Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1911-10-10

Il ~ y
bodies than there are persons living
In Brooklyn today and another an.
thor tells us that I'm one township
near New York City there are fol
every one person living $50 dead
bodies buried there" and in this
township the highest death rate IN
1.-The state Is reported. s
Great bodies move slowly. limo
vations should be accepted only a..
| ter due consideration and investiga.
i.tion, but when we know that the
custom Of cremation Is new only to
the civilization which calls Itself
modern, the subject should be free
" discussed and our city library
should provide q list Of books for
the enlightenment Of the layman.
The question Of sanitation along
any line should be considered, re-
gardless<of age or predisposition to
sentimentality. Any single family
objects to being quarantined. but
the health Of the community de
mands isolation and the Individual
must submit. II an epidemic OF
plague manifests In community,
not only the afaicted are isolated but
| the public meeting places are closed
as q precaution and the houses Of
victims are fumigated after the
scourge has subsidized. Why then
should we be permitted from senti-
mental reasons to bury dead bodies
and thereby contaminate earth and
air and water and furnish the condi-
lions for perpetual epidemics and
illness?
Prof. Thompson. (clinical surg
4 cry, London) says: No dead body
is ever placed IN the soil without
polluting the earth and water above
and about It, and since It requires
from Is to 60 years to reduce bur-
led body to natures original ele-
ments, the danger Is never ending.
Not long ago the report came
from Des Mofnes that the high wat
er had exposed many Of the dead
bodies in the low lying. portions OF
their cemetery. A grewsome reflec-
ton certainly for the relatives; and
yet we seem to shrink from the I'M
familiar thought Of cremation.
wish I could quote to you mass Of
material showing actual experiment
tation and conditions about GENE
teries, but space forbids, and ! can
only call attention to vital subject
| in the hope that we may sooner OF
later apply our energies to locating
and dealing with cause and wher
we do this the effects will flow nat
uraIly and be commensurate with
1 the thoroughness and understanding
/ which we bring to bear on said
causes. and surely the local lesson
which has been brought home to vi
should stimulate us to the point Of
seeking an opening for reform In the
method Of the disposition Of refuse
whether fragmentary or integral.
AS closing word to those who
shrink from the thought Of incin,
Grating their loved dead let me say;
The sight is not In the least revolt.
ing for the flame does not come II
contact with the body. The consum
ling chamber Is of fire clay and thu
body is placed In the retort and the
heat Is below and around 1t, tho all
In the retort being heated to $500
degrees Fahrenheit the remains are
quickly reduced to ashes. A 22i
pound body requires As minutes
only and leaves residue Of
pounds OF grayish ashes, which arr
as free from the elements Of con
ltamination as the fresh wood asne.
on your hearth.
| To witness cremation Is DIPLOMA
with friends and surely this meth
cd 10 less reyolting than the though
OF the slowly disintegrating body II
the cemetery, and beside the SAM
tary consideration, 1t has the virtue
Of reducing the funeral expens.
which Is becoming so burdensome
and this expense should naturall,
decrease as crematoriums becom,
more numerous with the adoption o
the custom Of incineration.
An acquaintance, after witnessin.
the cremation # friends body
said: II saw the door OF the cinera
tor taken down. Its rosy light shin,
forth. the form enrobed in whit,
laid there amid loneliness that wa
fascinating, and without glimps'
of flames or FIRE or Goals or smoke
said: This method beyond all 1.
the most pleasing to the senses. thu
most charming 70 the imagination
and the most grateful-to the mem
ory.'
Harriet NJ. Closz.
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