201 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
Cremation, including the urn. 5 5 0 
Do., for the working classes. 2 2 0 
For the deposit of the urn in 
a niche in inside walls of 
the crematorium 5 5 0 
Deposit of the urn in a niche 
in the outside walls of the 
crematorium 3 3 0 
Do., for those of limited 
means 2 0 0 
Deposit of urn in the public 
vault, from 10 6 
“It will be seen that the body can 
be cremated at Manchester, and the 
urn stored, for a total cost of £8 8s.; 
for those of limited means, £4 2s. 
“The Corporation of Sheffield 
charge £2 2s. for residents and £4 4s. 
for non-residents. The City of Lon- 
don, in the crematorium at Ilford, 
make a charge of £3 16s. 6d. for the 
cremation and urn. At Hull the City 
Corporation make a charge of £l Is. 
for residents, which includes the fu- 
neral service, urn, and the storage of 
the urn for one month; for non-resi- 
dents a fee of £3 3s. is payable. 
“In addition to the charges men- 
tioned for earth burials, which are 
based upon the cost of interment in 
the ground at six London cemeteries, 
there should be added the cost of 
planting ^ and keeping the grave in or- 
der, and the maintenance of memorial 
stones, which may be placed at 7s. 
6d. to £2 per annum. It is not de- 
■nied that a body can be buried for a 
less sum, but also a number of bodies 
might be cremated at a time and the 
ashes buried together. 
“It will be seen from the following 
sketch account of profit and loss of a 
public crematorium, upon a three- 
years’ average of income and expen- 
diture, that cremations can without a 
doubt be made profitable 
Average Annual Expenditure. 
Dr. £ s. d. 
To cost of fuel for 150 (car- 
bon oxide furnaces) cre- 
mations at 8s. 6d. each.... 63 15 0 
To 150 urns at 7s. 52 10 0 
Attendants’ wages 125 0 0 
Repairs to furnace 10 0 0 
Interest and sinking fund on 
cost of building, say 6 per 
cent on £3,000..... 180 0 0 
Balance, being profit. 198 15 0 
Total £630 0 0 
Average Annual Income. 
Cr. £ s. d. 
By 150 cremations at £3 
each, including the urn to 
receive the ashes.. 472 10 0 
Fees for the disposal of 150 
urns at an average of 21s. 157 10 0 
Total ........£630 0 0 
The question of disposal of the dead 
will shortly form one of the para- 
mpunt problems of the day. The only 
satisfactory solution will be cremation, 
and it will remain for the municipal 
authorities of this country to solve the 
question and to provide the necessary 
means at a reasonable cost. As a cor- 
respondent recently said, in a daily con- 
temporary : “Could there be a more le- 
gitimate and beneficent extension of 
‘municipal trading’ than provision for 
minimizing the deplorably insanitary 
circumstances connected with our pres- 
ent methods of disposing of the dead?’’ 
THE CREMATORY AT GERMANTOWN, PHILADELPHIA 
The Columbarium, or Crematory, sit- 
uated at Germantown, Philadelphia, is 
a building now so often spoken of that 
we have had a photograph of it taken. 
The building and grounds are situated 
on Washington Lane, Germantown, the 
building being on the summit of slightly 
ascending ground. 
The grounds are not extensive, ap- 
pearing to contain about fifteen acres. 
There are quite a few interments in the 
grounds, although the chief business is 
that of cremation. 
Bordering the main drive are two 
rows of sugar maple trees, a row on 
each side, nice trees now, as the one 
displayed proves. On each side of the 
carriage drive is a wide footpath inside 
the row of sugar maples, and these paths 
are bordered by rows of American Arbor 
Vitae. Then the grounds are dotted here 
and there with shrubs and trees set out 
to advantage, while immediately back 
of the building and on its two sides are 
natural forests of trees, so that the 
building is well placed. 
It is now nearly twenty years since 
the Columbarium was built and to this 
date there have been about 2,200 cre- 
mations. The bodies cremated are by 
no means confined to those from Phila- 
delphia, they come from all over the 
state. At the present time the average 
number of cremations are four per 
week, and the rate is increasing. 
The sentiment in favor of cremation 
seems growing. While by no means 
confined to Germans or those of Ger- 
man descent, it has always been favored 
by a large portion of them. 
Joseph Meehan. 
THE CREMATORY, GERMANTOWN, PHILADELPHIA. 
