“My train by which I must leave you, at least for a few days, is due here at ten o’clock; but I am almost certain that I shall return very shortly. It seems that I can not leave your hospitable home for any considerable length of time as long as I am a resident of this earth,” said Mr. Midith, after Mr. Uwins had finished speaking. “No doubt all I can do on the coast is to attend that meeting and tell the dredgers as nearly as I can where my projectile went down in the Pacific. The parties who have undertaken the search for the projectile must be highly interested in the project, for I have corresponded with them only a few days and have given them only a very few facts concerning my history.” “I very much regret that you must leave us,” said Mrs. Uwins. “I have become so interested in the narrative of your just and beautiful world that I do not like to have you leave off telling before we have heard the whole of it.” “I have told you but a little so far,” replied Mr. Midith, “but when I return from the coast, I shall tell you much more; and if we succeed in finding the projectile, I will tell and show you all about its construction and operation; how it was gradually improved from time to time, the same as your locomotive or threshing machine. There are also countless other details, of which I have so far said nothing.” “It is more than an hour and a half before your train is due,” said Mr. Uwins, “and we cannot afford to have you silent as long as you are with us. I shall, therefore, ask you a question that I have been wanting to ask you several times before, but never got to it; and that is, how you dispose of your dead, your obsequies, mourning, monuments, etc.” “We do not _bury_ the dead at present, like you do and like we formerly did, but we _cremate_ them. Every community has a ‘crematorium,’ and a corps of undertakers, who take charge of the corpse immediately after death. They are notified by the attending physicians or friends of the deceased. The undertakers convey the corpse to the crematorium, where it is laid out in an open casket until it shows unmistakable signs of decay and dissolution, after which it is cremated. These undertakers also clean, disinfect and otherwise prepare the apartment of the deceased for the reception of a new occupant.