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<center>A Singular Institution Amid the Pennsylvania Mountains.</center>
<center>A Singular Institution Amid the Pennsylvania Mountains.</center>


According to the statements of those who have the matter in charge the remains of Joseph Henry Louis Charles, Baron von Palm, Grand Commander of the Sovereign Order of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, Prince of the Roman Empire, Knight of St. John of Malta, will be cremated at Washington, Pa., on the 6th of December. What is earthly of this personage hes in the receiving vault of the Lutheran Cemetery; and, if a disembodied spirit can receive any consolation from the good estate of its former tenement, the manes of the Baron must be gratified to know that a recent surgical examination has established the fact that the fleshly domicile which it inhabited for about three score and ten years is almost in the condition of a many. The death of this gentleman occurred at the end of last May. The readers of the {{Style S-Small capitals|Herald}} will remember what a pitch public {{Style S-Lost|combat}} reached when it was announced that the funeral services were to be conducted according to the rite of the {{Style S-Lost|Theosophia}} society claiming to be a modern resuscitation  of some ancient sect, Egyptian or otherwise, which sought, in the dim twilight of history, for truths and principles which were not got at, and whose modern representatives, after the trifling interval of three or four thousand years, are on the scent of the same truths and principles. Cicero had, in his day, the boldness to say :–"''Nil tam absurdum quod non dictum fuit ab aliquo philosophorum''." (There was no absurdity to which one or other of the philosophers had not committed himself.") How far the Theosophs illustrate this celebrated saying it is needless here to inquire. It may be sufficient to state that the Baron von Palm belonged, at the close of a long life, to this fraternity, and that its present head is going to have the Baron's body reduced to ashes by tire on the 6th prox. This disposal of the remains of Baron von Palm will probably produce a great sensation in this country, as it will be in direct opposition to the universal custom prevailing among Christian sects.
According to the statements of those who have the matter in charge the remains of Joseph Henry Louis Charles, Baron von Palm, Grand Commander of the Sovereign Order of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, Prince of the Roman Empire, Knight of St. John of Malta, will be cremated at Washington, Pa., on the 6th of December. What is earthly of this personage hes in the receiving vault of the Lutheran Cemetery; and, if a disembodied spirit can receive any consolation from the good estate of its former tenement, the manes of the Baron must be gratified to know that a recent surgical examination has established the fact that the fleshly domicile which it inhabited for about three score and ten years is almost in the condition of a mummy. The death of this gentleman occurred at the end of last May. The readers of the {{Style S-Small capitals|Herald}} will remember what a pitch public {{Style S-Lost|combat}} reached when it was announced that the funeral services were to be conducted according to the rite of the {{Style S-Lost|Theosophical}} society claiming to be a modern resuscitation  of some ancient sect, Egyptian or otherwise, which sought, in the dim twilight of history, for truths and principles which were not got at, and whose modern representatives, after the trifling interval of three or four thousand years, are on the scent of the same truths and principles. Cicero had, in his day, the boldness to say :–"''Nil tam absurdum quod non dictum fuit ab aliquo philosophorum''." (There was no absurdity to which one or other of the philosophers had not committed himself.") How far the Theosophs illustrate this celebrated saying it is needless here to inquire. It may be sufficient to state that the Baron von Palm belonged, at the close of a long life, to this fraternity, and that its present head is going to have the Baron's body reduced to ashes by tire on the 6th prox. This disposal of the remains of Baron von Palm will probably produce a great sensation in this country, as it will be in direct opposition to the universal custom prevailing among Christian sects.


