PARK 
A N D 
C EM ET ERY. 
388 
sign are other handsome features. 
There are two catacombs. 
The roof is formed from a single 
stone 11-6 square and weighing eleven 
tons. 
The Burke mausoleum in Lakeview 
Cemetery, Cleveland, O., was designed 
by Herman Matzen, the sculptor, and 
director of the Art School in that city, 
and is a refnarkably dignified and beau- 
tiful specimen of architecture. An ef- 
fect of additional spaciousness is given 
by the paved court about the structujfe, 
and the four caryatides lend a sculp- 
tural beauty not often seen in mausol- 
eums. 
The exterior is of light Barre gran- 
Superintendent Arthur J. Graves of 
Bloomington Cemetery, Bloomington, 
111., recently delivered an address be- 
fore the Illinois Undertakers’ Associa- 
tion in which he set forth the superin- 
tendent’s side of the relations between 
that official and the undertaker. After 
reading this address, the editor of The 
Embalmers’ Monthly makes the excel- 
lent suggestion that there be a joint 
session between the undertakers and 
the cemetery superintendents. There 
seems no good reason why such a joint 
meeting of some of the state associa- 
tions should not be arranged, and we 
repeat the suggestion here that some 
of the association officers may consider 
it when preparing for their next meet- 
ing. 
That there are two sides to the ques- 
tion may be gathered from the follow- 
ing communication to The Embalmers’ 
Monthly; and the editor’s comment: 
"There should be a better understanding 
between funeral directors and the cemetery 
superintendents than now exists. I wish 
some reader of this department would sug- 
gest a way to secure the same privacy at 
the grave as we succeed in securing in a 
majority of cases where the friends so de- 
sire at the house. Let me illustrate: I had 
an interment recently in a Chicago ceme- 
tery. Unfortunately it occurred on a holi- 
day. The funeral was a private one, at- 
tended by only the immediate family of the 
dead. But when the cortege reached the 
cemetery we found assembled about the 
grave a morbid mob of nearly 300 people. 
The cemetery officials, with some difficulty, 
broke a passageway so that the casket 
could be carried to the burial place. The 
clergyman was shocked and disgusted, and 
in a very tactful way asked the crowd to 
withdraw. Some of those present did so, 
but the majority lingered and crowded up 
as the services continued. What can be 
done under circumstances such as these. 
■‘ENGLEWOOD." 
The editor’s comment which followed 
voiced ihe opinion that there seemed to 
be good reason on both sides for the 
cemetery superintendents and undertak- 
ite, and the inner catacomb structure 
is of concrete, separated, entirely from 
the outer structure by a one-inch air 
chamber, giving a perfectly dry inner 
structure. The interior finish is in blue- 
veined Italian marble, and decorated in 
bronze and mosaic, with a handsome 
stained glass window portraying the 
Resurrection. The architecture, decora- 
tions, construction features and sculp- 
ture were all designed by Mr. Matzen, 
and the granite work was done by the 
Harrison Granite Co., of New York, 
who also cut the caryatides. The 
structure is a memorial to Judge Ste- 
venson Burke, a prominent citizen of 
Cleveland. 
ers to get together and come to a better 
understanding that would be helpful 
to both. 
In this connection the following res- 
olutions which were recently referred 
to the Legislative Committee of the 
Nebraska Funeral Directors’ Associa- 
tion, give considerable light on the cem- 
etery laws of Nebraska: 
Whereas, In the conduct and management 
of cemetery associations in this state, 
under the provisions of the act entitled 
‘‘Cemetery Associations," Sec. 4,210, page 
1,491, Cobbey’s Annotation Statutes of 
Nebraska, 1903, Vol. 2, some grave dif- 
ficulties in administration have arisen and 
problems presented themselves for solution 
which in the opinion of this committee can 
only be secured and solved by legislative 
enactment. 
While the fundamental features of this 
act are founded on correct principles, the 
powers of the associations are limited and 
circumscribed, giving rise to the complica- 
tions mentioned, namely; 
First. — Ownership of Burial Lots. — In 
practice it is found that the title to ceme- 
tery lots (in nearly all cases vesting in the 
original owners, most of whom are buried 
therein) has never been transferred. The 
majority of wills are silent on this matter. 
