At Tokio in Japan no fewer than 22 crematoria exist, and about an equal number of cremations and burials in earth take place.
At Calcutta a crematorium was opened in 1906.
At Montreal, Canada, there is a crematorium which began operations in 1902, and completed 44 cremations up to the 31st of December 1905.
United States.—There were 33 crematoria in the United States on September 1st, 1907. At Fresh Pond, New York, erected in 1885, the total number of cremations to December 31st, 1906, being 8514. At Buffalo, N.Y., the first cremation taking place in 1885, and the total number down to December 31st, 1905, being 787. At Troy (Earl Crematorium), N. Y., the first cremation taking place in 1890, and the total number down to December 31st, 1905, 249. At Swinburne Island, N.Y., cremations beginning in 1890, total to December 31st, 1905, 123. At Waterville, N.Y., cremations beginning in 1893, total to December 31st, 1906, 62. At St Louis, Missouri, cremations beginning in 1888, total to September 1st, 1907, 2151. At Philadelphia, Penn., cremations beginning in 1888, total to September 1st, 1907, 1685. At San Francisco, Cal., “Odd Fellows,” opened in 1895, total to December 31st, 1906, 6151. Also at San Francisco, Cal., “Cypress Lawn,” opened in 1893, total to December 31st, 1905, 1492. At Los Angeles, Cal., No. 1, Rosedale, opened in 1887, total to December 31st, 1905, 866; No. 2, Evergreen, opened in 1902, total to December 31st, 1905, 413; No. 3, Gower Street, opened in 1907 with 54 down to September 1st. At Boston, Mass., opened in 1893, total to September 1st, 1907, 2493. At Cincinnati, Ohio, opened in 1887, total to September 1st, 1907, 1245. At Chicago, opened in 1893, total to September 1st, 1907, 2188. At Detroit, Michigan, opened in 1887, total to December 31st, 1905, 689. At Pittsburg, Penn., opened in 1886, total to September 1st, 1907, 377. At Baltimore, opened in 1889, total to December 31st, 1905, 263. At Lancaster, Penn., opened in 1884, total to December 31st, 1906, 106. At Davenport, Iowa, opened in 1891, total to September 1st, 1907, 331. At Milwaukee, opened in 1896, total to October 1905, 442. At Washington, opened in 1897, total to December 31st, 1905, 275. The Le Moyne (Washington, Pa.) crematory, the first in the United States, was erected by Dr F. Julius le Moyne in 1876, for private use. The first cremation was that of the baron de Palin, of New York, December 6th, 1876. Dr F. Julius le Moyne died October 1879, and his remains were cremated in his own crematory. Total number of cremations (to 1907) 41. At Pasadena, Cal., opened in 1895, total to September 1st, 1907, 491. At St. Paul, Minn., opened in 1897, total to December 31st, 1905, 145. At Fort Wayne, Ind., opened in 1897, total to September 1st, 1907, 41. At Cambridge, Mass., opened in 1900, total to September 1st, 1907, 1090. At Cleveland, Ohio, opened in 1901, total to December 31st, 1905, 283. At Denver, Col., opened in 1904, total to December 31st, 1905, 109. At Indianapolis, opened in 1904, total to December 31st, 1905, 32. At Oakland, Cal., opened in 1902, total to September 1st, 1907, 2196. At Portland, Ore., opened in 1901, total to December 31st, 1905, 327. At Seattle, Washington, opened in 1905, with 21 to the end of that year.
United Kingdom.—There were 13 crematoria in operation in the United Kingdom on September 1st, 1907. The oldest is that at Woking, Surrey, which was first used for the cremation of human remains in 1885. In that year three cremations took place there, the number gradually increasing each year until in 1901 301 bodies were cremated. Up to September 1st, 1907, the total number of cremations at Woking was 2939. Then followed the crematorium at Manchester, opened in 1892 with 90 in 1906 and a total of 1085; at Glasgow, opened in 1895 with 45 in 1906 and a total of 252; at Liverpool, opened in 1896, with 46 in 1906 and a total of 374; at Hull, opened in 1901 (the first municipal crematorium), with 17 in 1906 and a total of 116; at Darlington, also opened in 1901, with 13 in 1906 and a total of 33. The Leicester Corporation crematorium was opened in 1902, with 12 in 1906 and a total of 50. Next in order came the Golder’s Green crematorium, Hampstead, London, which was opened in December 1902. In 1906 298 cremations took place there, making a total of 1091. After this followed the Birmingham crematorium, opened in 1903, with 21 in 1906 and a total of 84; the City of London crematorium at Little Ilford, opened in 1905, with 23 for 1906 and a total of 46; the Leeds crematorium, opened in 1905, with 15 in 1906 and a total of 42; the Bradford Corporation crematorium, opened in 1905, with 13 in 1906, and a total of 20; and the Sheffield Corporation crematorium, opened in 1905, with 6 in 1906 and a total of 26. Thus there were 739 cremations in the United Kingdom in 1906, making a total at the above crematoria down to September 1st, 1907, of 6158. The Golder’s Green crematorium, situated on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath, stands in its own grounds of 12 acres, and is but 35 minutes’ drive from Oxford Circus. London thus has two crematoria within driving distance of its centre, and the Woking crematorium within easy reach of the south-west suburbs.
(J. C. S.-H.)
[1] Macrobius says it was disused in the reign of the younger Theodosius (Gibbon v. 411).
[2] The Colchians, says Sir Thos. Browne, made their graves in the air, i.e. on trees.
[3] In the case of a great man there was often a burnt offering of animals and even of slaves (see Caesar, De bell. Gall. iv.).