. The family was determined that
they should not get it. So the father
did not let the coffin out OF his sigh:
until he saw it placed in the retort OF
the Pasadena crematory.-New York
Sun.