58 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
ting next to him: “Well, Councilor Nicholls, what is your opin- 
ion on this question?” “Well,” said Billy, “them poor devils 
what’s inside, there’s no fear of them getting out, and them 
blokes what’s outside don’t want to get in; so 1 don’t see what you 
want a blooming wall at all for.” 
» * * 
At a meeting of the Juneau (N Y.) Cemetery Association, 
the question was raised of assessing the lot owners one dollar each, 
the amount collected to be used for keeping the entire grounds 
in good order. This is a move in the right direction and should 
be carried out. The plan is in operation at a number of small 
cemeteries and ought to be more generally adopted. Nor should 
it be considered an unjust one by lot owners. It would surprise 
the lot owners of most of our small cemeteries what increased in- 
terest the community would take in them were they only to be 
kept trim and neat as they should be. 
< CEMETERY REPORTS. > 
The fiftieth annual meeting of the incorporators 
of the Allegheny, Pa., Cemetery was held June 30. 
The following are features of the report of the pres- 
ident : 
During this fifty years there has been paid on the purchase 
of ground the sum of $290 861, and the amount expended in im- 
provements, including labor, repairs, salaries to employees and 
expenses of all kinds, was $977,817, or an average per annum of 
$■ 9 , 557 . 
There has been expended in these fifty years for permanent 
improvement, viz: for two handsome gateways, greenhouses, sta- 
bles, fencing, etc., a total of $203,877. 
The receipts for the sale of lots for each decade respectively 
were $139,809, $154,801, $417,004, $243,216, and $290,760, ma- 
king a total of $1,245,590. The total receipts from interments 
were $277,982, and from interest on mortgages and invested cap- 
ital, $396,857, a total of $674,839. The receipts from the sale of 
plants was nothing for the first ten years, and for the following 
forty years was $43,081. 
During the past year 55 lots were sold for a total of $29,564, 
or an average of $537. There has been erected by lot holders 
three vaults, 65 tombs, 17 monuments and 335 headstones at an 
estimated value of $106,000. 
There has been put down 1,720 yards of asphalt roadway 
from the entrance to the exit gate on Butler street, and 1,357 
yards of new roads constructed . 
36,817 persons have been buried in Allegheny cemetery. 
At a low estimate, $2 000,000 have been expended by lot 
owners for monuments and other forms of memorials. 
One hundred and twenty notices have been sent out request- 
ing lot owners to either repair or remove the enclosures around 
their lots, and quite a number have already acceded to the re- 
quest. 
* * * 
Mr. Geo. H. Olney, president of Pine Grove 
Cemetery, Hope Valley, R. I., in his recent report 
stated that a petition to the General Assembly for 
amendments to the charter included “giving the 
corporation power and authority to receive and hold 
funds in perpetual trust for the care and improve- 
ment of lots.” Another important matter he touch- 
ed upon was: 
The necessity of lot owners providing in some way for the 
proper care of their lots from year to year. After the lots have been 
graded and put in first class order, more or less labor will be re- 
quired on them each and every year, or the result will be that 
they will soon deteriorate and become over-run with bushes, 
briars and with grasses, and thus present a slovenly and most 
unattractive appearance, and in addition to this defect, the seeds 
from such wild vegetation will be scattered and sown upon other 
lots and the cultivated portions of the cemetery grounds, and 
thereby necessarily increase the labors and expense of the lot 
owners and superintendent in keeping the lots and grounds in 
good order. 
A marked improvement was reported in the 
condition and appearance of the grounds, and an 
earnest appeal was made to lot owners to induce 
them to make arrangements with the board for the 
care of their lots. 
CRSnATIOH. ? 
The Siamese employ cremation as a means of 
disposing of the dead, but they connect the burning 
with heathen rites. A missionary in Siam describ- 
es the cremation of the King’s brother, the King 
being present. 
On either side of the hall in which the dead 
man lay, stood long rows of idols, and near by 
groups of priests praying for the dead. All about 
the hall were theatrical performers, a shadow pan- 
tomine, a “Punch and Judy” show, music of Siamese 
bands and Chinese gongs, men dressed in skins of 
animals dancing through the crowd, huge animals 
made of paper stretched over bamboo frames and 
illuminated, darting in every shade in all parts of 
the grounds. .Suddenly all noise was hushed, when 
the King kindled the fire, which, in a very short 
time, consumed the body to ashes. At a signal 
from the King the fireworks were lit, and the fes- 
tivities recommenced with vigor and great noise. 
Such a funeral, conducted by the highest class of 
Japanese, costs a considerable sum, which the 
friends blindly believe will somehow purchase pros- 
perity for the departed soul, and favor for the liv- 
ing. 
Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wis., is 
considering the question of a crematory. Milwau- 
kee has a large German population,- many of whom 
are anxious for such an addition to this cemetery. 
Mr. J. A. Pirie, the secretary, has been investiga- 
ting the subject in view of future developments. 
At the recent congress of the church of Eng- 
land, in the course of a paper on “Cremation” 
Professor A. Bostock Hill said: The time was 
coming in Great Britain when all available land 
would be required for the purpose of food sup- 
ply, and the conversion, therefore, of thousands of 
acres into burial grounds which it was not intended 
to utilise for agricultural purposes, must be looked 
