Amador ledger., 1909-09-10
The Worlds Dead.

while this has been attended by strange
and divers rites and customs, the actual
disposition of bodies, if we except a
few savage tribes, may be divided into
three classes: Common burial in the
earth or tombs, cremation and the burial
of the ashes, and embaming. Simple
burial in the earth, as it is practiced to-
day, is the Oldest form of disposition of
the dead, as we'll as by far the most ex-
tensive in most of the countries Of his.
tory.
The nation most roted for skill in
embalming was ancient Egypt, but even
| in that land the custom was far from
universal. But Egyptians mummies so
well preserved that they are as noffen-
sive as articles of wood and stone, are
common enough in all modern museums.
The facilities and climatic conditions
for embalming are also said to be better
in upper Egypt thanin any other part Of
the world, and traces of the customs
are rare in other lands. But embalming
of kind that preserves for years is far
from a lost art as many imagine
Royal corpses are even yet that way,
and at the monastery of Kreuzberg the
bodies of the monks have been pre-
served in the costumes for centuries.
Cremation, while its practice in this
country is new, is an ancient custom. I'll
was practiced in Greece before and after
that land came into Roman realm, and
is also an ancient custom in the north
of Europe. The tombs of Etrura are
rich in art, much Of which adorns urns
of burnt clay containing the ashes of
those many centuries dead.
Some of the greatest buildings of the
world have been tombs The great
pyramids of Egypt which remain to-day,
after thousands of years, wonders in
stone architecture, were built as the
tombs of kings, or other royal persons.
The castle of st. Angelo was a tomb
instead of castle. In India are many
temples which serve the same purpose,
the most notable of which is the Tai
Mahal, masterpiece in the beauty of
building.
A notion that the dead may require
the things they have been fond of in
life has prevailed with many people.
Some of our Indians carried this idea to
point where the dead warriors S horse, ,
gun, and dogs were buried with him,
I,,,t oil Corr;NH q
belief further. Herodotus tells us of
favorite slaves who were sacrificed that
they might accompany their dead
master, along with horse and other
things he might need for the journey.
In many nations the custom has pre-
vailed that the wife should share the
doom, or privilege, of accompanying her
husband when he died. Even yet this
belief prevails in India, although the
practice has been stopped by English
law But the Indian widow had about
as we'll be dead, being thoroughly dis
credited with her race. There are some
26, 600, 600 widows in India, and none of
them of the merry type. The custom
of burying nanimate objects with the
dead has, however, been of advantage to
modern life, as a means of reServing to
the world relics of past ages, The
tonbs of Egypt have supplied many of
these which have taught modern people,
more of the customs of that ancient
people than any single source.
In England, as in many rural COM
munities in this country, the cemetery
is the church yard. The idea originated
from the practice Of burying the
remains of saints, or any relics Of
them, in churches for which they were
named. Other people, when possible,
obtained permission to be buried in the
church, TO be near the saints, and the
extension of the practice originated the
church yard
In India, Japan and other oriental
countries, cremation of a crude kind is
accomplished by means of great burning
CHATS, where the remains are consumed
in great open fires. The Japanese dis
pose of their dead killed in battle in
this way:
Also in India are the Parsees, q fire
worshipping race, who expose theiI
! dead TO the sun, but the buzzards gel
/ most of them Certain tribes of Ameri'
F. can Indians had similar custom, leav'
= ing the dead on raised platforms in
, lonely places Several of these plat
forms we're still to be found along
streams in WesternrKansas a few year;
AGO