ticiilar site because of harmony or contrast 
with its neighbors, and characteristics of 
growth, of leaves, soil requirements and 
hardiness. Each shrub was chosen from 
the long list available according to its soil 
preference, height and characteristics of 
growth, time and color of flower, and 
foliage effects. We used them to frame 
and terminate the view points and provide 
the setting for monuments. Always, we 
sought to complete the beautiful picture be- 
gun in our road location and lawn surfaces. 
I have no sympathy with the dismal, grief- 
stricken appearance of the old graveyard. 
Far greater credit to the community is the 
sun-kissed greensward, where the heavy, 
dull influence of evergreens has given place 
to our majestic and graceful deciduous 
trees, whose shimmering luxuriant summer 
garb is rivaled, in winter, by the bare 
tracery of branches that mocks the delicacy 
of the finest laces. I would not plant a 
weeping willow in a cemetery to-day, 
neither would I consider a spruce tree as 
worthy of other than very few places with- 
in such grounds. 
A lad}' came to Park Lawn recently to 
select a lot for the interment of her 
daughter, whose body was being brought 
from Dawson City. We walked together 
through the grounds viewing the different 
locations until she had chosen. She lin- 
gered for another hour and when about to 
leave she said to me, “I have never taken 
any interest in cemeteries and when this 
visit was necessary I was loath to come. It 
is all so very different than I had antici- 
pated. You are making this a lovely place 
to live in.” That was the attitude I sought 
to create in visitors. We want a beautiful 
park where people may come to meet the 
memories of their departed, where the love- 
liness and purity of nature banishes the 
dread of the grave. 
When the plans have been carried out in 
construction of the grounds the cemetery is 
turned over to the superintendent. Certain 
rules are provided for the conduct of his 
business which serve to protect the appear- 
ance thus created. These refer to the con- 
duct of visitors, the attention of lot owners 
to their individual plots, the interment of 
bodies and the erection of memorials. It is 
the latter that affords the community of in- 
terest and action between the superintend- 
ent and the monument dealer. 
The rules governing the erection of mon- 
uments in general are related solely to the 
durability and permanence of material, in 
a meager way to the proportion of lot area 
to that of the base, and the height on lot 
fractions, also to the removal of litter and 
protection of sod during process of erec- 
tion. These points are universally recog- 
nized and receive such careful attention 
from the monument dealers that few in- 
stances have come to my attention where 
any contention has arisen with their en- 
forcement. 
The co-operation of which I am speaking 
to-day covers a far different and more ad- 
P ARK AND CEMETERY. 
vanced activih' in cemetery operation. It 
may be considered as related more inti- 
mately to advanced cemetery design than 
to maintenance. 
We have seen how the modern cemetery 
is created step by step and realize the de- 
tails which must be successfully handled to 
furnish the most beautiful grounds. One 
of the major objects of such planning is to 
give an individuality to each monument set- 
ting. The next step and the final consider- 
ation is to secure a monument adapted in 
design to that particular site. This effort 
marks the greatest advancement that has 
been undertaken in monument or ceme- 
tery designing. Rules are useless to affect 
this: voluntar\- effort of the monument 
dealers must meet voluntary effort of the 
superintendent. 
1 am asking the dealers not to close a 
sale for a memorial to be erected in a ceme- 
tery designed by me until he has visited the 
site upon which the memorial is to be erect- 
ed and becomes familiar with the condi- 
tions obtaining. You may say that the pur- 
chaser picks out the monument that suits 
him and that it is no concern of yours 
where or how it is placed. Do not make 
that mistake. How that memorial is going 
to look when it stands on the lot in a ceme- 
tery is of the gravest concern to you and 
has a direct bearing upon your future busi- 
ness. I would that every dealer affix his 
name to his monuments and his responsi- 
liility be fully owned. 
When the dealer will visit the site 1 will 
gladly meet him. discuss with him the land- 
scape influences, furnish working drawings 
of a special setting, but I do insist that he 
use the same care in selecting his memorial 
as I do in preparation of setting. I do not 
profess to know the details of design and 
other intricacies of the monument business ; 
those can only be acquired by a definite ap- 
prenticeship same as all of you have served, 
luit I do know that if the knowledge and 
skill which you possess will meet the prin- 
ciples with which I am working, the monu- 
ment and setting will be adapted one to the 
other. The picture obtained will make your 
monument effective and add to the beauty 
of the grounds. 
The principles of this course of action 
which I am urging upon you, is no dream 
of an idle brain ; it is borne out by the re- 
sults attained in many cemeteries to-day. 
We need not stop even here, for you know 
the architectural professions in general in- 
sist upon having the buildings fit the site 
upon which they are to be erected. You 
would not think of allowing an architect 
to design a house for you to erect upon a 
piece of land which he has never seen and 
of which he has no surveys. 
You should study the lot, advise your 
purchaser what type of memorial is best 
suited to the conditions. This extra effort 
will justify a charge for the time expended 
in such consultation which any purchaser 
will be glad to pay. The two hundred dol- 
lars involved in the price of the memorial 
223 
may be entirely wasted through an unfor- 
tunate setting, but five per cent of the cost 
applied in this way would insure the entire 
investment a satisfactory result. 
Fronting on Madison Square Garden, 
Xew York City, there stands a church that 
draws the interest of the passing throngs. 
.A few years ago the society that owned 
the site decided they would erect a new edi- 
fice for the worship of God. They sought 
the services of the most skilled architect of 
the nineteenth century, Stanford White. In 
accepting the commission, that master de- 
signer recognized the perplexing difficulties 
of the environment, surrounded on every 
side l)y the forty-odd stories of gigantic 
skyscrapers. Harmony of treatment was 
unattainable, so he accepted the opposing 
quality or contrast ; huge bulk against re- 
finement. He designed a building of small 
mass, with such perfection of proportion 
and purity of ornament, that among its 
gross neighbors it arrests the attention of 
the beholder as a jewel of exquisite crafts- 
manship. His problem is actually before 
you, gentlemen, in every design you exe- 
cuate, every monument you erect. A study 
of the site is sure to determine whether you 
shall place a design of harmony or secure 
the better effect through contrast with the 
surrounding examples. Mere bulk does not 
count ; proportion of mass, delicacy or 
strength of line, purity and simplicity of 
ornament, alone, determine the worth of a 
memorial ; its effectiveness can only be 
judged when erected. 
It is not given unto you in these days to 
build in the colossal mass of the pyramids ; 
most of your work is to be erected within 
grounds which may not be termed modern, 
but you can and should endeavor to produce 
work of sincere art, adapted to the plot 
upon which it is to stand. Do not allow a 
single memorial to leave your cutting room 
that is not a compliment to your ability. Be 
sure that it is adapted to the plot upon 
which it is to stand. The appearance of 
the cemetery will be enhanced through your 
efforts and your monument business will 
acquire a valuable individuality. 
Strive for originality in design ; be a cre- 
ator and enjoy the satisfaction of one. Let 
it be known that you will co-operate with 
the superintendent and he will readily co- 
operate with you. 
A. A. P. S. Officers 
At the St. Louis Convention of Park 
Superintendents reported in our last issue, 
the following officers were elected : 
President — J. F. Foster, superintendent 
South Park System, Chicago. 
Vice-President — John Berry, Denver, 
Colo. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Roland W. Cotter- 
ill, Seattle, Wash. 
Other details of the convention were 
given in our report last month. 
