CREMATION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1797, 15 August 1906, Page 66

CREMATION.

SANITARY AND SENTIMENTAL POINTS OF VIEW. A good deal has been written and published on cremation since tho arrival •in 'Wellington a few weeks ago of JVbss Studholme, a lady who, with a training in hygiene in the foremost*: schools, is convinced that the world would be bettering itself by substituting cremation for earth burial. Her ideas and enthusiasm have proved contagious, witii "the result that many people in Wellington have come to think that the pollution of the earth by the burial of the dead cannot be conducive to the health of the community. The Mayor took the matcer up, and issued subscription lists to those who, it was calculated, .would assist the' mat':er along, but the "response has not been over-encou-raging. We have already dealt with the economic and religious aspects of cremation and now propose to take its sanitary and sentimental phases. Regarding its sanitary side, people in the colonies '“have no idea what earth burial means in the large cities of the world,where, in the cases of the poor, a pit is sunk perhaps a hundred feet and \he coffins are piled one on top of the other to a ‘few feet from the surface, and where it is often necessary to hurry over the burial service at a funeral to clear the way for the next one that may be in ■sight. Can any reasonable person imagine what evil results may arise from such monuments of corruption— he residue of those who have died from •all manner of diseases? 'Fortunately, we have, in this colony, not arrived at such a stage as that depicted above, blit it is quite common in our own cemeteries to bury two or three in a grave, and that in places probably in ‘the centre of a dense population. The earth is a great purifier, but i, is a moot point as to whether it cannot be overloaded in its slow methods of reducing the body 'co its original elements once more. If there io no harm in burying the corruptible human body, why do we burn our city rubbish and refuse; why not fill in the many gullies -and hollows among our hilly sui roundings with such? 'lha.t con’d ot be done, because the people would cry out against such an insanitary proceeding —ergo, we cremate our ruhbidi in the destructor to avoid the potvibilitics of disease and death by disposing 01 it byother methods. TI-IE “ LANCET’S ” OPT NION. Most dead bodies con ain bacteria of 'harmful varieties, and ourcu ternary practice of earth burial pi-.cos uic>e bacteria in the most sud-abi..- ixa-mme environment for them ! u> n)ir,c oiul multiply 7. They are then cai n-n to Om surface by worms and there eme<td. 01 they are washed away by w.ner percolating' through the soil, am! so t «n- iur we breathe and our streams *m apparently pure water become lnioeuxi mid highly dangerous. Many mopm consider that if water is quite civ-r ml bright and pleasan.. to i.;<; •. it mb be harmful. A Mr - *!i -h '<, a ;; . g against cremation, made a great ;m: of the water from a I’um.n rU Bishopsgate street. Loffiton, < u-e to an old graveyard, win mi w.c.rv he described as "pm i'm-i |y brig id, clear, and even bri'iiiaul ; it bar. a soft agreeable taste, s.u’d r- much teemed by the inhabituuU td Cue p-si-isii.'’ His argument was t hat pe:< through the soil 'had n i m wholly to decompose ami reamer mm.oneive the liquid animal :i;au.■: ; mu is as -oozed from the pu ..relying cm,... in the churchyard.” Jim. rim “Famr*:. ’ ~n-' ewered —“it is a weU-asee i t a in< u i a cc : a.. t the surest carrier and most fa isit4 ui imtus

of zymotic contagion is this brilliant enticing looking water,- charged with the nitrates which result from organic decomposition. What for example was the history of the Broad street pump, which proved so fatal during the cholera epidemic of 1854? Was its water foul, thick and stinking? Unfortunately not. It was the purest looking and most enticing water to be found in the neighbourhood, and people came from a distance to get it. Yet there can be no doubt that it carried cholera to many who drank it; and its analysis showed that in composition it was very similar to the water near the graveyard in Bishopsgate street alluded to by Mr Haden. Wo are afraid Mr Haden will have to confess that at present the only known .method of making organic matter certainly harmless is the process of cremation.”

