THE MODERN CEMETERY 
107 
all funerals, and he shall report to the secretary the 
location on the lot of each grave, and the name of 
the person whose burial he has superintended, and 
also aid in locating the graves of persons heretofore 
buried on lots in the cemetery. He shall be under 
the general direction of the superintendent, and per- 
form such other duties as may be required of him. 
:^l©orre5poiTelenc0.{^ 
Vacation Reminisences. 
With the closing of our last notes we had just started on our 
vacation, taking the electrics at the West Hotel for Lakewood 
Cemetery; after a very pleasant trip of about one half hour we 
were at the entrance, and as this Cemetery will form the subject 
of a special article, no allusion is called for at this time. Our im- 
pressions of Minneapolis were charming, how could they be other- 
wise. such hospitality, and such boundless attention, beyond all 
expectation, made us wish we were twenty years younger, and I 
am not sure but we should go there and settle. The West Hotel 
was the headquarters of the association and the superior accom- 
modations cannot be too highly spoken of; it is elegant, in its 
appointments and at the same time homelike, and unusually 
comfortable. Of course the flour mills were seen and formed a 
very interesting feature of our sight seeing, just think of their 
capacity. The largest flour mills in the world one, the Pills- 
bury ‘‘A” with a capacity of 7,500 barrels per diem, and the 
Washburn Mills with a combined output of 12,000 barrels, the 
daily output is 30,000 barrels and'they have an annual export of 
2,000,000 barrels. Here also to be seen is the Falls of St, An- 
thony with the enormous capacity of 12,000 horse power, the great- 
est water power ever utilized in ihe United States. The parks 
and boulevards are justly the pride of Minneapolis. The system 
embracing 1,504 acres has been obtained since 1883. Included 
within this park system are the beautiful Lake of the Isles, Lake 
Calhoun, Lake Harriet, Powderhorn Lake, Sandy Lake, and the 
famous Falls of Minnehaha and Longfellow Glen, Fort Snelling, 
and its military reservation, the Soldier’s home and State park, 
adjoin the Minnehaha reserve, several of the parks overlook the 
Mississippi River, and all are connected by boulevards along its 
picturesque banks, and over the Kenwood hills. The buildings 
are grand. The new public library erected at a cost of $350,000 
is very conspicuous. The City Hall and County Court House 
with its commanding tower is another elegant structure, the 
Guaranty Loan Building, with its roof garden and magnificent 
lookout, here you can see the country for many miles and on a 
clear day a good idea can be had of the delightful location of this 
thriving city; the New York Life Insurance towering up eleven 
stories, the new Lumber Exchange, opposite the West Hotel, 
and not least by any means that unique and magnificent far- 
mers and mechanics saving bank building which is the most com- 
plete and splendidly fitted up and furnished bank we ever saw; 
and through the courtesy of one of the officers, we enjoyed the 
privilege of looking all through the different rooms. What shall 
we say of the private residences, they far exceeded our most sang- 
nuie expectations, one of the handsomest is that of Senator W. 
D. Washburn, also that of A. A. Pilsbury, Mrs. W. W. McNair, 
Ex. Gov. J. S. Pitsbury, F. G. Winston, J. W. Lawrence, S. C. 
Gale, S. C. Bell and many others. 
