Looking forward : $b a dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999Bird, Arthur
Science
Looking forward : $b a dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999
Bird, Arthur
Twentieth century -- Forecasts; United States -- Civilization
On the day following the death of a person, after the remains had
been viewed for the last time by relatives and friends, the body was
taken by night to the crematory where it was immediately reduced to
ashes. These were carefully deposited in a small metallic burial
case and returned to the [No Hurry for the Funeral.] mortuary
residence. The date of the funeral was agreed upon and notices were
sent out to the public. Sometimes it was deemed desirable to hold the
funeral one or two months after death. In cremation funerals everything
passed off in the most leisurely manner possible, accompanied with
the highest effects of art. A funeral could be held a week, a month
or a year after death. There was ample time to make arrangements,
or to postpone a funeral on account of the weather. On the day of
interment when the ashes were to be deposited in the family vault in
the mausoleum, at the appointed hour, friends and relatives gathered
at the mortuary residence. The small metallic casket containing the
ashes of the deceased was usually placed in the centre of the room,
resting upon a light bamboo stand, covered with black velvet. The stand
was usually surrounded with choice flowers and floral designs. The
tiniest caskets used in the old burial days were double in size of
the beautiful silver and gold cases sometimes holding the ashes of
a person who might have weighed, during life, over three hundred
pounds. The absence of the large casket used in old burial days and
the substitution in its place of a small jewel-size case containing
the ashes was an agreeable innovation. Otherwise, all funeral
services in 1999 were substantially the same as in 1899. Although
the surroundings were far more pleasant, the grief of the stricken
ones was none the less profound. When funerals in 1999 were held in
a church, the exercises were about the same as in the days of the
old burial system. Instead of six bearers, only one became necessary.
There was a marked contrast between the funeral processions of 1899 and
those [Funeral Procession in 1999.] of 1999. The great, cumbersome
hearse had disappeared, and in the line of carriages that followed
the small, light electric hearse, no horses were to be seen. All
mourners' carriages were propelled by electricity. The automobile
containing the minister, led the procession, then followed the hearse
and carriages of the mourners. In 1999, when a funeral passed by,
people on the streets at the time were always careful to remove their
hats as a mark of respect to the ashes of the deceased. This was a
concession to common decency almost wholly unknown in the days of
burials. People living in 1899 should not be too severely criticised
in their lack of respect for the dead in the matter of uncovering
as a funeral procession passed by. The entire system was a relic of
barbarism and people were hardly to blame for denying this mark of
respect to such an objectionable mode of burial.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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