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TORT WAYNE'S MODERN INCINERATION PLANT AT LINDENWOODMethod of Cremation of Bodies is Scientifically Perfect But the Idea Has Not Yet Come to be Generally Approved.iFort Wnyne is one of the very few cities in the world to have a crematory itfc.v Liw iminr nslon, after death. of £?mttiiia bodies. in the whole Unite:! ^States Ihovn are cnly twenty-live iiiBti-itnlioas of this character, find in I lie j remaining portion of the world there : «ro scarcely a half hundred more, p The number of crematories is stir-Jirlsiiigly small for this method of ihc tlisiKKiitl of bodies after death, and has lirobaid;.- been talked i f tnf.ro cr less by everyone. The number of incinerations at (he various crematories is JilBO surprisingly small :ml-during; (ha twhoiy existence of die local institution. since its erection In 1SH tip to the present lime, there have been but lorty-eighf jhodles cremated here. Anil yet ti in method for the disposal of bed ten, when considered solely from a scientific, sanitary imri economic Standpoint, is almost ideal, j, The Port Wnyne crematory is situ-'iis opettfid and the aalies are taken out. Tbo ashes, generally amount to about tliren pounds and can usitnlly be contained in a four by eix. con. After the nsheu have bean removed, It is tbo custom to either bury them or to place thorn in some receptacle for preservation.During the entire processor incineration, the fiames do not, at any tliue, come in contact either with tile casket or tlto body itself. The plant 13 constructed tu ihe nature of a big oven and l ho iiuul is obtained by means • of an intense coke and eotd lire. A heat of 2,500 degrees Is secured by (his means mid (his is audition! for cremation without the direct application of the ilmnos. Tills feature appeals particularly lo most people.Who Desire Cremation.ft lias been found to be lbs cuse in Furl Wayne, usually, that the cremation is the desire of the deceased, and is seldom done at the instance of friends. On Ale at the ol.lea of r,in-denwnod cemetery are a - number of letters from people who have deBlrnd ihelr ureiuallcu after life la extinct anti who have declared that unless they were certain that tliolr desires in this respect v/uva carried out, that (hey could not live in peace.In this scclinn cf the country, at least, i.iiu recline against cremationr - .. , «yfit.Only forty-eight bodies have been Incinerated since erection in 1836, of Fort Wayne’s cremation plant.ntod near the entrance of Lindtmwoml collision- «n the main rond. It is n particnfm-Iy beautiful little building, and the surround lags are Impressive and lovely. The structure is built entirely or stone and is topped with a little -be fry containing a sweet-toned bull. The interior la simple, htif arranged with the best possible taste.The Process of Cremation, in the interior of the structure In a small elm pel, where services arc generally held preceding (lie Incineration. At one end of the chapel, in plain view of the audience, is a small rained platform upon which the casket, stripped of its metal and glass, !b placed. Following i lie services the platform is lowered into the specially constructed oven, where In from sixty U ninety mimitus the Intense heat turns practically the whole of the casket mid tliu body into bug. However, although the Incineration is generally completed in this period, the remains are usually a! lowed, to remain in the o'en fur about elglitenn bom's, tn order to be sure that tlio Incineration is complete.At the end o£ this lime the ovenseems to he rather tnfrnRc as the number of cremations varies but slightly each year mid is always very small. During tlio existence of the crematory here, the cremations have averaged about Are each year. So far In 190!' there have been two incinerations and during the fiscal year just preceding, there were four cremation Ft.