Executors and administrators very rarely 
include the cemetery lot belonging to the 
deceased in their inventories of the dece- 
dent’s estate. The decree of distribution of 
the probate court fails to convey the ceme- 
tery lot, with the natural result that the 
lot belongs legally to no one, and when the 
association attempts to collect its annual 
pittance for the care and maintenance of 
the cemetery no one can be found who 
legally can be made to pay this obligation. 
To remedy this state of affairs and to in- 
sure to the association its legitimate reve- 
nue, without which it could not exist, it is 
suggested that whenever such condition 
exists the probate judge of the proper coun- 
ty should be given power, upon a proper 
showing of fact, to legally vest the title to 
the particular cemetery lot in the one mem- 
ber of the surviving family most suitable 
and fit to hold the same; that he be em- 
powered to enter a decree to that effect, 
which decree shall be final and binding 
upon all parties interested, and tliat the 
one receiving the title to said lot shall be 
deemed the owner anti shall be per.sonally 
liable for all assessments and charges 
against said lot. 
Second. — Lots Without Owners. — In nu- 
merous cases it has been found that certain 
cemetery lots are absolutely without an 
owner. In some cases the original owner 
is buried therein. leaving no heirs. In other 
cases the heirs and relatives have left the 
country and cannot be located or any reve- 
nue whatever derived from the lot. 
In such cases it is suggested that legisla- 
tion be procured to cause the title to the 
unused portion of the lot to revert to the 
association, after proper notice and after a 
reasonable length of time, and in the event 
of the non-payment of dues and assess- 
ments for. say, — years. This reversion 
should be accomplished by operation of law 
and not by act of the parties. 
Third. — Fixing Ownership Where Respon- 
sibility Is Denied. — In many cases where 
the original and true legal owner of the lot 
is dead and buried therein it has been found 
extremely difficult to collect the annual as- 
sessments from the surviving widow and 
children, each seeming to shirk the respon- 
sibility. endeavoring to shift it from one to 
the other, resulting in a consequent direct 
loss to the association and an added bur- 
den to those lot-holders -svho are willing to 
pay. 
This difficulty could be obviated in a 
great measure by fixing the local ownership 
and responsibility in the manner outlined 
above by the probate judge. 
Fourth. — The Collection of the Annual 
Dues. — As these dues are for the sole 
purpose of maintaining the cemetery de- 
cently and as no element of profit enters 
therein, it should be made obligatory upon 
the lot holder to pay the same at the proper 
time. At the present the obligation is a 
common debt, recoverable only where the 
debtor is possessed of property over and 
above his legal exemptions and homestead 
rights, thus opening the way for dishonest 
and careless persons to evade the payment 
of this obligation. To remedy this it should 
be declared by law that the annual ceme- 
tery levy is a personal tax. subject to col- 
lection in the same manner as other per- 
sonal taxes, no person being allowed to 
claim exemption therefrom. This should be 
done by amending the present exemption 
law so as to preclude the debtor from claim- 
ing exf^mption, classing this debt with ordi- 
nary personal taxes and claims for work 
and labor, against which, under our statutes, 
no exception can be claimed. 
Fifth. — Making All Titles to Lots Uni- 
form. — The title of each lot-holder in any 
public cemetery operated under the provi- 
sions of this act should be by law made 
uniform. At present some titles are in fee 
simple, others a species of lease, others 
again by permit or sufferance and doubtless 
many would claim titles if the same was 
in issue by adverse possession. If a uni- 
form system of tenure were established by 
law the legal rights of all lot-holders would 
be on an equal footing which they are not 
today. 
The importance of these proposed changes 
can be readily seen on reflection. The ma- 
jority of our cemeteries in this state have 
been established but comparatively a short 
time, a few years. Many of the original in- 
corporators are still alive, but in fifty years 
from this time, when an entirely different 
and new generation are in cnntrol. when 
the poi)Ulation of the state and the com- 
munity has doubled and trebled, this <iues- 
tion of proijer interment of the <load and 
especially the care of their last resting 
I>laee will become a (luestion of vital im- 
portance. and it behooves those of us who 
now have the control of these matters, at a 
time when salutary regulations can be 
moulded and shaped at will, to bo diligent 
and careful, thoughtful and far-seclng in 
laying Ihe foundations of these institutions 
broad and deei). legislating wisrly ami w.dl. 
not only with a view (o pres.-nt <-ondlttons. 
but with an eye to the futun-. when thL- 
fiurslion will be of mueli gnat-r Import- 
ance. relatively, than it is l<.day. 
THE UNDERTAKER and the CEMETERY 
SUPERINTENDENT 
