THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
55 
SECTION OF AN ANCIENT C( lEUM liAKlUM . 
“Cemetery Lots on Easy Payments.” 
This is the inviting announcement on circulars 
issued by a Chicago real estate dealer who has em- 
barked in the cemetery business. Some cemeteries 
may be obliged to resort occasionally to the instal- 
ment plan, but here is one that judging from the 
circular, has been projected with this plan as its 
main feature. We have not discovered the where- 
abouts of the cemetery, but the novel enterprise is 
thus described by the enterprising proprietor. 
“If you die we will do the rest. In other words, we will fur- 
nish you a lot in a cemetery in which you and your family can be 
placed to sleep the sleep which knows no waking. Have you 
ever provided a burial place for yourself and family, or have you 
been too busy to think of it? We have established a cemetery 
second to none in beauty and adaptability for the resting-place 
of the dead. We have located beyond the point where the cause 
for the removal of the cemetery will ever occur. A point where 
nature has done so much to beautify the place. The roads will 
be graveled, shade trees and shrubbery will be planted and many 
things will be done to aid what nature has so well begun. A 
six-acre lake with an average depth of ten feet is already on the 
property. Terms, $3 down and $i a week until paid for, at 
which time a deed will be given. In case of death of the buyer, 
a deed will be given to whom the party may have directed and 
payments canceled. In case of death of any member of the 
family after first payment, privilege granted to bury in the lot. 
In case of sickness of a lot buyer you do not lose your lot, as we 
extend the payments. The intention is to give you a chance by 
making a small saving to enable you to buy a cemetery lot while 
you are able, so that in your old age you will know you have a 
final resting-place. Think of this subject thoughtfully and do 
not delay this important matter longer, but buy a lot now in a 
first-class cemetery at a nominal cost.” 
A plan that has given the greatest satisfaction to the public, 
and led to the creation of the nobler cemeteries is that where 
every lot-owner is a member of the corporation of the cemetery, 
and where the entire income is devoted to the improvement and 
perpetual care of the cemetery. Some of these bodies, in addi- 
tion to forming garden and park-like cemeteries, to which the 
best m Paris and London are mere stone yards, have already ac- 
cumulated a considerable surplus, and there is not the least doubt 
that in a few years they will have a fund the interest of which 
will be more than sufficient to keep the grounds perpetually in 
complete order. God’s Acre BeautifjiL 
Location of Honuments Authorized by Statute. 
Such a statute as that of Massachusetts, author- 
izing an allowance for the erection of a monument 
is not to be construed as confining the court to the 
case of a monument on a lot bought with the in- 
testate’s money. Consequently the Supreme Judi- 
cial Court of Massachusetts says in the case of 
Dudley v. Sanborn (34 Northeastern Reporter 18 1 ) 
that where an administratrix has obtained leave to 
spend a certain sum for the erection of a monument, 
etc., “ in the burial lot of said intestate,” but after- 
wards, preferring that he should be buried else- 
where, buys another lot, with her own money, 
moves her husband’s body and puts up the monu- 
ment there, the fact that the expenditure is not 
within the terms of the decree is not conclusive 
against it, but simply leaves on the administratrix 
the burden of justifying it when she renders her 
account. 
Derivation of “ Hearses.” 
The word “hearse,” or is of French ori- 
gin, and means a harrow or frame for setting candles 
in, which was formerly used in church ceremonies 
and at funeral services. In the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries herses of great splendor came into 
use and were erected in the churches over the bodies 
of distinguished persons. The framework was of 
iron or brass, sometimes of beautiful workmanship, 
square, eight-sided, etc., with pillars at the angles 
and arched framework above, forming a canopy. 
The whole was hung over with rich clothes and em- 
broidery and lighted up with hundreds of wax 
candles and decorated with wax images. From this 
the transition to the modern hearse can easily be 
traced. In Roman Catholic churches of the present 
day the herse still exists as a triangle with spikes, 
on which candles are placed — St, Louis Republican. 
