62 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
bodies were found buried at full length. These 
were wrapped in cloth and covered with leaves. 
The exhibit at the Exposition faithfully reproduces 
the cemetery just as it appears at Ancon. The 
mummies appear at the World’s Fair city just as 
they were placed centuries ago in their stony graves, 
with their pottery, tools, weapons and food about 
them. In a long row of cases around the repro- 
duced graves are relics taken from the excavations. 
Here are pieces of dried fish, sea-crabs and various 
fruits. 
Relics from other Peruvian and Chilean grave- 
yards are also shown in the Anthropological build- 
ing, and it is gratifying to know that this exhibit 
will remain as a permanent feature of the museum 
to be established in Chicago after the P'air. The 
most curious feature of the entire exhibit is that the 
ancient Peruvians almost invariably chose a desert 
spot for their graveyards, as in the little island of 
LaPlata, about thirty miles off the coast of Ecuador, 
which is now barren and uninhabited. In the graves 
on this island were found images of gold and silver 
and pottery of remarkably fine workmanship. The 
bodies had crumbled to ashes. 
Abandonment of Cemeteries. 
The Supreme Court of California has decided 
the case of the city of Stockton v. Weber against the 
city. The court found that for about lO years 
prior to i860, Charles Weber was the owner of a 
tract of land adjacent to the city of Stockton. That 
he surveyed and platted the same into lots and 
blocks and public streets, a part of which was a 
block in question; and said Weber until his death, 
and since that time his heirs owned said tract so 
laid out continuously from the year i860, to the 
time of the trial. That prior to i860, said C. M. 
Weber permitted a number of dead bodies to 
be buried in said block under a verbal license. 
That no time was fixed or agreed upon during 
which they should remain, nor when they should be 
removed. That said C. M. Weber, deceased, and 
his heirs, always reserved his and their rights as 
the absolute owners of said block in fee simple. 
That no burials were ever permitted by C. M. We- 
ber without a reservation of all his rights in and to 
said block, and the whole thereof, and he never 
consented to its use by the public as a burial 
ground. That no part of it was ever used by the 
public for a burial ground for five years, nor was 
there ever an uninterrupted use thereof by the pub- 
lic for any purpose; and that it never was dedicated 
to nor accepted by the public as a cemetery. The 
testimony showed that the first interment in that 
block was in or about 1852, and the last in the 
spring of 1862, that about 1861, the Rural Ceme- 
tery was established; and that prior to the exe- 
cution of the deed hereinafter mentioned, nearly all 
the bodies had been removed from that block. 
The number remaining was not definitely shown, 
but said to be “six or more.” Under the circum- 
stances the court held that notwithstanding one sec- 
tion of the Political Code of that state vests title in 
the inhabitants of a city or town to lands “used” as a 
“public” cemetery, another declares a place where 
six or more bodies are buried “a cemetery,” and 
a third declares no part of the Code retroactive, un- 
less so expressed, the title to the land which has 
ceased to be used as a public cemetery before en- 
actment of said sections is not affected thereby, 
but remains in the original owner; and that upon 
abandonment for cemetery purposes, and removal 
of bodies, the title would be discharged from such 
use. The title to the block in controversy there- 
fore remained in Weber notwithstanding the use of 
the ground for burial purposes, subject to such u.se, 
and the abandonment of the ground for such use, 
and the removal of all the bodies, would leave the 
absolute title discharged from such use in his heirs. 
And, when, on the 12th day of May, 1880, said 
Charles M. Weber, by a deed signed, sealed, and 
acknowledged by him, and by him delivered to the 
city of Stockton, sold, granted, bargained, and 
conveyed to it, for a nominal consideration, said 
block, to be preserved and kept as an ornamental 
square, and for the erection of public buildings 
thereon; provided the city should obtain authority 
from the legislature, and remove the dead there- 
from within certain time, with reverter to the gran- 
tor in case of sale or otherwise to private uses, ab- 
andonment of the land for cemetery purposes and 
removal of the bodies was a condition precedent 
to the vesting of title. Nor is such a condition void 
as in contravention of a provision of the state con- 
stitution forbidding special legislation, since, if 
other and general legislation could be obtained, it 
made the condition simply impossible, not un- 
lawlul. 
A Vigorous Appeal for Reform. 
The Rev. Dr. Harcourt, a Methodist minister of 
San Francisco, delivered a sermon some time ago 
on the subject of “Undertakers and Funerals.” In 
referring to funerals he said: “The world is grow- 
ing better, and in the conduct of the funerals of the 
past as compared with the present, this fact becomes 
very evident. Some of you who hear me to-night 
can remember well the time when the death of some 
neighbor or friend was looked upon as a great oc- 
casion for eating, drinking and smoking. A few 
years ago it was not thought decent to have a 
funeral without treating the relations and friends to 
