The Washington times., 1923-04-11
ASHES ARE
KEPT IN
!, !, JARS
Sanitary Argument for This
System Is Winning Many
Converts.
By GEORGE FRANKLIN.

by GEOHOE rnANALANs
Between five and six hundred
human bodies are crenated in the
District of Columbia annually.
Statistics indicate that oppo-
sition to cremation is slowly be-
ing overcome.
Whether this is due to a wider
acceptance of the conclusions of
advocates of this system, who
urge its sanitary advantages as
compared with burial, authorities
are unprepared to say.
The facts are left to speak for
themselves, and these indicate
that prejudice toward adopting
what has appealed to many as
repulsive disposal of the bodies
Of relatives and friends is surely
weakening in the District.
Ashes in Stone Jars.
At the District crematorium. in
the rear of the District Jail, the
incinerating equipment is in use
almost daily. In a little room in
the rear of the edifice are shelves
filled with stone jars, sealed and
labeled. They contain the ashes
OF scores of persons-men. women
and children-whose dead bodies
have been converted into little
heaps of grayish-white dust in the
spacious fire boxes. There they
remain until disposal is arranged
for by relatives or until the period
Of one year has elapsed. Then the
ashes are gathered in a common
container and buried in a grave in
one Of the cemeteries.
The crematorium is utilized by
the District in disposing of its
pauper dead. 1t is declared to be
the best possible disposal of such
latter are claimed by relatives or
friends, they are easily transported,
requiring no spec'r6 transportation
permit in removiT them.
But the crenato, -un is used also,
for private funerals. The charge
for cremating a body is SIS.
Cremation takes place Immediately
upon the conclusion of chapel ex-
ercises, when they are held. The
time consumed IN reducing body
to ashes varies from an hour and
q half to two and a half hours.
This is governed by the size and
condition of the body and whether
IT is cremated in a casket. In
private cremation the latter custom
prevails. the casket first being
stripped of its metal trimmings.
Surroundings Inspiring.
Little by little the process Of
cremation has been refined until to-
day 1t is carried on amid surround
ings as inspiring of devotional
feelings as mark interment in the
grave. In fact, many persons
whose bodies later were creInated
were converted to by attending the
ceremonies incident to the crena-
ton of friends.
While several methods are EN-.
ployed in the operation of crema-
forums. that used at the District
crematorium is declared by ex-
perts to be the best. Through the
use Of oil as an incinerary agent,
1t is possible to place the bodies,
whether in casket or repoSing on
a slab, in proper position before
applying the heat. The flames
from the burning oil, pumped out
by compressed air, when turned on,
quickly fills the vault with a mass
of fire-do their work quickly. A
peep through an observation window
shows in outline only the remains
as they dissolve under the action of
the terrific heat. From eighteen
to twenty gallons of kerosine are re-
quired in cremating body.
Later, when the ashes have
cooled down sufficiently, they are
removed and placed in the container
provided by relatives or the stone
Jar supplied by the District
Reduced to Powder.
Contrary to general belief. the
ashes when removed from the oven
have not been reduced to a pow
derry dust. Portions still retain
semblance of honey formation. TO
reduce it to powder it is necessary
to put the ash through a mill AS
the quantity of ashes rarely ex-
ceeds a pound and half in weight,
the process is short. BY milling
II is possible to remove any for
eign matter which may have re.