BACTERIA FROM THE GROUND. When there is no percolating water, the business of dispersing the bacteria is attended to by the worms. After, descending to a considerable depth the worms bring up to the surface tho particles they have swallowed, and eject what is indigestible at the mouths of their burrows. This mould is soon dried into dust, and is then at the mercy of the winds, which disperse the bacteria and t-eir accompanying diseases over the country—it is “in the air” as people find out in the case of the influenza germ only too often. Professor Pasteur’s experiments with regard to anthrax showed this conclusively. After a diseased -cow had been buried for two years at a depth of seven feet, the surface earth not having been disturbed in the interval, Professor Pasteur found that the mould contained germs, with which a guinea pig was inoculated, anthrax and death being the result. Similar germs were found in the alimentary canals of worms taken from the infected ground, and also on the leaves of plants in the neighbourhood. The zymotic diseases (that is to say germ diseases such as small-pox, diphtheria, typhoid, and scarlet fever, measles, etc.) are ail preventable, and under our present more sanitary habits of life, could in course, of time be entirely exterminated if cremation became general; but they will continue to be a curse and a disgrace to our civilisation so long as our present burial customs prevail. MISPLACED SENTIMENT.

When we consider the clean and rapid manner in which cremation effects the dissolution of the body into its constituent elements, it seems almost incredible that anyone should prefer that the bodies of their beloved ones should be condemned to corruption—to the longprotracted and disgusting process of putrefaction which our system of burial ensures. So powerful, however, are the benumbing effects of use and custom on both reason and imagination, that there can be no doubt that it is on the ground of sentiment that many people object to cremation. It may be said that it is useless to throw such fresh light on the subject as may induce even the most prejudiced to reconsider their prejudices and to range their sentiment on the side where it rightly should be-Mvith the cremationists. No doubt Gray’s "Elegy, Written in a Country Churchyard” presents a beautiful picture to the eye of sentiment, but it is a picture of bygone days, oven in England, and never was at all appropriate to colonial conditions. Although the bulk of the population in the older countries now live and die in great cities, the rural churchyards are still used; but Gray was merely using the language of poetic license when lie wrote — “Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.” So disgustingly full are these ancient churchyards tnut curt-loads of remains are continually being removed to make way for the new-comers, while the old head-stones are broken up and used for footpaths. The revolting scenes enacted m oid city churchyards are too sickening for narration, and, it may be said, are not to the point, as intra-mural burial is now illegal, but the largo extra-mural cemeteries are rapidly being enveloped by the fast-growing cities, and then the same difficulties begin again. Even in .Sydney a few years ago the- oldest cemetery there was excavated away to make room for the new railway station opened last -week.

There is a very natural sentiment in favour of having one's “last resting place” within the shadow of the church, or oven in the building itself, and in ancient churches tho tombs are frequently of the greatest interest. This custom is now, of course, prohibited, exoe;ff under particular circumstances, and with special permission, but there is no roason why it should not be revived on a much larger scale than formerly, when urn-burial of the harmless calcined bones becomes general. Vaults, passages, niches, and walls would form suitable places for unis, and their accompanying inscriptions or memorials, and new churches could Ire constructed with special facilities for the purpose. City churchyards could also be utilised aguin, and there is no doubt a certain illness in men resting in death near the scene of their life and labour. However unreasonable sentiment may be, there can be little doubt that from every point of view, but more especially from that of preference “for the pure flame of cremation rather than the horrible putridity of the tombs,” tho finer feelings of civilised mankind will in the future be found more and more entirely on the side of cremation. PUBLIC MEETING HELD. A COMMITTEE FORAIED. PRACTICAL ACTIVITY. public meeting was Held in the Mayor's room at the Town Hall on Au--7 for tho purpose of discussing Vim. prppow-cl erection of a crematorium for the city. There were about fifty

persons of both sexes present. The Mayor (Hon. T. W. Hislop) presided. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs W. McLean, D. T. Stuart, J. Randerson, and the Rev. Dr Tudor Jones. The chairman stated that he had also received a message of sympathy from a Church of England clergyman, and understood there was a strong clerical party in favour of the movement.

