Evening star., 1901-03-02
Ways Of Disposing Of the Dead in
Many Lands.
CREMATION GROWING IN FAVOR
The Hindoo Burning Chat and
the Tower of Silence.
RITES AND CEREMONIES
Written for The Evening Star.

written ior Inc Evening Star.
Eventually, so say the prophets of science,
all mankind will dispose of it's dead by Gre
nation. In the coming centuries this little
earth will be a crowded place; there will
scarcely be room for the living; none for
the dead Sanitary considerations will pre-
vail over sentiment, and the crematory.
long established in the most populous parts
OF the earth and now establishing itself in
the most progressive nations, will become
universal.
The customs and rites for the dead which
1t will supersede are among the most in
teresting characteristics Of various races,
and their differences and distinctions are so
clearly marked that the ethnologist draws
his most certain inferences from them.
1t Is only the lowest races that have not
invested the dead with some part of the
awe and majesty Of immortality. and
sought to express this In the disposition of
the lifeless body.
The Hindoos of India have long burned
their dead. The burning CHAT" is usually
beside river, down which the body,
swathed in white cloth and lashed to paral-
lei lengths of bamboo, Is taken on barge.
Sometimes the body is floated to the shore,
upheld by the buoyant bamboo. 1t is then
thrust into the ''ghat," which Is Immediate
ly lighted. and the body IS consumed. 70
accelerate the process the wrapping cloth
Is saturated in chemicals The Hindoo law,
based on sanitary necessity in that torrid
and thickly populated region, Is that the
body must be disposed Of within twelve
hours after death.
Horrible Custom.
To the Caucasian mind the Parsee method
of disposng of the dead seems horrlple
beyond that Of any other religion. Yet the
Parsees are among the most advanced. cul-
tured and highly civilized sects OF the
orient and the disposal Of their dead ls
based on sanitary principles. and upon their
tenet Of keeping earth and air free from
pollution; though their method Is less direct
than that Of the Hindoos. In a lonely spot
near the confines of Bombay, the CITY
where the Parsees are most numerous
stands the Tower Of Silence, a grlm' 1or
bidding structure, Stunned .by men, anu
haunted by the vultures. Hither Is poIne
every dead Parsee to be placed aiter INC
solemn ceremony Of publication, in one OF
the inches of the building. Then the fune-
raj cortege moves away and the vultures,
grisly scavengers Of the east, VINO nave
been waiting their turn. swoop down ana
do their work. Afterward the bones fall
Into q stone-lined pot, to be taken thence
to the vaults which are their final resting
places
In its origin the North American Indian
custom of sepulture was probably design
ed to keep the dead from natures scaven-
gers, in this instance the coyote and the
gray wolf. Strong scaffolds on four cor
ner posts are built and on the platform IS
placed the body, clothed in its war gar
ments Many Of the tribes place food,
water and wampum on the platform. These
structures are generally in groups IN an
open place and form q weird spectacle for
the traveller This custom is dying out and
even originally all Indian tribes did not
follow it. Some buried their dead in
mounds, others in caves, and the recent
discovery of burial cairns on the Pacific
coast is now interesting ethnolog1sts
Embalming the Dead.
Some ancient races embalmed their dead,
notably the Egyptians, who reached de-
gree of expertness in this art that the mod
ern undertakers strive In vain to equal.
The mummes Of the Peruvian Incas are
not as perfect as those Of the Pharaohs,
but they are no less interesting Recently
a number of the burial towers built by the
ancient Peruvian mountaineers have been
discovered and the condition OF the re-
mains has left some doubt as to Whether
some unknown preservative was used or
whether the only agency was the extremely
dry air. The little towers in which the in
terments were made are OF stone or OF q
sort of brick.
In other parts of Peru very ancient bodies
have been found wrapped in woven reeds
and buried Fastened to the wrappings
above the head is frequently found a false
head with fiber hair, and sometimes mask
of clay or silver, or a face painted on wood.
Pieces Of gold, silver or rare shells were
placed in the mouth Of the corpse to pay
the toll from the land of the living to the
land Of the dead.
For the Souls Passage.
This same idea Of paying toll for the
souls passage Is found in Japan. Formerly
the Japanese cremated their dead, but now
they bury them, the cemeteries being al
wavs in a side hill. Once a year Is cell
ebrated the Festival Of the Dead or the
Feast Of Lanterns, which lasts week.
Bearing food and wine, the people go to the
cemeteries and decorate the graves with
lanterns a special variety designating the
resting places Of those who have died
within q year. At the end of the week the
people go to the nearest river or body OF
water and launch the soul boats. These
are delicate bamboo crafts about three feet
long. often showing great beauty and grace
of design. They are brilliantly Illuminated
and decorated, and make brave showing
as they set out on their voyage. Each Is
supposed to bear the soul OF the dead per-
son. and near the PROV of each Is piece
of money, the smallest coin Of the realm,
to pay the toll for the passage into the great
beyond.
mt under the control Of a geomancer, a
man wise In the mysterious influences OF
Feng Shua- Feng Shua is superstition
concerning earth ana air forces. and IT op-
crates powerfully in all Chinese matters,
hut in none more powerfully than in the
burial of the dead. That the grave should
he so located as to invite the good inf1u
ences and avert the evil influences of Feng
Shua is the great consideration, for which
the good offices of the geOmancer are sought
at a round price. All graves must be pro-
tected on the north, as from that direction
the malign influences usually come. Hence
the grave is placed on the south slope Of a
hill with protective architecture built on
the hillside, or, If on a level, is supplement-
ed by wall. half circling it on the north
Chastity Decorations.
Mortuary relics found in Mexico Indicate
that human life WIS held cheap there and
that the sacredness Of the dead was little
regarded Towers builtfof skulls and NOR
tar have been found in the burial vaults Of
the ancient temples and rooms decorated
with symmetrical figures in skulls and
bones. In one of these ghastly burial places
more than 100, 600 skunSwere found.
In the catacombsJat Rome this same form
of ornamentation 1s fopnd, but here it is
meant to point a mocking moral Of the IN
stability and insignifcsnce Of human life.
Thousands of disintegrated skeletons have
furnished the material 4for gruesome deco
rations of the underground chapels, a deco
ration which in design In fantastically' inge-
NOUS In Malta there Is a Chapel Of
Bones" and lot Of baked monks" The