The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1909-10-27
ARE BURNING THEIR DEAD
INCINERATION IN THE UNITED
STATES is INCREASING.
Crowded Cemeteries Help 20 Force
the Question of Cremation. A
Subject Of Dean Concern

Crowded Cemeteries Help 30 Force
the Question of Cremation. A
Subject of Deep Concern.
Will there be compulsory crema-
ton of the dead? At a recent ma
tional convention of cemetery super
intendents held in New York city this
question was brought up for discus
sion and the opinion was expressed
that in the near future there would
be a law to this end. 1t is subject
of the deepest concern to all, for the
living must ever dispose of the dead
in some unobjectionable way. There
are natural sentiments and preju-
dices to be considered, as we'll as
objections founded in religious
thought, though these latter scruples
have grown much less with the prac-
tical disappearance of the belief in
an actual bodily resurrection. But
it is urged by those favoring Gre
nation that the well-being of the
1Af1uS Is " D0 IdhSll IulO dtCOu1J 90
something in which interest must
persist after grief has had it's keen
est day.
In conversation recently a man
prominently identified with the de-
ve1opment of the suburban districts
of New York city declared that Gre
nation was bound soon to become
a pressing issue in all large centers
of population. Inquiries in other
quarters revealed that such an opin-
ion is by no means confined to the
interested circles of real estate OPP
orators. A feeling was found widely
prevalent that the force of land econ
Omy was soon to be added to consid-
Grafton of neighborhOod sanitation,
already strongly urged, in favor of
substituting incineration for the
burial of the dead.
OF course this feeling is largely
confined to the cities yet, since the
villages are not so crowded for room
in which to expand. But there is an
other consideration, which affects the
smaller places as well. AS intimated
above. the great cities are the first
localities, naturally enough, to feel
the approach of a crisis on the issue
of land for cemeteries. The problem
has reached many rural neigh bor-
hoods, nevertheless. where the years
have been busy in filling with graves
the acres selected of old. Very re-
Gently, at Elmont, on Long Island,
spirited opposition arose to a new
cemetery project, the argument ad-
verse to the plan being that the 160
acres of land chosen should not be
removed from the list of taxable
property to the further burdening of
present taxpayers. In the cities the
trouble is that burial places, even
though they have seemed to be care
fully located, are frequently found
in the end to stand in the path OF
natural and healthful expansion.
The graveyards of the Boroughs OF
Brooklyn and Queens, marked out in
miles of tombstones, excited the
amazement of a recent English visit
or, and are regarded with something
of apprehension by many residents
of the metropolis. 1t was estimated
a few years ago that in a certain dis.
trict of Queens containing 1900 GEM
etery acres-one-tenth of the district
there were a million dead to a
population of $4,000 living
Cremation has long been urged on
sanitary grounds, which is not the
best of reasons for removing the
prejudices of many persons. The re-
moval from tax lists of land devoted
to cemeteries, and the increasing use
of many other valuable acres for
like sentimental rather than COM
mercial purposes, hits the purse,