The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-06-10
ONE TASK DONE.
Work of Cremating Dead AMI
mails Is Completed.
Estimated That at Least SIO,-
900 Worth Perished.
AMONG THE WORKERS.
Novel Means Used for Freeing
Houses Of Mud.
Enormous Cost of Cleaning Up
the Buildings.

animals IN North Topeka VIII De prdc-
ticalIy completed. There may be an Oc-
casionaI animal here or there which will
have to be buried, but the work has
been pretty well cleaned up. Work in
I AuburndaIe has also been in progress
4 today. and will likely be finished by this
evening.
It is estimated that not far from 300
/ horses, cows. calves and pigs have been
burned in North Topeka The proper
ton of pigs was very small. probably
not more than ten being found in the
whole district.
East Of Kansas avenue, the burning
has been in charge of W. S. Eastman
and Frank Beach. Eastman was in
charge OF the whole job for time, and
burned large number of animals west
of Kansas avenue. Owing to the magni-
tude Of the undertaking. the work was
divided. and all dead animals west of
Kansas avenue were assigned TO a new
district and Henry Steele took charge
of it.
Mr. Steele organized two gangs, one Of
/ which he personally directed. and one of
which was managed by O. NJ. Capron
Both did very effective work yesterday.
Dead animal cremation is rather an
1 unusual and in some ways interesting
occupation. ItFs generally supposed to
/ be a decidedly olsagreeable job, and this
| IS where the public makes mistake.
The cremation part is all right. 1t IS
getting the animals to the fire that tests
the n0strils and moral courage of the
WOrkmen.
IN preparing pile for cremation,
lot of drift was laid on the ground, the
animals thrown on, and more logs add
ed. Then the whole mass was Well satu-
rated with kerosene oil The fire was
carefully watched and replenished, and
yet it required many hours 10 entirely
consume the mass of flesh.
While the burning is going on there
is no disa agreeable odol. except the
rather offensive smell Of burning meat.
It smells not unlike a scorching beef
steak
It IS a very unfortunate eircumst anee
that the people who did the burning
have not been careful to place the piles
of animals where the intense neat
would not reach the handsome trees
AS it is. great many beautiful trees
have been scorched and probably killed
Sometimes we can't find a good place
for the piles said one of the burners
yesterday, and when we can't We
must take the best there is. Then
again, we have to be guided in the loca-
ton OF the pile by the proximity of
bodies. We can't haul those bodies very
far. Sorry we spoiled the trees but We
can't be too particular about such
things jast now
Besides burning up dead animals the
cremaGng gang burned a carload of re-
frigerator meat for the Union Pacific
and a lot of other meat from Kansas
avenue butcher shops.
The largest number of animals con-
sumed at any one time was Il horses
and COWS. There We're several piles OF
19 and 20 carcasses The estimated
value of the horses. cows and calves
burned uD is $4,000.
CLEANING OUT THE MUD.
With the dead animals out of the
way. and the chief source of annoyance
4 H11c ,1Tr
mud progressed rapidly on Tuesday. A
great many people acted upon the
mayors proclamati tiOn and helped North
Siders shovel mud all day. MANY 9TH
ers worked during the afternoon. The
result is that a great deal of time has
been saved in making North Topeka
: habitable- Even at the present time.
there are probably One-6fth of the
: houses which have not been touched
They are mostly small houses, however
which were occupied by renters. Some
times the renters had so little property
in the house that they will simDlv leave
it there. and make no effort to save
anything except what they can fish out
of the mud. 1t will then be s-1D to" the
owner Of the property to have it cleaned
out. A c0lorsd man who lived down
IN the west part OF town in a rented
house said today: I've rented another
house up this way further and the man
is going to clean it out for me- I savef
some Of my stuff. and I amt going to
pay any attention to the old truck :
. had at the other place"
Most of the better class of houses in
North Topeka are now about free of
mud. People who have been able to
afford it have hired men to helm them
shovel, and people from the South sida
. have in many instances helped out the
others. Tt IS the man who has neither
, money nor South side friends who is up
against the real thing He has to dig
and delve away by himself and it is
slow work TO clean out a five or six
room house
WOMAN WORE TROUSERS.
A very nice looking woman at very
nice looking house on Kansas avenue.
near Garfield park was working hard
morning cleaning the mud out of their
home With a large amount of good
sense, this woman had adapted herself
to conditions. and was wearing pai.
of mems oyeralls. into which was neat
} ly tucked the skirts of her mother hub
bard dress She wore a sunbonnet and
a person had to look twice before being
sure whether it was man in a sun
bonnet or woman in trousers The
long yellow hair proved it to be the lat
ter.
Many women were at work in North
Topeka but this was the only one who
had the courage to discard her muddy,
sticky skirts
Most of the women looked discour-
aged They sloshed around on the slip
perry floors with a heartless. tired air,
they pushed back their dishevelled hair
with their muddy fingers, and seemed TO
be looking continually for something
clean enough to sit down on or lean
against. Tt is very unfortunate thing
to be 4 North Topeka woman Just now.
HAD "A FORCE PUMP.
At one house near Gabriels lumber
yard the owners are the proud and
: naughty .possessors of a force pump, and
they are making excellent use of it,
They have set it down into the cellar,