Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 31.djvu/1350

 1298 FIFTY—SIXTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 854. 1901. nary level of the ground, unless it contains the body of a child under twelye years of age, when it shall not be less than three feet below that eve. °,g"’m““°“¥ P°“‘}“· Sec. 682. CREMATION.——NO person shall, in the District of Columbia, build or maintain a crematory or other device for destroying human bodies, except within the limits of some duly established cemetery in said District, unless such person or persons has in writing the consent of the owners of more than one-half of the property within a radius of two hundred feet from the place where such crematory is to be erected and maintained and a permit from the Commissioners of said District for the erection and maintenance of such crematory or other device; such ermit to be for a term of vears, not exceeding five, to be speci- {,?§gf§’,gg mmm, fied therein: Provided, That this section shall not apply to such crenesuimsecma. matories or other devices for destroying human bodies as may have been erected and are in operation at the time of the passage of this law. I’°"¤* *° °’°m°*°- Sec. 683. Pnmvrrr TO onnmxrn; EMnALM1No.—It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to cremate or otherwise to destroy the dead body, or part of the dead body, of any human being in said District before the issue of the burial permit by the health officer of said District, and then only when said permit is countersigned by the coroner E¤*b**lmi¤g· of said District, authorizing such cremation or destruction. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to embalm, inject, or by any similar method preserve the dead body, or part of the dead body, of any human being in said District within four hours after death or before the issue of the death certificate; and in case the death is believed to be due to other than natural causes, or the cause thereof is unknown, such embalming, injecting, or preserving shall at no time be done unless such death certificate has been signed or approved by the coroner of said District. P°““”‘ Sec. 684. PnNALrr.——Any person who shall violate or aid and abet in violating any of the provisions of this subchapter shall, upon conviction thereof by competent judicial authority, be punished, for each offense, by a Hue of not more than two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than ninety days, or both. P’°S°°““°““· Sec. 685. PROSECUTIONS.—PTOS€CHtIODS hereunder shall be in the _ police court of the District of Columbia, in the name of said District: _§%§;,,,,,_ Pro/vided, That any person or persons so tried shall have the privilege, when demanded, of a trial by jury, as in other jury cases in said police court. d€§'§§§Ig§$j*¤‘ by °’· Sec. 686. Drsnvrnnmnxr BY onnna on oounr.-—Nothing herein shall be construed to interfere with or revent the disinterment of any body when such disinterment is orderedp by one of the justices of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, or by the coroner of said District, for judicial purposes. The provisions hereof shall not be held to interfere~with the disposal of the ashes of bodies which have been cremated. Sunouarrnn Snvnn. uglgéms ¤¤¤<>·=i¤- BUILDING ASSOCIATIONS. $,¤¤iii¢¤¢¤¤f¤¤s¤¤i· Sec. 687. CERTIFICATE on oRoAN1zAir1oN.—Any five or more per- " °n' sons who desire to form an incor orated building or homestead association, all being citizens of the Iynited States, and a majority of them residents of the District of Columbia, may make, sign, seal, and acknowledge, before some officer authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, and file for record in the office of the recorder of deeds, a certificate, in writing, to the same effect as that required in subchapter four of this chapter, aforesaid, for the formation of the corporations therein mentioned. —