■ in proportion lo Ihe sijte of Foil Wayne, however, tho showing made is about Hie average. During 1907, buffalo hnd scventy-flve cremations; Wa-tervillR, X. Y„ had live; St. bonis, 17H; Philadelphia, 355; San Francisco, SIS; and Now York City, 912. in this year Fort Wayne had six, being next to the smallest number which occurred at Wfttei vllJe.fn foreign countries during 190”, Germany had n total of StiO cremations for ihe . whole country; England had 821; Sweden, twenty eight; France, 885; Swilsscvlund, 4U; and Denmark, seventy-three. The totnl In tho United Stales wan over 8,0.68.America easily leads the world in the total cremations. The total number of crematories in the country inthirty.six, ami tills Is far In excess of the number in any other country iti tho world. Mexico is preparing to os-tablisli government cremuturics. not only for the incineration of corpses, but of remains exhumed from graven, ns roost of the graves In that counlry are rented only for such time ns It is assumed tvijl be necessary for tlio disintegration of the hody; and thus when tlio time conics when tlio rental censes mill the time far exhuiiialion is at hand, there Is a loiTitir mixup of ghastly human debris, which htts b.v custom for long years been dumped into Isolated swamp’ or canyon or other waste place, there by to he gnawed by hungry nogs or starving, ravenous wild animals.idea Disliked.And yet, with all the facilities for cremation and with the fact acknowledged that. It Is by far the best method for Hie disposal r.t bodies after death, the fact remains that most people dislike the idea and will have none of it. Still it is doctored that tho attention of innlhmls of disposing of human bodies is more and more coming to be divorced from religious and sentimental views and looked upon as a mutter affecting the commonwealth as a whole.Many people will remember the shock that was experienced all over the country when, in IXii, 1 ho luaiies of Baron de Palm, Tiiocaoulilst, • and Mrs. Ren Pittman, of Cinclimati, wove incinerated in the crude furaaef! Iiulit by Dr. Julius LeMoyne. of Washington, Pa.,, tile first crematory in tlio country, and earning for its builder the title of ‘Father of Cremation in A liter! ca. Ail the lending newspapers of the country had special currusiiund-tmts on the sunt, and no wild eruption cf lurid description and distortion of truth was too extreme for publication. It was iirediclet; ui all sides that those orem.ilIons would be the first and last in America. r.An answer to this declaration came very speedily in the erection of a crematory fit Lancaster. Tbi.. In the midst of n great poimfuticm of hard-. beaded Dutch, followed soon by i lie it Buffalo. Then came one aj Fiesh Pond. Pittsburg; wns fifih nil Ihn list and others followed in rapid suaens-shin. Tliuy have been croctcil at tho rale cl about one a ytnir since Ihe time oPilnr first creniallon.All Private Affairs.All of those have been construe!ed either by crer.inlinn scclelies or by individuals, none being public or municipal. such us liavo been erected - in most of I lie countries In I'lprope. In BOiiio of these European cities the cremation is compulsory In relation to bodies of persons dying of contagious discHsas. ot unknown parsons dying in hospitals and in Paris of remain:; mutilated at tile dissecting table, of paupers mid persons—fpniit! in lltfi sheets or sewori; or dragged from tlio Seine, and unclaimed.At the present time a movement is cm Toot among the various crown lories cf tin) country to form a nriuuallon society, and it is possible that tills will bo done. Toe object of such u society would tie, of course, to show ilio general public liow much mere satisfactory cremation Is, in the long run. titan the burying of a’body beneath six feet ot soil. Owing to tlie fact that nil efforts to form the society must bo made by mail, it is taking considerable time to formulate plans for llio nrganixallon, hut I hose ot, tho Head of the movement are lioperul of being successful.Naturally ihe local crematory Is under Uio imtiiageuiciil lit the Linden-wood Cemetery association. II. .1. Bosweli is tlio superintendent, and IV. J. Adams is the secretary.NORTHWEST POPULARto SonttfC. Tlio railroailn are spcnOinjj thonfearidfl of dollara In avttaHo publk-A-lions; Pfimnr fnrtli bohuilnu ^autopsy and chemical analysis con-ductnd by two pliyalctons and two/■ii a ■,now duec elasi to c tnirn late few kept aero .claw qiilr TIPriu Firs Suco Tlilr Ftmi Flft! New Wall Wnh rut Ex prtoi give of th as sHasir
Newspaper Details
Fort Wayne News
Fort Wayne, Indiana, US
Sat, Jun 19, 1909
Page 11
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 08 Apr 2025
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