449 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
of gas is required, costing, say, at 2s. 
6d. for 1,000, 15s. When oil is used, 
it is stated that about 25 gallons are 
required. 
A considerable portion of the fuel 
consumed is required to heat the fur- 
nace prior to the introduction of the 
body. If more than one cremation 
took place consecutively, as would 
be the case if cremation became pop- 
ular, a very considerable economy in 
fuel would be effected as well as a 
material saving in the wear and tear 
of the furnace. At present the lat- 
ter is an item that must be liberally 
allowed for in estimating cost, but I 
am unable to give figures. 
It is evident, then, that the amount 
of fuel required to reduce a body to 
ashes is not very great, and, occur- 
ring as it • does only once in a life- 
time, it ought scarcely to be regarded 
as an extravagance, even if there 
were no saving to set off against it. 
But the 5 lbs. of dry innocuous 
calcareous matter composing the resi- 
due of “ashes” remaining after a cre- 
mation do not require the 21 square 
feet of ground space requisite for 
earth burial. The saving here is con- 
siderable, and justifies the statement 
that the essential cost of cremation, 
where facilities exist, need be no 
greater than that of earth burial. 
A complete crematorium com- 
prises : — 
(a) The Chapel, containing 
(b) The Catafalque. 
(c) The Incinerating Chamber, 
containing 
(d) The Furnace, or Furnaces, and 
Chimney. 
(e) The Columbarium. 
(ff Mortuary. 
(g) Vestry, Waiting Room, Offices, 
etc. 
(a) The Chapel, in which the 
mourners assemble and in which the 
funeral service is held. As already 
indicated, it is not essential that a 
separate chapel be provided for cre- 
mation, and if the same chapel can 
be utilized as is used for earth bur- 
ial, a great economy is effected. All 
that is necessary is that the cata- 
falque, a table upon which the cof- 
fin is placed during the service be- 
fore being consigned to the flames at 
the committal sentence, should be so 
arranged as to be capable of being 
screened off when not in use. At the 
Leicester Crematorium, the cata- 
falque is placed in the Chancel of 
one of two adjacent chapels in the 
Gilroes Cemetery, and when no cre- 
mation is taking place curtains are 
drawn across and both chapels can 
be used simultaneously for inhuma- 
tion services. 
The style of building selected will, 
of course, depend upon the views of 
those responsible, but it is important 
that the elevation should not be 
gloomy or forbidding. It ought not 
to be necessary to go to great ex- 
pense to avoid this. I would also 
suggest the desirability of there be- 
ing nothing in the appearance of a 
crematorium suggestive of a “heathen 
temple” — an accusation sometimes 
brought against crematoria. Where 
any foundation for this- exists it is 
scarcely calculated to allay religious 
prejudices. 
(b) The Catafalque. — This being 
the last resting-place of the hallowed 
remains of the dead prior to disin- 
tegration, it is only fitting that it 
should be worthy of its object, and 
it affords an opportunity for some 
artistic effort. In most crematoria 
it is the principal feature of the cre- 
matorium chapel. At Leicester, the 
catafalque is of carved oak, at Shef- 
field it is of bronze, and at Bradford 
and elsewhere of stone. The new 
catafalque at Woking is of marble 
and alabaster. After the coffin is 
once on the catafalque, it ought not 
to be necessary to subject it to any 
further handling. The catafalque is 
usually so placed with regard to the 
furnace that when the committal sen- 
tence is reached, it can be silently 
carried forward by a simple me- 
chanic contrivance, through draped 
or folding doors into the crematory 
chamber, and so on into the fur- 
nace. No glimpse or suggestion of 
the latter ought to be possible to the 
mourners in the chapel. 
In the Glasgow crematorium the 
coffin is lowered from a central cata- 
falque to the furnace chamber in the 
basement. 
At the Davenport crematorium, 
Iowa, U. S. A., the body, after leav- 
ing the catafalque, is removed from 
the coffin and is passed into the fur- 
nace in a special steel cradle. This 
is no doubt an advantage so far as 
facilitating the process of cremation 
and reducing the time required, but 
there is obvious and serious objec- 
tion from the sentimental point of 
view. 
(cl The Incinerating Chamber. — 
The size of this will depend, upon the 
number of furnaces to be installed. 
At the present stage of cremation 
probably a single furnace will meet 
all requirements for some time to 
come, but it is wise to provide space 
for a second furnace when required. 
(d) The Furnace. — There are three 
principal types of furnace in use irr 
this country, viz.: (1) The “Simon”’ 
type, designed by the late Mr. Henry 
Simon and made by Messrs. Simon,. 
Limited, of Manchester. This burns 
coal or coke; (2) The Carbon Oxide 
Co.’s coke furnace, recently fixed at 
Golders Green and Woking Crema- 
toria; and (3) The Toisoul-Fradet 
Gas Furnace, made by Messrs. Toi- 
soul, Fradet & Co., of Paris, and 
fixed at Leeds and Bradford. 
Several distinct advantages are 
claimed for the latter, the principal 
being the cleanliness and convenience 
of gas as a fuel compared with coal 
or coke, simplicity and economy of 
working, and longer life. At Leeds, 
the average amount of gas consumed 
for the first sixteen cremations was 
only 6,043 cubic feet, which, at 2s. 3d. 
per 1,000 cubic feet, only represents 
a cost for fuel of 13s. per cremation. 
The following requirements were 
laid down as being necessary in a 
satisfactory crematory furnace by the 
International Congress on Cremation 
held at Dresden on June 30th, 1876: 
1. The cremation must be complete 
without coaly residue. 
2. It must be performed only by a 
.special apparatus for the purpose. 
3. No gases or vapors which have 
any smell whatever must be allowed 
to escape into the air. 
4. The ashes must be pure and 
whitish and easily collected. 
5. The incineration should take 
place in the shortest time possible. 
6. The apparatus should be able to 
cremate rapidly several bodies in suc- 
cession. 
Whichever type of furnace is 
adopted, it should comply with the 
above condition, and it is also nec- 
essary that it should be capable of 
withstanding the strain caused by the 
alternate expansion and contraction 
resulting from intermittent use. Some 
of the earlier furnaces erected failed 
in this respect. In any case; in esti- 
mating the cost of cremation, allow- 
ance must be made for wear and tear 
of the furnace. 
As regards the chimney, a great 
height is not required. Freeman 
thinks 60 feet sufficient with any of 
the existing types of furnace, al- 
though the chimneys on some crema- 
toria are rather higher. 
It is usual to arrange for a pilot 
furnace at the foot of the chimney 
stack, but, although this is some- 
times an advantage for starting the 
draught, if is probably not required 
for the purpose of a fume cremator, 
the temperature inside the furnace 
during a cremation (from 1,500 degs- 
