A motion was then made by Dr. J. E. Emerson, a prominent physician, that the chairman appoint a committee of three to prepare a constitution and by-laws for the organization of a cremation society in Detroit; and three gentlemen were appointed as such committee. The following agreement was thereupon prepared, and received 27 signatures:—
“We, the undersigned, do hereby unite ourselves into an association for the purpose of providing facilities for carrying cremation into operation.” Then the meeting adjourned, subject to the call of the committee.
The entire time of the committee was taken up by the formation of a stock company, which proposes the erection of a crematory. Influenced by flattering prospects, the promoters of the project had prepared by Messrs. Spiers and Rohns, architects, plans for a handsome crematorium. The chart shows three divisions, viz.: the exterior of the building, the main floor, and the basement.
CREMATORIUM AT LANCASTER, PA.
(Exterior View.)
The exterior view shows a handsome Romanesque structure of one story and a basement. The main height is 16 feet, which rises in four gables on the sides. A dome, 35 feet in circumference, attains a height of 65 feet. The drawing of the first floor shows an auditorium of octagon form. Back of the two rear niches are dressing-rooms for clergymen. Two handsome altars on which to hold religious services will front from these niches. Two rooms in the lower end of the building, on either side of the approach, are reserved for toilet rooms, one for ladies, and the other for gentlemen. In the center of the upper end of the auditorium is placed a catafalque, resting on an elevator. After a body has been properly prepared, it will be placed on this catafalque. When the religious services are concluded, the body will be lowered to the basement, and the opening in the floor closed with a slide trap.
The plan of the basement shows the same divisions as are made on the main floor. On the left-hand side is a retiring-room. The front is divided into four rooms. An ice cellar, a frigidarium, which is calculated as a place in which to preserve bodies for several days; a calidarium, a heated room in which bodies can be placed for several days, to insure against cremation while in a state of trance; and a drug room, where restoratives will be kept. The right-hand wing is designed for a preparing room, from which the body is taken directly to one of the furnaces. The furnaces, of which there will be two, are not yet definitely designed. It is supposed, however, that they will be after the plan of the apparatuses at Lancaster, in Pennsylvania.
In the rear of the building it is proposed to build an addition, in the form of a three-quarter circle, which will be styled the columbarium. On the inside this will be divided by three corridors, and the walls divided into compartments for containing urns. There will be room in this limited space of 40 × 30 feet, it is estimated, for holding the remains of 8000 bodies.
The building is designed to be built of Ionia red sandstone. Two immense flue chimneys, one for ventilation, the other for the furnaces, rising to a height of 75 feet, will give character to the building. The front will be set off with a handsome porch supported by Roman pillars and approached by a half-circle road-bed, over which the hearse and carriages can drive up to the main entrance.
The Michigan Cremation Association was organized at Detroit on the 31st of March, 1886. Dr. H. Erichsen was chosen temporary chairman, and Mr. A. N. Low secretary of the meeting. The documents of incorporation were signed. On motion of Dr. J. H. Carstens, a board of directors was elected. At the close of the meeting the directors met, and elected the following officers: President, James F. Noyes, M.D.; vice-president, Hugo Erichsen, M.D.; secretary, Mr. A. N. Low; treasurer, Mr. M. W. Field. The treasurer furnished a $10,000 bond, as required by the original agreement.