THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
AN ILLUSTRAIED MONTHiy JOURNAL OEVOTEO TO THE INTEREST OF CEMETERIES 
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VoL. IV. CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1894. No. 6 . 
CONTENTS. 
THE APPROACHING CONVENTION OF CEMETERY SU- 
PERINTENDENTS-CEMETERY ENTRANCES 6i 
THE FRIENDS' BURIAL GROUND, PROSPECT PARK, 
BROOKLYN, N. Y 62 
THE MODERN CEMETERY A SOCIAL FORCE 63 
"METAIRIE CEMP:TERY, NEW ORLEANS, LA 64 
THE CEMETERY SUPERINTENDENTS' CONVENTION 66 
*HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS FOR CEMETERIES 67 
THE SOIL OF GRAVEYARDS 68 
CEMETERY NOTES 69 
POWER TO TAKE LAND IN lOWA-POLICE POWER OF 
STATES OVER BURIAL GROUNDS-REMOVALS FROM 
UNPAID FOR LOTS 7o 
CORRESPONDENCE-ATTEND THE CONVENTION-LAWN 
GRASS-PUBLISHER'S DEPARTMENT 71 
’‘Illustrated. 
The Approaching Convention of Cemetery Super= 
intendents. 
Before the next issue of of the Modern Ceme- 
tery the Eighth Annual Convention of the Asso- 
ciation of American Cemetery Superintendents will 
have been held at Philadelphia. On another page 
will be found a communication from the President 
of the Association, Mr. Salway, supt. of Spring 
Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, strongly urging the 
importance of this meeting and the work of the 
Association to cemetery officials. 
The program, which will be found in part else- 
where in this issue, includes the discussion of im- 
portant current features of cemetery work, and vis- 
its to adjacent parks and cemeteries. 
It would seem hardly necessary to further em- 
phasize the importance of this meeting to cemetery 
officials. The objects sought by the Association are 
of such obvious value to all cemeteries that it is the 
unquestionable duty of cemetery corporations to 
unite in furthering work, the benefits of which so 
largely accrue to themselves. 
Cemetery Entrances. 
The importance of appropriateness in our ceme- 
tery entrances very properly presents itself with the 
modern ideas of design and management. How of- 
ten do we experience positive disappointment in 
the entrances of the majority of what are regarded 
as leading cemeteries, and the necessity of improve- 
ment in this direction is already recognized. It is 
not so much the character of the gatewaj^s that 
creates this disappointment, as the view usually 
presented after passing the gates. 
In many cemeteries, and especially the older 
ones, the only object sought seems to have been 
the sale of lots, regardless of the advantages to be 
derived from attractive surroundings. Instead of 
the impressions that might be created by pleasing 
landscape effects, stonework of all classes and in all 
stages of dilapidation, oftentimes confronts the 
visitor. 
The effect of such an entrance on the average 
mind must, naturally, be anything but conducive 
to the development of that spirit of restfulness and 
contemplation which should prevail. 
Professor Weidenmann has well said that: “A 
cemetery without ornamental grounds is a mere 
graveyard. ” 
The cemetery entrance would appear to be the 
most fitting place for the display of the highest skill 
of the landscape artist, and although the reserva- 
tion of sufficient land for the purpose may be at 
first sight regarded as a sacrifice, the permanent re- 
sults from such an improvement will more and more 
assert themselves as the years go by. 
We have in mind a cemetery entrance that for 
years presented just such a spectacle as to stone 
work as has been suggested. But it has been 
changed, and the good work of beautifying what 
has for years been an eyesore, is still going on. It 
has taken time to work this out, but one by one 
the lot owners have been induced to exchange their 
holdings for others, perhaps larger, in newer and 
more attractive parts of the grounds. This plan has 
enabled the cemetery to gradually recover the 
ground around its entrance. The trees, with the 
green turf comparatively free from its burden of 
stones of all sizes, and doubtful perpendicularity, 
present an impressive picture. Here is a sugges- 
tion for cemeteries to adopt where it is not possible 
to change the entrance or add a new one. 
We might enlarge upon the value of this sug- 
gestion to a greater extent. First impressions are 
forcibly said to be the best, at least from a business 
standpoint this should be true, and the first im- 
pressions of a cemetery will be those induced by its 
entrance, and hence a sound business policy dictates 
such improvements. 