<center>TIH FURNACE</center>  
<center>THE FURNACE</center>  
{{Style P-No indent|erected by Dr. Le Moyne, at Washington. Pa., is expected to reduce a human body to ashes in about five hours, without a particle of odor or a single disagreeable effect. Dr. Le Moyre erected the crematory after study of all the details. He has done all the work at his own expense, and it is his purpose that no fees shall be charged, so that this means of disposing of the dead shall be within reach of the poorest people.}}
{{Style P-No indent|erected by Dr. Le Moyne, at Washington. Pa., is expected to reduce a human body to ashes in about five hours, without a particle of odor or a single disagreeable effect. Dr. Le Moyne erected the crematory after study of all the details. He has done all the work at his own expense, and it is his purpose that no fees shall be charged, so that this means of disposing of the dead shall be within reach of the poorest people.}}


The crematory is built of brick, one story in height, with a roof of corrugated iron, and is provided with three chimneys. The building is divided into two rooms, the reception room and the furnace room. The reception room is about twenty feet square, and is furnished in the simplest manner. In the centre there is a catafalque upon which to test the body, and about the room some chairs for the accommodation of the friends of the departed. A door from the reception room leads into the furnace room, which in size is about ten by twenty feet. In this room there is nothing but the furnace. The retort in which the remains to be cremated are place was made especially for this purpose. It is seven and a half feet in length, twenty inches in height and twenty-eight inches wide, and somewhat resembles a gas retort, the only difference being that its sides are perpendicular instead of being arched. Beneath the retort is the furnace, and the whole is enclosed in brick work. Coke is the fuel used, and it is calculated that the retort can be brought to a white beat in twenty-four hours. Then the body will be inserted, and in about five hours, the remains will be reduced to ashes. Before the Ashes can be collected, however, the furnace must be allowed to cool, and this, it is thought, will take about thirty-six hours. When the ashes are collected they will be placed in boxes and held subject to the order of the friends of the departed. An index of these boxes will be kept so that they may be obtained at any time and prevent any danger of their being mingled. While the burning is taking place no odor will be perceptible, as all gases emanating from the body are returned to the furnace and there consumed. This is accomplished by having a vent hole at the back of the retort opening into the furnace, and through this all gases generated by the combustion of the body will be forced to escape. Already the furnace has been tested with 163 pounds of sheep carcasses and it was found to work admirably, there is therefore no reason to expect failure in any other instance.
The crematory is built of brick, one story in height, with a roof of corrugated iron, and is provided with three chimneys. The building is divided into two rooms, the reception room and the furnace room. The reception room is about twenty feet square, and is furnished in the simplest manner. In the centre there is a catafalque upon which to test the body, and about the room some chairs for the accommodation of the friends of the departed. A door from the reception room leads into the furnace room, which in size is about ten by twenty feet. In this room there is nothing but the furnace. The retort in which the remains to be cremated are place was made especially for this purpose. It is seven and a half feet in length, twenty inches in height and twenty-eight inches wide, and somewhat resembles a gas retort, the only difference being that its sides are perpendicular instead of being arched. Beneath the retort is the furnace, and the whole is enclosed in brick work. Coke is the fuel used, and it is calculated that the retort can be brought to a white beat in twenty-four hours. Then the body will be inserted, and in about five hours, the remains will be reduced to ashes. Before the Ashes can be collected, however, the furnace must be allowed to cool, and this, it is thought, will take about thirty-six hours. When the ashes are collected they will be placed in boxes and held subject to the order of the friends of the departed. An index of these boxes will be kept so that they may be obtained at any time and prevent any danger of their being mingled. While the burning is taking place no odor will be perceptible, as all gases emanating from the body are returned to the furnace and there consumed. This is accomplished by having a vent hole at the back of the retort opening into the furnace, and through this all gases generated by the combustion of the body will be forced to escape. Already the furnace has been tested with 163 pounds of sheep carcasses and it was found to work admirably, there is therefore no reason to expect failure in any other instance.
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The family of the late Baron Von Palm originated in Southern Germany (Suabia), where the oldest branch, the barons, is still flourishing. A younger branch, the counts, flourish in Wurtemberg, Bavaria and Austria, and the third line, the princes, have their residence in Vienna. The first line are barons of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfneiherren) and belong to one of the very oldest families. The late Baron was born at the baronial seat of his father, at Augsberg, Bavaria. He received a liberal education at the University of Heidelberg, and at an early age he entered the diplomatic service of his country. He first served as secretary of legation at Carlsruhe, and subsequently reached the rank of ambassador. At one time he was sent as special envoy to Ferdinand II., King of Naples, by his brother, to negotiate a settlement of family difficulties, including among other things the legitimacy of the Prince's son. The Baron travelled very extensively and spent a large portion of his fortune in gratifying his taste for music and painting, and finally, about fifteen years ago, he came to this country. He was highly esteemed for his various attainments and Social characteristics. Later he moved to Chicago, where he invested largely in land and mining interests, but was not successful in a pecuniary point of view.
The family of the late Baron Von Palm originated in Southern Germany (Suabia), where the oldest branch, the barons, is still flourishing. A younger branch, the counts, flourish in Wurtemberg, Bavaria and Austria, and the third line, the princes, have their residence in Vienna. The first line are barons of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfneiherren) and belong to one of the very oldest families. The late Baron was born at the baronial seat of his father, at Augsberg, Bavaria. He received a liberal education at the University of Heidelberg, and at an early age he entered the diplomatic service of his country. He first served as secretary of legation at Carlsruhe, and subsequently reached the rank of ambassador. At one time he was sent as special envoy to Ferdinand II., King of Naples, by his brother, to negotiate a settlement of family difficulties, including among other things the legitimacy of the Prince's son. The Baron travelled very extensively and spent a large portion of his fortune in gratifying his taste for music and painting, and finally, about fifteen years ago, he came to this country. He was highly esteemed for his various attainments and Social characteristics. Later he moved to Chicago, where he invested largely in land and mining interests, but was not successful in a pecuniary point of view.


