PARK AND CEM ETER Y. 
b08 
AN EXACT COPY OF THE FAMOUS SCIPIO TOMB 
The stately sarcophagus shown on the cover of this 
issue was recently erected in Forest Home Cemetery, 
Milwaukee, to the memory of the late Henry Clay Payne, 
former postmaster general of the United States. It is an 
exact reproduction of the famous tomb of the Scipios in 
the Vatican at Rome. 
It is said that this massive memorial is the only exact 
reproduction in this country of the Scipio sarcophagus, 
recognized for centuries as one of the finest examples 
of monumental architecture in the world. The famous 
tomb once stood on the Appian Way in Rome and before 
it was discovered and rifled in 1780 it contained the sar- 
cophagus of Scipio Barbatus, consul, B. C. 298, and of 
the later Scipios. 
It has been the basis for many imitations and copies, 
more or less accurate, but few have approached the origi- 
nal in size, proportions or execution of the various parts. 
The Harrison Granite Co., of New York, were the con- 
tractors for the work and the details of the original have 
been carefully studied and executed. 
Eventually it is Mrs. Payne’s intention to place a bust 
of her husband on the monument, thus completing the 
similarity to the original tomb. The bust will be placed 
immediately above the name. Below this name, on the 
broad face of the die, is the inscription which was 
prepared by Mrs. Payne’s request by her husband’s long 
time friend. Judge James G. Jenkins. 
It is cut in the ancient Roman lettering and is as fol- 
lows : 
“In Memory of Henry C. Payne, Sometime Postmaster 
General of the United States, Born Nov. 23, 1843, Died 
Oct. 4, 1904. An Able Executive, A Public Spirited Citi- 
zen, A Kindly Neighbor, A Loyal Friend, A Benefactor 
of the deserving. After Life’s Fitful Fever He Sleeps 
Well.” 
It is of Barre granite and the total cost of the work 
was about $5,000, which was provided for in Mr. Payne’s 
will. The lower base is 15-0x9-10 and the second base 
12-0x7-0; the die is 6-10x9-0x4^0. 
This impo'sing memorial, symbolic of strength and 
grace, both in its lines and in the simplicity and artistic 
effectiveness of its design, finds unusually fortunate set- 
ting in the Payne lot in Forest Home. The lot is ex- 
ceptionally wide and is situated on a gracefully terraced 
elevation, at the crown of which stands the monument. 
CEMETERIES IN ENGLAND AS INVESTMENTS 
We may not all be eager or even sadly 
willing to enter into the possession or 
tenancy of the small “final freehold” 
which the cemeteries have for sale, says 
the London Undertakers’ Journal, but 
with all eyes turned upon the northern 
necropolis, the thoughts of many must, 
during the past Christmas and New 
Year season, have been roused to the 
“good business” that may lie in the 
peaceful sleeping-place towards which 
we all gravitate at last. 
Not many investors realize how much 
money is made through the middleman- 
ship of the undertaker — the man who in 
the end puts us all to rest. A great 
impetus was given to the cemetery busi- 
ness in 1850, when the first great Act 
of Parliament aimed at the closing of 
church graveyards came into force. The 
graveyards of the city were dealt with 
in that year, and three years later the 
provinces were similarly treated. Even 
now the cemetery is as a rule in the 
possession and under the control of 
municipal or parochial authorities, of 
burial boards and so on, and the poor 
rate is relieved by cemetery profits or 
depleted by the expenses of pauper bur- 
ial, as the case may be. 
But of the millions sterling that have 
been invested in cemeteries, a consider- 
able proportion has been contributed by 
private companies, which conduct the 
business for their own profit, and ad- 
vantage. Many of these concerns are of 
a character that does not necessitate 
their registration and therefore the 
scrutiny of the bold public eye. The 
Stock Exchange does not know them ; 
any “outside” desire to share in their 
profits is extremely vain, their partner- 
ship being the closest of close concerns. 
Even of the more prominent under- 
takings, only the London Cemetery 
Company — above referred to as owning 
the Highgate Cemetery, in which is sit- 
uated the Druce grave — the Abney Park 
Cemetery Company, the London Ne- 
cropolis and National Mausoleum Com- 
pany, the General Cemetery Company, 
and the Great Southern Cemetery, 
Crematorium, and Land Company, fig- 
ure in the Stock Exchange official price 
list day by day. Dealing in the shares 
of the others is more or less a matter 
of negotiation. And to show that the 
cemetery business is not so dead an af- 
fair as might appear on the surface, it 
is only necessary to advert to the South 
London Cemetery Company, which has 
been successfully floated within the last 
three months, and which may be ex- 
pected, within a very short period, to 
be touting; — we beg pardon — we ought to 
say advertising, for business. 
Not only does the London Cemetery 
Company own the Highgate ground, but 
also the one at Nunhcad. It is the 
oldest company of them all, having been 
incorporated by special Act of Parlia- 
ment in 3 836. It is sometimes criticised 
fcr its old-fashioned ways and stick-in- 
the-mud policy (as some call it), and 
this not only in its methods of manage- 
ment, but in its capital arrangements. 
But when a cemetery, like a man, has 
reached its threescore and ten of years, 
a certain dignity and reserve are not 
only becoming but to be expected. 
It is now represented by 16,596 shares 
of the stock value of £137,322, part of 
the original capital having been returned 
to the shareholders in twopences and 
threepences a share at a time — perhaps 
as those small “final freeholds” were 
gradually sold. In recent years busi- 
ness seems to have improved, for the 
dividends, rising from 9s. a share for 
1901 to 9s. 6d. a share in 1902, have 
since that year been 10s. a share. 
Nearly as old as the London is the 
Abney Park Cemetery Company, with 
its burial-grounds at Stoke Newington, 
Chingford Mount, Hendon Park, and 
Greenford Park. In this case the capi- 
tal is £70,000 in £ 10 shares, half of 
which were issued when the undertaking 
was established in 1839, and the other 
half when it was registered as a limited 
liability company in 1881. In the case 
of the latter issue only £3 a share has 
been paid up. 
The compaii}- is thus conducting its 
operations on an actual capital of 
£ 45,500, but it has the use of about 
£40,000 of money left with it on de- 
posit. Its dividends api)ear to be about 
as steady as the death rate, having stood 
at Obi per cent for tlic past fifteen years 
at least. 
The great well-known cemeteries of 
'\Voking and BronklancL. nvvneil bv the 
London Necropolis and Mausoleum 