The Mayor said this movement had again been brought into life in Wellington in consequence of the visit of Miss Studholme. It had been intended to work quietly at first, but tho papers nad taken the matter up, and hence the calling of this public meeting. Miss Studholme had been much encouraged by statements that had been made to her by the Public Health Department, and he was not aware whether or not anything substantial was likely to eventuate from that quarter. The committee of the City Council ■which had had tho matter before it had determined that in the meantime it would make an appeal to those particularly interested in the movement, and its subsequent action would be in accordance with tho encouragement it got. The actual amount received in cash was £llß 19s, and other promises would bring this up to about £2OO. More than this would probably be forthcoming if the meeting took up the move, ment.

Dr Mason, Chief Health Officer, thought the attendance augured well for the movement. There could be no doubt from a health point of view as to the advisability of substituting cremation for earth burial. Hie chief objection in the Old Country was the purely sentimental one, but he contended that just as much sentiment could be expended on tho ashes which might ho in an urn as upon the body that might bo buried in the ground. Those who depended on ancient usage must also give way, because long before the days of the Greeks and the Romans, the Aryans used to practise this way of dispensing of their dead. Finally, from the purely practical standpoint of sanitary, scientific, and preventive medicine, the advocates of earth burial would have to give way. He emphasised the point that in congested areas a burial place could not be regarded as in any sense a place of rest, because the needs of the population compelled the shifting of the graveyards from time to time. He remembered at one time bo. ing engaged on the analysis of gaece which bad palpably escaped from the soil in which some of Glasgow’s citizens were buried. They were absolutely poliutive. There were innumerable instances of ill-health resulting from this cause, and he was glad to see that even in New Zealand they were moving in the direction of requiring that all cemeteries should be outside the urban area. Yet in tho northern end of this island there was a cemetery lying on the watershed of an important town. He thought it was a matter for congratulation that Miss Studholme had been the means of getting together so representative a meeting. Mr W. Ferguson stated that lie had been promised about £O4 conditionally upon tho movement going forward to tho extent of collecting, say. £SOO. Mr J. R. Blair stated that he had been promised £25. Replying to Mr H. D. Bell, who asked what the Council proposed to do in the matter, the Mayor stated that he understood that if, say, £SOO was subscribed by the public the thing would go on. Mr Bell recalled the fact that when ho was Mayor in 1897 the Council had unanimously passed a resolution in which the establishment of a crematorium was defined as urgent work. (Loud applause.) Unfortunately, succeeding occupants of lbe chair had not taken the same interest in the matter. ffj'V.ighter.) When bo (the speaker) was a. member of the House in 1895 he drafted and got tho House to pass an amendment of tho Cemeteries Act making it permissive for municipal councils to establish crematoriums. Every single work declared by the Council in 1897 to bo important had now been carried out, with the exception of the crematorium. Tho amount then mentioned was £2OOO, which, lie believed was more than was required. He asked the question, because ho had not the least idea what share the City Council would bear of the cost of the 'institution.