The lawns about these and those not mentioned were the 
best we have ever seen, and showed that much care had been be- 
stowed upon them, we are not envious but we do wish ours were 
as good, but our guide told us that they had not been good long, 
the unusual dry summer had caused them to dry very much, but 
recent rains had brought them up again; if the churches are not 
attended to, it may be thought we are a godless set, but they 
were such fine structures and so commanding m appearance that 
it is next to impossible to pass them by. The most noticable how- 
ever were the Westminster and First Presbyterian, the Unitar- 
ian, theUniversalist, and the First Baptist which we are told cost 
about $200,000. Now for the convention what shall I say that 
will please all, I shall not try that because failure would be sure; 
I confess I feel full of criticism, but if I do, some will say. Oh, that’s 
prejudice, he sees nothing good outside of his own limit, and 
as the proceedings will be read by all, each one had better form 
his own opinion of what was accomplished. As I read the report 
in the Modern Cemetery, I think the Superintendent who did 
not gain some information that he could use must be a dull 
scholar. It seems to me that the thoughts and suggestions were 
more practical than usual at such gatherings, and that the off- 
hand minute man made the most telling points because he had 
only his practical experience to fall back upon, but there i'^ a 
question that was not cleared up, and it seems to me that it might 
properly form the subject for some of our enlightened brothers 
to post us up on through the columns of Modern Cemei ery 
viz. Where can the line be drawn between a marker and a 
monument, the man that can settle that is entitled to be an hon- 
orary memlDer of the A. A. C. S. Who is he? Where is he? If 
he exist will he enlighten us. Mr. Simonds paper speaks for itself, 
and I hope every one will read it again until he is saturated with 
the excellent thoughts and suggestions it contains. I cannot say 
that as an individual I endorse Mr. Lawson’s suggestions, although 
I would not be understood as opposing any progressive ideas that 
may be suggested, anything that will improve our taste should re- 
ceive its full share of encouragement whether we like it or not, I 
am glad to say that at a well known cemetery in the East 
where plants are freely used, especially on the graves, we never 
possessed anything like the fourfoot grave alluded to which con- 
tained thirty-four plants of different varieties; the owner surely 
must be alone in thinking that grave beautiful, and a repetition 
of such planting is undesirable, but where the tendency to such 
heterogeneous planting exist, I think the power of moral suasion 
far better than ary stringent rule against such work. A few good 
examples by a good gardener would attract attention, we all 
know that many cemeteries do and will continue to plant flowers; 
this isa recognized fact that cannot be set aside with any modern 
idea, if such planting as is described on p. 78. is tolerated the 
sooner it is banished the better, but it seems to me the keynote 
is sounded when he says that one great aim of the Superintendent 
should be to educate the people to the fact that “in smpilicity 
there is beauty” that is right, let us educate but not drive by any 
rule. Prof. Green’s excellent paper will undoubtedly be read 
with great interest as it gave just the information in regard to 
shrubs so adapted to the locality where we met that we are all glad 
to know about, I find my pen running very easy and I am warned 
to stop, and without further comment, express the hope that next 
convention will have the enthusiastic practical turn which char- 
acterized this one, only more so. 
The fourth and last day at St. Paul was one of much pleasure, 
that is the capital of Minnesota, and is certainly beautiful for lo- 
cation. *The suburban and river scenery is grand, elegant resi- 
dences with fine lawns and gardens, parks on a liberal scale, all 
go to make up the list of attractions to a progressive city, which 
in 1892 had a population of 160,000. The unbounded hospitality 
of the Trustees of Oakland Cemetery and the personal attention 
of Mr. Boxell the Superintendent and Mr. Willis theSecretary 
was enjoyed very much, the day was beautiful, the drives superb, 
and the banquet one of the best, and at evening we separated for 
Chicago or home, with thankful hearts that the A. A. C. S. was or- 
ganized, and that our seventh annual convention had been held un- 
der such pleasant circumstances, and now, Mr. Editor, I fear that 
these abbreivated notes may be too indefinite to be interesting, 
especially to those who were with us, certainly they will not need 
to read thenr to be reminded of what we enjoyed, but for those 
who did not go, it may perhaps give them an idea of what they 
missed, and I feel quite sure, I voice the sentiments of all who 
weret here, it was an occasion of rare enjoyment, having spoken 
twice, if the readers of Modern Cemetery are not tired of me, 
you may hear from me once more. B. 
*The greater part of the city is built on a plateau or terrace, which is 
70 feet higher than the river and is partly surrounded by an amphitheatre 
of hills. 
