54 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
CEMETERY NOTES. 
The Birmingham, Ct. Cemetery Association has 
received a bequest of $20,000, for the improvement 
of the grounds, from the late Mrs. M. M. Huyler. 
Geo. VanAtta, superintendent of Cedar Hill 
cemetery, Newark, O., writes that no vehicles were 
allowed in that cemetery on Decoration Day. As a 
precautionary measure, such a rule is commendable 
where it can be enforced. 
Ex-President Harrison has been elected a mem- 
ber of the board of directors of Crown Hill ceme- 
tery, Indianapolis, Ind. There are 330,700 sol- 
diers buried in the 83 national cemeteries in this 
country. 
One who signs himself “A Lover of Flowers” 
has written the Cincinnati Commercial, a brief de- 
scription of “a new plantation,” at Spring Grove 
cemetery, in which superintendent Salway’s work 
is spoken of very highly. The planting covers 
more than a thousand feet in length and varies 
from twenty to one hundred feet in width, 
consisting of choice hardy flowering shrubs, 
herbaceous plants and bulbs tastefully arranged, 
and bordered by a grass walk of graceful contour. 
After a service of twenty-five years as superin- 
dent of Rural Cemetery, at Albany, N. Y. , Mr. J. 
P. Thomas has resigned. Before taking final leave 
he was made the recipient of a gold-headed ebony 
cane from the employes of the cemetery. Marion 
Randolph, a civil engineer of Albany has succeed- 
ed Mr. Thomas. 
What is said to be the oldest pear tree in this 
country stands in Cambridge Cemetery, Cambridge, 
Mass. It was planted by the original owner of the 
land in 1635, and is still bearing fruit. The old tree 
has been patched up considerably, according to a 
local paper, but gives promise of living for many 
years to come. 
The annual report of Oakland Cemetery, St. 
Paul, Minn., gives the total receipts for the last 
fiscal year, ending May 31st, $28,685.55; expendi- 
tures in same period, $23,361; $16,700 was re- 
ceived from the sale of lots and single graves. The 
expenditures for permanent improvements aggre- 
gated $8,144, and included new greenhouse costing 
$2,610, a steel and iron fence one-half mile in 
length, $5,476, and an extension of the water ser- 
vice. The Perpetual care fund, principal and 
working combined, is $80,653. President Blakely 
expresses gratification at the growing interest mani- 
fested in the cemetery by lot-owners. Some very 
fine monumental work has '^been erected, notably a 
mausoleum, at_a 'cost of $40,000, by one_ of the 
trustees, and a massive family monument, sur- 
mounted by statues of Faith, Hope and Charity. 
Just how many monuments Mr. George W. 
Childs, the Philadelphia philanthropist, has erected 
may never be known. A printers’ cemetery at 
Philadelphia was started by him years ago. A 
number of soldiers’ graves at West Point were 
marked at his e.xpense, and he has contributed to 
many other funds of this nature. His latest gift of 
this nature is to no less a personage than the late 
astronomer. Prof. Richard A. Proctor, who died in 
a New York hospital in 1888. Mr. Childs has pur- 
chased a lot in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, 
where the remains will be interred in October. He 
has also ordered a granite sargophagus to be placed 
at the grave. It will bear the following inscription: 
RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 
Born Chelsea, England, 1837; Died in New York, 
Sept. 12, 1888. 
How good ! How kind ! And he is gone. 
Erected by George W. Childs. 
Impressive services were held in Oakwood Cem- 
etery, Chicago, at the burial of the unknown dead 
who lost their lives in the fire on the Worlds’ Fair 
grounds early in the month. The eight bodies were 
brought to the cemetery on a large catafalque con- 
structed expressly for the purpose and accompanied 
by the largest funeral cortege ever witnessed in this 
city. The lot in which the unfortunate firemen 
were buried was donated by the Oakwood Cemetery 
Association. 
At the annual meeting of the corporators of 
Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa., recently 
held. President Clark, in his report, stated that by 
actual measurement there were 9,020 lineal feet of 
iron fencing, and 9,599 Ret of granite or stone 
coping in the grounds out of repair. On an average 
$3,000 a year has been expended in such repairs, 
and at his earnest suggestion a resolution was 
adopted prohibiting any further erection of curbing, 
coping, fencing or inclosures of any kind. Post 
stones were also prohibited. A resolution was also 
adopted empowering the managers to request lot- 
owners to remove the unsightly inclosures from their 
lots. The receipts from all sources were $63,054.- 
37; operating expenses, $32,566.45. About 
$100,000 was expended by lot-owners for thirteen 
monuments, 406 head and foot markers, thirty-five 
tombs and two vaults. Interments for the year, 
1,146; total number to date, 35,722. 
A tombstone in the churchyard of Upton-on- 
Severn in England is a curious mixture of religious 
sentiment and worldly wisdom, in about equal pro- 
portions: 
Beneath this stone, in hopes of Zion, 
Doth lie the landlord of the Lion; 
His wife keeps on the business still. 
Resign’d unto the heavenly will. 