Tlie Alayor pointed out that the Council had put before tho ratepayers on ono occasion a proposal to borrow £2OOO for a crematorium, and out of 20,000 inhabitants only 342 voted for it, and 1109 against. He bad not put it on the loan proposals in bis tune bccauso be did not approve of putting a thing like this in that way. It could be dono out of revenue if they got a little help from the public. Mr James Godber said he was satisfied that if t-fie citizens showed they were interested in the movement there was a majority on the Council who would help it forward. Air A. A. Barnett said as it was the wish of so many citizens that an institution of the kind referred to should bo erected at once they ought to go on with it in a practical way. The best thing to do was to go to the Council with a cheque for £SOO or £IOOO as a supplement to the amount which the Council would expend in carrying out this very necessary work. He vnder-

stood a Siemens regenerative furnace and gas producer would cost £ISOO. The Council had already allotted a, piece of ground for the erection of a crematorium. Mr J. W. Poynton suggested that anyono who subscribed say twenty-five pounds should have the right to nominate ono person, himself or a friend, to ho incinerated. (Laughter.) Dr. Ma&on said ho had got four or fivo estimates a little while ago for tho supply of cremating apparatus. A first class maker was prepared to put up the apparatus in New Zealand for £SOO, but that would not include the chapel. Mr D. M. Luckie said lie had been struck over and over again by the cost of earth-burial and t-lic attendant display, which he regarded as disgraceful waste. (Hear, hear.) Mr W. Ferguson said that in tho pamphlet issued by the Dunedin Cremation Society in 1893 the chapel and apparatus were estimated to cost £1175. Ho had no doubt it could bo done for £ISOO. As for the cost of tho incineration of bodies, at Hull it was ono guinea each and at Leicester two guineas each. That would compare very well with the cost of earthburial.

Idle Mayor said he did not know whether it was impossible to get something towards the cost from the Health Department. The idea of the committee of the Council was that if tho citizens' provided a fair sum, say £SOO, tho Council might be able to spare £SOO out of revenue this year, and another £SOO next year and have tho whojo thing done in that way. If tho public subscribed this sum it would show that there wore a certain number of people who really desired the institution, and then tbnoe who were against it, and they might bo a majority could not complain that it had been a burden on tho public generally. If this suggestion was approved ho thought they could commence the work this year and have it finished during next year. Mr Bell said he would make one of six to subscribe £SO each to make up tho balance of the £SOO required from the public. Mr C. W. Adams appeared to oppose the movement. He contended that earth burial if carried out properly gave no offence whatever to public health. Ho had authority for saying that if all human bodies were destroyed by burning there would be an end to tho supply of ammonia. There was no need to fear in the slightest the harm tho dead could do. Cremation would not only pollute thousands of cubic yards of atmosphere, but it would be a wanton waste of fertilising material. Mr J. R. Blair asked the meeting to take into consideration the fact that in London a great many old buryinggrounds bad been built over, or were being used for playgrounds, and that was tho tiling they must look forward to. His idea was that the crematorium should, be on the old hurvingground at Tliorndon, which could bo preserved for all time. It had been proved in France that bodies buried six feet deep had infected stock with splenic fever. Dr Mason pointed out that all tho fumes produced in the incineration of a body were in turn consumed, and camo out of tho fire odourless. Air T. On 7 , who indicated that ho was about to oppose tho movement, said ho had read from Adam to Queen Victoria, and lie found the word ‘‘bury” from beginning to end. Mr R. Co-upland Harding said ho could naino cemeteries in New Zealand which by slow degrees were being absorbed by the ocean, the human remains being gradually dropped down tho cliffs into the sea. In this city there was a land slip, as a result of which human bodies fell into a public thoroughfare. Alon working on tho sito of an old cemetery in Scotland had sickened and died of black plague more than a century after tho plague had ravaged the country. On the motion of Air J- R. Blair tho following were appointed a committee) to give effect to the objects of tho meeting:—The Alayor, Drs Tudor Jones, Pollen, Izard, Hislop, Miss Studholme, Airs Godber, Alessrs 11. D. Bell, D. AI. Luckie, W. McLean, J. It. Blaii\ W. Ferguson, J. AY. Poynton, It. ~C. Harding, A. A. Barnett, Harclie Shaw, J. AI. Richardson, J. Godber, D. T. Stuart, and J. Randerson. Votes of thanks were accorded to Dl‘ Alason, Aliss Studliohne, and others.