The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-03-04

4 ~ XII
Gov. Stubs make few appoint
ments.
ibid not come until the time of the
Christian era, although some believe
that the Druids had the original idea
OF 1t before Christianity was born. In
the first centuries of our era in Rome
|I-When ere m alton was universal
among the Pagans-the Christians, be-
lleving in the resurrection of the body,
buried their dead in catacombs; but
when Constantine emancipated them
an age of church building began and
the fashion changed, none but the ST.
cllians continuing the practice of bur-
ial in catacombs to this time. All the
early churches were dedicated to
| patron saints as they are today. The
body of the saint was buried as near
as possible to the bones of the holy
| churchyard burial Is assigned to this
cause. Later, either from pride or
| from ptety people sought to be buried
still closer to the saint and hence in
! tramural burial. When Protestant
ism came it borrowed this custom
from the Catholics and hence We have
Westminster Abbey, and other notable
sanctuaries of the dead. I have Wis
| tied many of them in Europe and
America and 1 know of no greater de-
light than. sauntering through their
precincts where one finds a great OPP
portunity for wholesome contempla-
ton and profitable historical refresh
ment.
The Chinese. of course. claim to
have originated cemeteries, but I
think that they are more distinctively
Ottoman. 1t is the belief of the Mo-
hammedans that the body will rise
after death and to avoid possible con-
fusion at the day of judgment each is
given separate grave, many rich
ones having as much as forty acres to
lie in For this reason 1t is now
thought that the dead in Turkey occu-
Ply more land than the living. In ORR
entail countries where Mohamme dan-
ism prevails the cemetery idea has
reached its most elaborate develop
ment and Tai Mahal in India is I'M
questionably the finest tomb in the
world and the burial lot the largest.
But while the Turks believe in the
resurrection of the body it is a strange
fact that they also believe in the pol
icy of rapidly decomposing the body
and in all their graves you will see
sort of little chimney designed to let
the air in and thus facilitate the pro-
cess of decay.
Furniture of Human Bones.
visited a Capuchin monastery in
Rome where I saw the greatest sight
of all. For three hundred years the
community has preserved the bones of
the brethren and have used them SEN
sibly to my mind, although must con-
fess that cannot find many who agree
with me. Practically all of the fur
niture is made of human bones and the
decorations made out of the various
parts of the human body is artistic be-
yond description. The borders around
the walls are made of such things as
the fingers of men and the chandeliers
are formed out of the segments Of the
human backbone. The sight is repul-
sive to many who have not the true
philosophy of life and death.
Modern cremation originated in
Italy and was first practiced forty
years ago on the bodies of dogs. These
experiments were made largely to de-
the body for cremation, and to reduce
the time of the operation to the low
est possible minimum. The result Of
these experiments were made known
to nearly everybody at the time and
have given great impetus to the sys-
tenn both in Europe and in this coun-
try Notwithstanding public prejudice
religious and otherwise The opening
to it is som ething like the opening of
common furnace, or, perhaps, more
like bakers oven. The body is soak
ed in alum water and other chemicals
and now remains in the coffin during
the process of cremation, which con-
tinues from two to three hours. At
first there is slow heat but this is
gradually raised to a white heat. An
iSin glass window enables the friends
of the deceased to see the body con-
sumed. An air apparatus gathers the
ashes of the body in a little knoll and
this is subsequently put in an urn and
given to the relatives. They may take
the ashes home with them or deposit
IT, A1~-xv xryI,a Se,v
| ly labeled and kept until further or
ders.
There has been a great fight made
for cremation during the past two
thousand years but the odds have
| been against the advocates of the sys-
allied the custom with death and prac-
tically wiped it out of existence. AS
| late as fifty years ago it was penal
| lied almost as severely in Saxony, but
| it could not be downed and today In
the German empire there are many
| crematories doing a thriving business.
The Pagans of Rome during the
empire, and even before it, cremated
their dead and built magnificent tenn
pies or mausoleums for their ashes.
Thirty-two thousand such buildings
ornamented the Appian way and many
of them still survive. Among them is
single stone of the tomb of Seneca,
the great philosopher, and had the
pleasure of visiting it. In the city of
Rome two famous mAuSoleums of this
kind have survived-the tombs of
Hadrian and the great Caesar Angus
tus. Nero had wonderful mausoleum
which has gone to ruin and it is an in
teresting fact that the urn which con-
tanned his ashes was employed until
recently in the fish market of the
Eternal City TO measure salt in.
But while cremation was the estab-
lished burial fashion in Rome they
chung to inhumation in part, that is
to say, they amputated a finger or a
toe from the human body and buried
it in the earth.
Land Problems and Burials.
The land problem, as well as the
growing expense of funerals, has en-