THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
117 
For funeral flowers there is a decided reaction 
against stiff designs, though many of them are still 
made, says the American Florist. But flat bunch- 
es, or cycas leaves with a knot of flowers, undoubt- 
edly lead. People with a love for the symbolic, 
however, still crop up, and we heard recently of an 
order in memory of a departed carpet layer, which 
consisted of a flight of steps with partially unrolled 
stair carpet, and on it a broken shears and carpet 
stretcher! Such monstrosities, however, become 
rarer every year. 
* * ¥ 
The old cemetery on High street, in Ipswich, 
Mass., is one of the oldest places in New England 
that have been used continuously for a burying- 
ground for the dead. The oldest stone in this cem- 
etery has this inscription: “E. L., aged 48, 1647.” 
This cemetery contains the remains of many fami- 
lies whose descendants are living in New England, 
as also some families of whom there are no known 
descendants in this country. Many of the old 
tombs in this cemetery have the family coat of arms 
blazoned on the marble slab, but the relic hunter 
has made sad work of many of these trophies. 
* * •» 
An English seaman named Frederick Wallace 
was arraigned before a magistrate recently, charged 
with damaging a tombstone. It appears that his 
wife had erected at her own expense a stone to the 
memory of her son, and had had her own name 
“Ann” cut therein. The defendant, returning 
home from a voyage, became incensed at seeing 
his wife’s name on a tombstone, and proceeded to 
fill up the letters with cement, besides painting and 
otherwise disfiguring it, to show, as he said, that 
“Ann w'as not there, but at home.” The court took 
occasion to denounce this act as of a shameful char- 
acter, though no damage to the stone was proven. 
* * * 
Reports of vandalism in cemeteries still continue 
to come from every part of the country. In previ- 
ous numbers we have had occasion to mention a 
number of cases of this kind of an aggravated char- 
acter that have been reported from Illinois, Wiscon- 
sin and other western states. This month news 
comes from Meriden, Conn., of desecration by van- 
dals at West Cemetery. Many tombstones were 
overturned and some utterly ruined. Inscriptions 
on other were defaced. As usual a reward has been 
offered for the conviction of the perpetrators, but no 
clue is obtainable. It is really too bad that our 
cemeteries are so defenseless against the vandalism 
of tramps or other evil-disposed persons. A sharp 
watch should be kept and, if caught, the scoundrels 
should be dealt with so severely as to make them a 
startling example to other lawless characters. 
Chateaubriand, the gieat French writer, is buried 
on a lonely rock where he was born. His biographer 
relates the circumstance as follows: 
‘ ‘The father and mother of the Vicomte Chateau- 
briand were on board a vessel bound for St. Malo. 
It was night when they neared the coast and a ter- 
rific storm was raging. No boat could venture to 
the assistance of the crew, and the vessel was 
wrecked upon a rock not far from the shore. The 
mother of Chateaubriand passed the night upon the 
rock and there he was born. When he had reached 
manhood he desired that, as his life had commenced 
surrounded by the ocean, so he might sleep in 
death, guarded by its restless waves. He accord- 
ingly purchased the rock and built upon it the tomb 
in which he now lies. Thus, born amid the tempest 
of the elements and dying during the lull of a more 
fearful and scarcely ended storm of human passions, 
he rests in his lonely. tomb mourned over by the 
waters. ” 
English Funeral Flowers. 
The use of colored flowers for wreath and cross 
making appears to be on the increase, says a cor- 
respondent of the London Garden. I recently saw 
a wreath of vallotas, and it is not uncommon to see 
wreaths in Covent Garden almost entirely composed 
of colored flowers. I remarked one a few days 
since made of purple asters. Autumnal -tinted 
foliage is also used, and has quite a nice effect. 
There is something appropriate in the employment 
of foliage in the last stage of its life for funeral 
decorations. If once the custom of employing 
white flowers exclusively for this purpose is broken 
through it may be taken for granted that for some 
time to come at least comparatively few wreaths 
will be made of white flowers alone. It has hither- 
to been a matter of sentiment, for the future it will 
probably be a question of taste as regards the choice 
of flowers for wreaths and crosses. It is to be hoped 
that the change of fashion will be decided and per- 
manent, as we have so many flowers suitable for 
this purpose that have hitherto been put aside on 
account of their color. Colored flowers are now 
much used for the decoration of graves, as many 
cannot command a supply of white ones. 
The great mistake people make in many cases 
consists in doing too much, whereby they destroy 
the general good appearance of their otherwise 
beautiful locations. — Sleepy Hollozv, Tarry tozvn, 
N. V. 
* * * 
No advertisements in any form will be allowed 
on any stone work in the cemetery. — Laurel Grove, 
Paterson, N. J. 
