Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-28
FUNERAL DIRECTORS,
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

TAKE a last look at the features of the de-
parted sovereign on a certain day. Be-
1ore tnat day arrived, however. it became
necessary to close the casket and seal it
Ihere was some correspondence between
the undertaken who furnished the casSet
ana the representative American embalm-
ers Journal, and the report that the
balming was largely confirmed.
mere is no other country in the world
where the art of embalming has reach
ed the degree of perfection that charac-
terlzes IT In America. The leading embalm-
ers now claim that while they NAV not
have discovered the secret methods of the
Egyptians, they have developed methods
that surpass the Egyptian art. in that
the body is as perfectly preserved.
while at the same time the likeness is
much more fully retained The American
embaimer has made great strides in re-
cent years Last year Anna Redline,
weighing 64O pounds. whose waist meas
ured eight feet around died of black
kept for many days 1t was finally
buried apparently in as good condition
as 1t was on the day of embalming.
A most remarkable feat of embalming
was accomplished by an emba1mer of
Dallas, Tex a
Big Whale Embalmed whale measur-
by Dallas Expert. fast s, ~ ,,e,e
ing ITO tons was caught and killed near
Galveston. An amusement enterprise
man wanted to exhibit it in Houston.
He called in Dallas embalmer to
render the big hulk immune from putre-
faction. He pumped dozens of gallons of
formaldehyde and permanganate of pot
ash into the flesh of the whale, with the
result that it was brought into such a
perfect state of preservation that it was
made exhibit able
1t is thought that the electric hearse is
destined to succeed the horse-drawn We
hicle. Wherever the electric hearse has
been introduced it has proved popular
In few cases these have been built
large enough to carry the coffin and the
whole funeral party as well. In some
cities. notably Chicago, where the Gene
terleS are located some distance from the
city, electric car lines have fitted out
funeral cars large enough to carry the
body and the entire funeral party.
1t seems probable that cremation will,
gradually succeed Illumination as the
American method of disposing of the dead
The United States leads every country
and also in the number of bodies Gre
mated There are now more than 4OOO
incineratiOns year, with cremation SEN
timent growing steadily. There are nearly
fifty crematories in operation in the
United States. Germany and the Argen-
tine Republic rank second and third, re-
spectively.
new method of incineration is coming
into use which promises to be factor in
increasing the new
Brand-New Method method. Heretofore
r;l: the air was cold be-
fore it reached the
incinerating chamber, but now it is
heated and incarceration is more rapid and
satisfactory. The ashes of the dead-that
is. the mineral part of an average body
will almost fill an ordinary cigar box, and
Will weigh from three to five pounds. The
process of cremation is bringing about
the disintegration of the body much more
rapidly and in a less disagreeable way
than is done by natures method. Many
notable people have willed that their
bodies should be cremated Among these
might be mentioned the poet Shelley and
Kate Field. Shelley asked that his fell
ow-litterateurs-Byron Leigh Hunt and
others-build a funeral pyre for him,
which they did.
The funeral customs Of the nations of
the world vary widely. The American In
dian buried the pipe, the tomahawk and
often the dog of the warrior with him,
in anticipation of the happy hunting
ground. In emma a white rooster IS uSeQ
to lure the spirit of the dead to the house
of its fathers, and paper suit and some pa
per money are burned, SO that the deceased
will have clothing and money in the spirit
world. In Persia they have little sponges
to catch the tears of the mourners They
are then preserved in tiny crystal bottles.
In Brazil scarlet is the funeral color, and
in Siam a funeral is frolic. The ParSees
expose their dead to the vultures in the
awful towers of. silence, and afterward
dump their bones into great pits. In the
Fiji Islands the aged are made to attend
their own funerals, and then are killed to
prevent their suffering the pangs of old
age. In Lhassa the dead are tbrown to
hungry wolves and dogs. The Eskimo
often leaves his dead in his snow hut,
walling it up before the spirit departs in
order to keep from looking upon the face
of death.
Tomorrow-AMERICA PRISON ASSO-
CITATION.