The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-02

Copyright, 1906, by American-Journal-
 Examiner.
 :" HANh God for Progress.
 Despite the chaotic conditions about us, despite the greed the graft the fraud in the industrial world, the discord and the self1shness in both lthe ranks of labor and capital, in high and low places, yet the human race is slowly and surely evolving to a better standard and saner ideals.
 The old awful creeds of eternal damna- tion for infant souls Is no longer preached to educated congregations.
 In the days of our grandparents, even more recently, Sunday was a day of ter- TOT to sensitive young minds, because of the sermons thundered from the pulpits, on a revengeful Maker of poor mcrtals. Men and women scarcely past the half century mark can relate stories of shad- owed childhood, caused by these mon strous creeds which failed to delineate the love and mercy of the Creator toward his children, but dwelt upon the violence and anger of an offended God. Oh, the pity of such perverted creeds! What an army of atheists they created, flying from fear to unbelief!
 Along with these creeds, followed the horrible inhuman method of conducting the obsequies of the dead.
 I recall some of these terrifying cere- monies in my neighborhood when child. There was one that left an indelible im- pression upon my oversensitive mind. It was midwinter. and cold winds and snow and bleak skies made the outer world gloomy beyond description.
 Inc country church was filled with gap ing neighbors, some sad faced, some stoc, some curious The coffin of one of the citizens, a husband and father, cut off in his prime, occupied the central position in the country church. After long and narrowing sermon the weeping mourners, the exposure of all eyes were called to take the last farewell of the beloved face in the presence of the audi ence.
 Then there was the removal of the cas- ket to the desolate graveyard, just beside the. church, and the terrible lowering of the body into the yawning grave, while the family and friends stood by, until the sound of the gravel upon the coffin struck the tortured ear.
 An, how can we call ourselves civilized beings when such frightful and unneces- sary sufferings is inflicted upon the hu- man heart? Time and education are slowly modifying these revolting fash ions of interment and to the progressive and wonderful German race America owes an everlasting debt of gratitude for it's introduction of the process of cremation of the dead.
 TWenty-one years Ago, through the Influence of enlightened German-Ameri- can citizens. the first crematory was built in America at Fresh Pond, Brooklyn, and the same sanitary, humane and beau tiful method of caring for the oast-off bodies of immortal spirits was legalzed
 During that year only eighty bodies were cremated.
 During the month of March alone this year over one hundred passed through the purifying process.
 On a bleak March day it became my duty to carry out the always expressed wish of one whose body had long out lived the mind and who cried for rest as tired children do
 'sNever shut me in a gravel never place me in a vault or tomb; never let the worms mutilate me; consign me to clean ashes and give me back to the clements again." had been the request nav the command-of the once brilliant mind for more than score of years.
 And, thank God, the progress of the world made the granting of that wish feasible when the time came.
 sin a sunny. bright, cheerful room, with . smile upon the tired face, we left the worn frame to kind hands for its final disposal. There was no torturing sight to behold no agonizing ordeal to pass through. in watching the body buried. We left the shell, in seeming slumber, knowing the spirit had journeyed on, and as we looked out over vast acres of awful cemetries close beside the crema- tory we thanked God anew that there was no ayawning grave waiting for that forl.l, and when the morning dawned,