THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
n iLnisiniiED irniHLV Jiiiniii deiiiei iei the iiiEnEsr oe ceiieteiiies 
K. jr. MAIOtIT. F’tj.blishei', 
334 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO. 
Subscription $i.oo a Year in Advance. Foreign Subscription f 1.25. 
Special Rates on Six or More Copies. 
VoL. III. CHICAGO, DEC. 1893. No. 10. 
CONTENTS. 
MINISTERIAL AID IN CEMETERY IMPROVEMENT log 
^SHRUBBERY no 
A SOUTH AMERICAN CEMETERY 112 
*TELFORD HIGHWAYS ii 3 
THE GRAVE DIGGER '. ii.I 
SUGGESTIONS TO LOT OWNERS-THE GARDENER'S 
BURIAL 114 
*OFFICES ETC., EVERGREEN CEMETERY, PORTLAND', 
me ii 5 
CEMETERY NOTES ti6 
ENGLISH FUNERAL FLOWERS. 117 
CREMATORIUM IN CHICAGO-MARY MAGDALENE'S 
GRAVE-VACATION REMINISCENCES 118-119 
THE QUESTION BOX 120 
PUBLISHERS' DEPARTMENT 120 
^Illustrated. 
Ministerial Aid in Cemetery Improvement. 
That the dead are all too soon forgotten by this 
busy bustling world is painfully evidenced by a 
visit to many a country graveyard or village ceme- 
tery, not that our country brethren are less mind- 
ful of their dead, but because their cemeteries lack 
the care that is bestowed on the burial grounds of 
cities and larger towns. 
The famous saying of Benjamin Franklin, “I 
need only to visit the graveyard of a communi- 
ty to know the character of the people,” is true of 
all ages and all countries. One of the most hope- 
ful signs of our civilization is the modern cemetery, 
the beautiful garden of the dead, perpetually cared 
for and ever growing more and more attractive and 
peaceful as it becomes more populous. But this as 
yet is the exception rather than the rule. Too many 
of our c(;meteries are still like that visited by a 
southern clergyman, who describes the fences as 
falling to decay, the grave stones prostrate and bro- 
ken, and the graves overgrown with weeds; vaults 
fallen in and caskets exposed to view; skulls and 
human borfes lying uncovered. The sexton told 
him that in digging a grave in that part of the cem- 
etery devoted to the burial of the poor, he would be 
compel'ed to exhume the remains of as many as 
three or four bodies, so frequently had this ground 
been buried over. 
Admitted that this state of affairs in a cemetery 
is an exception rather than the rule, yet it speaks 
only the more loudly in behalf of the care and pres- 
ervation of the resting-places of the dead; and the 
action of this clergyman in denouncing cemetery 
neglect in his own community is an excellent exam- 
ple for ministers in other localities. Ministers in 
the best interests of their communities ought to 
guard well these sacred resting places. They have 
the power and the opportunity to arouse public in- 
terest in the care of cemeteries and no more com- 
mendable effort could be made by them. The ten- 
dency is too much toward expensive funerals. The 
elaborate service, the costly funeral trappings, the 
long procession of mourners, and the epitaph, 
“Gone but not forgotten,” are all a hollow mockery 
when the narrow house of the departed is allowed 
to crumble into decay. Our ministerial associa- 
tions should visit some of these decaying ceme- 
teries and' there read “sermons in stones,” to sup- 
plement their crusade against expensive funerals. 
Their influence would be of great weight if di- 
rected towards awakening the people from indiffer- 
ence on this subject. Cemetery officials also are 
often the very individuals who need stirring up. To 
their apathy and the general lack of public interest 
is due the shameful neglect to which many cemeter- 
ies are subjected. No one whose attention has 
been called to the fact can fail to appreciate the de- 
sirability of making burial places as attractive as 
possible — to dispel the gloom of the grave and bring 
in as much of cheer and beauty as is consistent with 
the surroundings. Thus in the modern cemetery re- 
finement and civilization receive their highest stamp 
in the beauty, the tender care and the lovely scen- 
ery and views amid which lie the dead of our great 
cities. On the other hand, a neglected cemetery is 
a public disgrace — a libel on a religious and God- 
fearing community. Why should remains buried 
on farms, be brought to the village cemetery for in- 
terment if the graves are not to be cared for? Bet- 
ter let each bury in his own door-yard where he can 
protect the remains of his loved and lost, rather than 
to deposit them in some mis-called God’s acre, where 
weeds and disorder betray an almost criminal neg- 
lect. We are convinced that an important duty de- 
volves on the clergy of this country in the educa- 
tion of public sentiment in this behalf. 
