The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-09-04
THE CREMATION CONGRESS
America Sending Delegates to the Brussels Conference This
Month-ViewS of Churches.


niche on receiving its urn Of ashes is
Theoretically sealed with a pane OF thick
glass. while a brass plate Immediately
below bears the name. the title, and the
other customary data concerning the per-
son whose ashes occupy the receptacle.
Among those who await the Day Of
Judgment in urns. instead OF in ordinary
collins. are the late Duke OF Bedford, his
mother. the Duchess Of Bedford; the late
Duchess Of ST. Adams. Lily; Duchess OF
Marlborough, the Marquesses Of Win
chester and Of Queensberry, Lords Love-
lace. Romilly, Suffolk. Oxenbridge, and
Monson. Ladies Russell Diana Huddle-
ston, Knutsford. Galloway. and Dixie,
while among the members Of the crena-
ton society. each OF whom Is practically
pledged to have his remains consigned 70
the crematorium, Instead OF to the grave.
are the present Duke OF Bedford. the
Earl OF Mayo. Lord Ronald Cover. Lord
Rendel. Lord. Byron. Lord Ilkeston. and
Lord Huberton besides Sir Lawrence
Alma Tadema, Sir Maurice Fitzgerald,
and Sir Walter Hutchinson. who
spent the greater part Of last spring in
this country.
As yet no royal parsonage has had the
courage to insist on the incineration OF
his remains. though several OF them have
expressed their approval or cremation.
They are subject In the matter TO the
unwritten laws OF historic tradition and
etiquette. a fact which the late King
Edward took care TO mention when. in
discussing the disposal OF the dead with
the late Sir Francis Seymour Haden (who.
in addition to being the most famous
etcher OF his day. was a celebrated sur
geon and president Of the Sanitary Burial
Association. he commended the society's
method OF interring the dead-not IN zinc
lined wooden caskets, but in light wicker
work collins. OF a nature 10 expedite
instead Of retard the assimilation of dust
TO dust"
In England there have been thus FAR
during the last quarter Of a century
about 1000 cremauons. almost wholly
people Of note and afiuence. the number
OF crematories IN the United Kingdom
being restricted 10 thirteen. In Germany
there are some nineteen or twenty OF
these establishments in full blast. while
the number OF bodies thus disposed Of
during the last ten OF fifteen years is
returned as $1,000. The spread OF the
movement, in spite OF the disapproval Of
the Lutheran clergy and the prohibition
Of cremation IN Prussia and wurtemberg,
has been very extensive. and the German
National Cremation Society. which has
IT'S headquarters IN Berlin. has nearly 100
branches in various parts OF the empire.
! There are FIVE crematoria IN Switzerland.
which have reduced some 5000 bodies 70
ashes.
IN Italy the crematIons are numbered at
1000 while in France the figures are
given as numbering several hundred
thousand. This is due 10 the fact. how
ever. that the graves were not sold out
! right there. but merely leased for ten
years. az the end OF which the remains
are dug up and burned. Thus. in Paris.
since the construction OF the crematorium
at the great Pere Lachaise Cemetery in
1890, no less than $4,000 bodies have been
cremated.
Il is only since 1856 that cremation has
been officially forbidden by the Roman
Catholic Church. and among the principal
reasons which prompted Leo XIII, the
most broad-minded an2 liberal pontn
who has ever occupied the chair OF St
Peter, TO take this step. was, FIRST OF all,
the fact that incineradon had been adopt
/ ed by the atheist Freemasons OF Italy
/ and France as a feature OF their funeral
rites. for the purpose OF giving public
! expression TO their disbelief in the doc
trine OF the resurrection and Of the life
\ hereafter: while in the second place he
/ held that cremation tends 70 a dlminU-
| ton OF the tokens OF respect for the
/ dead that constitute so beautiful a fea-
/ ture OF most OF the recognized religions.
/ Thus. at Vienna, where the crematorium
/ is, situated at a distance OF FIVE miles
/ from the city. the management has estab-
! lished a system Of pneumatic tubes
| through which the dead are shot, In the
! space OF a few seconds, from the receiv-
| ing house in the center Of the city 70 the
| building in which the furnaces are To-
Gated, Just as II they were packages OF