PARK AND C 11 M ET ERY 
2 \() 
lliem decent, respectful burial in a definite- 
1} known grave? V\'hat more appropriate, 
more reverent, more Ireautiful and more 
permanent disposition could Ire made of the 
dust and ashes of our dead than interment 
in the grave or family lot in the cemetery, 
the spot being definitely known and perhaps 
marked, not garishly Init by some simple 
memorial, unobtrusive tombstone, or beau- 
tiful, artistic monument. 
All adherents of cremation, howe\'er, are 
not alike radical in their ideas or regard- 
less of that sentiment which would do rev- 
erence to the ashes. Many of them, gov- 
erned by the same sentiments which have 
prompted so many generations to venerate 
the liodies of their loved ones, would rev- 
erently gather the ashes into presumably 
imperishable receptacles and as convenience 
or sentiment ma\' dictate, deposit them tem- 
porarily in the home or safety deposit vault 
or permanently in the supposedly inde- 
structible columbarium. 
Hut to me it is very gratifying to observe, 
judging from our experience in Forest 
Home and the opinions frequently ex- 
pressed. that a large and, 1 believe, an ever- 
increasing numlier of people, who approve 
of cremation, countenance no other dispo- 
sition of the ashes than interment in the 
grave within the confines of the cemetery. 
Scenic 
One of the finest and most progressive of 
the many attractions of the highly devel- 
oped park system of Minneapolis is the 
scenic pathway or trail recently constructed 
in Glenwood Park. It has resulted in stim- 
According to our records uO per cent of the 
ashes of bodies incinerated in our crema- 
tory have Ijeen buried. 
Cremation will no doubt be ultimately 
adopted by . the whole civilized world. 
Science has demonstrated its necessity and 
practicability as the primary step in the dis- 
position of the dead. Customs and senti- 
ments must therefore be adjr.sted to har- 
monize with the principles of this great re- 
form. 
The original function of cemeteries will, 
in course of time, become obsolete, but in 
my opinion only in part. The earth will no 
longer be required to enshroud the body 
during the process of dissolution, but to it 
as designed l)y Xature will be consigned 
the purified elements of the liody which 
were originally earthy, but not, 1 hope, 
without reverence and respect. It will be 
an evil day for mankind if sentiment should 
cease to regard the final resting places of 
loved ones as sacred. It is inconceivable 
that the cemetery should be utterly abol- 
ished, although we admit that it will be un- 
necessary to devote large areas to burial 
purposes when cremation becomes general. 
The scientist can have no valid objection 
then to the presence of the cemetery. The 
economist may object on the hypothesis 
that it is a sacrifice of valuable land, but 
ulating interest in the simplest and finest of 
outdoor recreations, walking, and presented 
the scenic attractions of the park in an un- 
usually attractive manner. 
The scenic path in Cdenwood Park ex- 
wdth no more reason than he might advance 
for the abandonment of the park, public 
square or playground. The cemetery is not 
a place of recreation, but it is a beautiful 
place of retreat for meditation and consola- ] 
tion, a place sacred in memory, a place of 
peculiar historical interest, to be enjoyed by 
generation after generation for ages to 
come. 
Let us encourage and support cremation 
by acknowdedging its principles and provid- 
ing crematories for its practice, but let us 
admonish cremationists to pay due regard 
to ti e ashes, giving them respectful burial, 
preferably' in tlie grave rather than in struc- 
tures of perishable material, which how'ever 
well constructed must inevitably, in due j 
course of time, go to ruin to be disposed of 
wdth their contents in the manner future 
generations may' consider proper or find 
convenient, a contingency how'ever remote 
not agreeable to contemplate. 
Such is my conception of the relationship i 
of the crematory and cemetery, the one an 
essential means of resolving the component 
parts of the material body into their native 
elements, the other the proper place to de- 
posit the ashes in accordance with the laws 
of Nature and the instincts and sentiments 
of mankind — in short, the one the comple- 
ment of the other. 
Park 
tends from Superior Boulevard to Western 
Avenue. Beginning near the southeast cor- 
ner of the park on Superior Boulevard, the i 
path winds in a northerly direction through 
the groves and over the hills, descends into 
Pathway in Minneapolis 