After coming to this city he fell in with Colonel H. S. Olctott, and became much interested in the Theosophical Society, of which Colonel Olcott is the president. The Baron had always taken a deep interest in philosophical and scientific research, and the line of study pursued by the projectors of the Theosophical Society arouse all his attention. He soon became a member of the society, and, just before his death, he was elected a member of its council. Being a man of about seventy years of age his constitution had become impaired by his long and exciting life, he was suddenly taken sick with a disease of the kidneys and died on the 20th of May, 1976. Feeling his end approaching, he sent for an attorney, and executed a will leaving his entire property to Colonel Olcott, as he expresses it in his will “in gratitude for kindness.” It is not known how much property he had in Europe, but in an old will found among his papers, dated twelve or fourteen years ago, he describes himself as the proprietor of the Castles of Old and New Wartensa, on lake Constance, Switzerland. As there is no other record of this property it is possible that it passed out of bis possession prior to his death.
After coming to this city he fell in with Colonel H. S. Olcott, and became much interested in the Theosophical Society, of which Colonel Olcott is the president. The Baron had always taken a deep interest in philosophical and scientific research, and the line of study pursued by the projectors of the Theosophical Society arouse all his attention. He soon became a member of the society, and, just before his death, he was elected a member of its council. Being a man of about seventy years of age his constitution had become impaired by his long and exciting life, he was suddenly taken sick with a disease of the kidneys and died on the 20th of May, 1976. Feeling his end approaching, he sent for an attorney, and executed a will leaving his entire property to Colonel Olcott, as he expresses it in his will “in gratitude for kindness.” It is not known how much property he had in Europe, but in an old will found among his papers, dated twelve or fourteen years ago, he describes himself as the proprietor of the Castles of Old and New Wartensa, on lake Constance, Switzerland. As there is no other record of this property it is possible that it passed out of his possession prior to his death.


An autopsy of the body made immediately after death revealed the act that he had been suffering for years with a complication of diseases of the vital organs, and it was regarded as a wonder that he had been able to exist as long as be had. The remains were embalmed, and the funeral took place from the Masonic Temple on Sunday, May 28, 1876, the room having been granted for that occasion by Rev. O. B. Frothingham. The circumstances attending that funeral must still be fresh in the minds of the readers of the {{Style P-No indent|Herald}}.
An autopsy of the body made immediately after death revealed the act that he had been suffering for years with a complication of diseases of the vital organs, and it was regarded as a wonder that he had been able to exist as long as be had. The remains were embalmed, and the funeral took place from the Masonic Temple on Sunday, May 28, 1876, the room having been granted for that occasion by Rev. O. B. Frothingham. The circumstances attending that funeral must still be fresh in the minds of the readers of the {{Style S-Small capitals|Herald}}.


<center>COAT OF ARMS</center>  
<center>COAT OF ARMS</center>  
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