76 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
enormous outlay for such things has been saved to 
the public, while the natural beauty and attractive- 
ness of the cemetery is often acknowledged and ap- 
p-.ociated.” Quotations were read from the writings 
of many superintendents who favored restrictions in 
the character of stone work erected in cemeteries, 
and from Hawthorne, who said: “The marble keeps 
merely a cold and sad memory of a man who would 
else be forgotten. The man who needs a monu- 
ment never ought to have one.” While there are 
no restrictions- at Swan Point, Mr. McCarthy said 
his people were taking kindly to low corner posts, 
grass walks, etc., and he was hopeful of having a 
law adopted by his trustees restricting head stones 
to two or three inches above the grass. Let our 
object be to make the cemetery beautiful by bring- 
ing it nearer to nature and God, and further remo- 
ved from the stone yard. 
In conducting a cemetery on the lawn plan, Mr. 
Enrich said: “Whatever unnecessarily breaks the 
continuity of the lawn or obstructs the view should 
be prohibited. Markers and corner posts flush with 
the ground will answer their purpose, and reserva- 
tion grounds in every" section for planting trees and 
shrubs will form an artistic background.” The ad- 
visability of cemeteries retaining absolute control 
of their grounds in regard to the erection of monu- 
mental work, and the planting of trees, shrubs, etc., 
and the importance of educating lot owners to con- 
sult with cemetery officials before placing orders for 
stone work was strongly advocated. 
Mr. Hamill, of Baltimore, said that since the 
convention met in his city two years ago he had 
met with much encouragement in the introduction 
of reforms. On two hundred lots, mounds and cor- 
ner posts had been levelled even with the ground, 
while many other things evidenced a desire on the 
part of the lot owners for something better than 
the old plan. 
In the afternoon the entire party, occupying 
seven large stages, were driven through a number 
of the city cemeteries, including Mount Peace, Mt. 
Vernon, Laurel Hill, North, South, Central and 
West Laurel Hill, Westminster and Fairmount 
Park. Many of the older cemeteries are beautiful- 
ly located, overlooking the picturesque Schuylkill. 
The possibilities of artistic landscape effects, how- 
ever, have not been taken advantage of, and the re- 
sult is only acres of stone and iron. Many hand- 
some monuments and costly mausoleums are to 
be seen, but not always to advantage, owing to 
their crowded situation. The Pencoyd entrance to 
West Laurel Hill Cemetery, with its winding drive 
making an ascent of two hundred feet; . the broad 
lawns, sloping hill sides, and beautiful trees and 
shrubs that meet the eyes on every side bring us 
nearer to nature. The cemetery contains about 150 
acres of rolling land, with much natural beauty. In 
many of the sections, lot coping is prohibited and 
markers are restricted to eight inches in height. 
Corner posts are allowed to rise above the surface, 
which mars the otherwise pleasing continuity of the 
lawn. 
Standing on the highest point in the grounds 
is a massive stone bell and clock tower with chimes, 
partially covered with ampelopsis. Near it is the 
superintendent’s office and waiting rooms, complete 
in their appointments. After inspecting Superin- 
tendent Painter’s system of records, the party was 
photographed on the lawn, and after a stroll over 
the grounds the stages were again resumed and the 
hotel reached after another pleasant ride. 
EVENING SESSION. 
At the evening session, M. E. Hibbs read a 
practical paper on “Roads, and How to Maintain 
them.” The “Sanitary Relations of Cemeteries,” 
was treated in a scientific manner by Dr. Henry 
Leffmann, a local sanitarian of some renown. He 
said in part: “Of all methods, other than crema- 
tion, of disposing of the dead body, especially when 
dead of contagious disease, earth burial is the best, 
and it is a strictly natural method, for it is by means 
of the action of soil microbes that the organic mass 
is converted into harmless materials. The principal 
objection to intra-mural cemeteries is that they in- 
terfere with proper use of land and offend the aes- 
thetic taste of the inhabitants. These are indeed 
the main reasons that lead to their abandonment. 
The charge that they are prejudicial to the health is 
often a mere pretense. Of course there must be a 
limit to the use of such places. Earth is a natural 
disinfectant, but it is not an inexhaustible one. A 
limit must be fixed for depth of covering, but with 
a few feet of earth over a body there is no reason 
to suppose that any dangerous emanation could ar- 
ise. As regards the possibility of disease germs 
passing downwards, we have proof that even coarse 
particles of soil will act as a complete filter. Soil 
is almost sterile a few yards below the surface, not- 
withstanding the large numbers of microbes present 
in the upper layers, and the constant downward 
movement of the water falling on the surface. If 
microbes lived forever, they could not work their 
way through any ordinary soil, not even through 
considerable layers of sand; but in reality they soon 
perish. There is every reason to believe that a few 
months after the burial of the corpse the disease 
producing microbes are dead; that even if a body 
containing them were buried uncovered in the soil, 
it would be unlikely that it would contaminate the 
sub-soil water. ” 
“How to Make and Care for a Lawn,” was the 
