Omaha daily bee., 1910-09-28
Funeral
Directors

dence between the undertaken who fur
nished the casket and the representative
American embalmers journal and the re.
port that the physicians had attempted &c
do the embalming was largely confirmed
There is no other country in the world
where the art of embaimius has reached
the degree OF perfection that charscterizes
it in America The leading embalmers now
claim that while they may not have dis.
covered the secret methods Of the Egyp
tians. they have developed methods that
surpass the Egyptian art, in that She body
is as perfectly preserved while at the same
time the likeness is much more funny re
tanned. The American embalmer has made
great strides in recent years Last year
Anna RedIine, weighing $40 pounds, whose
waist measured eight feet around, died Of
black erysipelas Her body was embalmed
and Kept for many days. il was finally
buried apparently in as good condition as A.
was on the day Of embalming
A most remarkable feat of emhRlming
was accomplished by an embalmer OF Dial.
las. Tex. A whale. measuring siNty-fv'
feet and weighing lie tons, was caught an6
killed near Galveston. An amusement en-.
terprise man wanted to exhibit it in Hous.
LOns ne NdAAth III a AdAo0 NNhhehaAhNA "
render the big hulk immune from putre-
faction. He pumped dozens of gallons of
formaldehyde and permanganate OF potash
into the flesh Of the whale with the result
that it was brought into such perfect
state Of preseI walton that it was made ex-
hibitable.
II is thought that the electric hearse Is
destined to succeed the horse-drawn We.
hae
been introduced 1t has proven popular In
few cases these have been built large
enough to carry the coffin and the whole
funeral PARTY as well, In some cities, not
ably Chicago. where the cemeteries are To-
Gated 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 thar cremation Will
gradually succeed Inflammation as the Ameri-
can method of disposing Of the dead. The
United States leads every country in the
world in the number OF crematories and
also in the number Of bodies cremated.
There are now more than 1900 incinerations
year. with cremation sentiment growing
steadily There are nearly fifty crematories
/ In operation in the United states Germany
and the Argentine republic rank second and
/ third, respectively. A new method of in
! cineration is coming into use which prom
! Uses to be a factor in increasing the new
method. Heretofore the air was cold be-
/ fore IL reached the incnerating chamber,
but now IL 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 dis
agreeable 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 fellow 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 Indian
buried the pipe. the tomahawk, and often
| the dog OF the warrior with him. in an
ticipation of the happy hunting ground. Ia
| China a white rooster is used TO lure the
spirit of the dead to the house Of it's fathers.
and a paper suit and some paper money
are burned, 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 Bra
iii 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 fun
erals, and then are killed to prevent their
| suffering the hangs of old age In IhasEa
the dead are thrown to hungry wolves and
dogs. The Eskimo often leaves his dead
in his snow hut, walling 1t up before the
spirit departs In order to keep from looking
upon the face of death.
BY FREDERIC J HAsKxM.
Observation-Disclosures Prison Association.