140 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
CEMETERY NOTES. 
The deed used by the Cat^sill Rural Cemetery Association, 
N. Y. , embodies features worthy of notice. In the body of the 
deed which is notably brief occurs the following paragraph re- 
lating to perpetual care: “And the said party of the first part 
in consideration of the said payment hereby agrees to and with 
the said party of the second part heirs and assigns forever 
to cause the grass which shall grow on said lot or plot to be cut 
and to cause said lot to be resodded and forever kept in order by 
top-dressing at such times and in such manner as the trustees of 
said Association shall deem most expedient for the proper care 
of said lot and of said cemetery. ” Besides the form of witness- 
ing, the deed also included a ruled section for the record of 
burials, grave numbers, date of interment and names of such 
bodies as may be buried in the lot covered by the instrument, 
and space for a diagram of the lot itself. These records are made 
by the superintendent on the deed as occasion necessitates. 
* 
The Court of Appeals has affirmed a judgment in favor of 
Martha E. Seymour against the Spring Forest Cemetery Associ- 
ation and others of Binghamton, N. Y. The action was brought 
to recover a percentage of receipts from the sales of lots. When 
the cemetery was organized in 1853, it issued bonds to pay its 
way which pledged a certain portion of the receipts, but were no 
hen on the land, and never affected the cemetery itself, or any 
lot owners. Some ten years ago the trustees refused to pay over 
the usual percentage, and in 1889 Mrs Seymour brought suit 
and recovered a judgment for $14,000. This case was appealed 
to the supreme court, and the judgment was affirmed. The 
Court of Appeals has again affirmed the judgment, which is 
that Mrs. Seymour is entitled to the percentage of the moneys 
which have been received. 
■jf * * 
The Cedar Hill Cemetery Association, Hartford, Conn., is 
an example of business enterprise. It was started with a working 
capital of $100, ooo which was secured by the issue of stock on 
the agreement that if the operation proved profitable this money 
with interest would be repaid to the stockholders. The growth 
of the cemetery, the rise in value of its lots, and its prosperity as 
a business enterprise has resulted most favorably. Within a 
short time stockholders have received checks for 50 per cent, of 
their stock, leaving interest and the other 50 per cent, to come 
along later. A report is current that the management has sug- 
gested to various stockholders the idea of waiving the right to in ■ 
terest and that the invitation has been declined with thanks. 
* * * 
The Jewish Cemetery of Troy, N. Y., is to be the recipient 
of a memorial entrance, erected to commemorate their parents 
by the children of M. Goldstone. It will consist of two arches, 
the main one to be a gateway for driving and a smaller one on 
the left for pedestrians. The main arch will be eleven feet wide 
by twelve feet high and the other four feet six inches and nine 
feet high. The pillars will rise to a height of nineteen feet 
Over the main arch is to be the inscription, from Psalm XXXVii^ 
37, “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end 
of that man is peace.” On either side of the main gateway will 
be inscribed panels. The memorials will be constructed of 
Barre Granite. For the large arch there will be double gates 
and for the smaller one a single gate of wrought iron. The con- 
tract for the stone cutting and erection has been let to W. H. 
Young. The design, which is in the Moorish style of architect- 
ure, is from Architect C. Edward Loth 
« * * 
The Dempster claim against the Rosehill Cemetery Corpor- 
ation of Chicago, which has been in the courts for 12 years, con- 
tested by leading legal lights, has just been decided by the 111- 
ionis Supreme Court in favor of the plaintiff. The claim was 
based on some certificates of conditional scrip of the Rosehil] 
Cemetery Company, issued to Rev. John Dempster by Francis 
H. Benson, founder of Rosehill Cemetery, in 1859, in consider- 
ation of $40,000 lost by Dempster in the failure of Benson’s 
bank. The scrip was to be exchanged for cemetery stock of 
equal face value, when the indebtedness on Benson’s stock, then 
pledged with Henry W. Blodgett, should be discharged. The 
value of the claim is now said to amount to $1,000,000 which 
probably accounts for the persistent litigation. It is said that 
the claim could have been settled in 1880 by the erection of a 
monument to Dr. Dempster. 
* » * 
A mausoleum has just been completed in Forest Hills Cem- 
etery, Boston, Mass., as a tribute to Lillian Durell, the gifted 
singer. It is a simple but substantial structure of the renaissance 
order of architecture, the outside dimensions being 11 ft. 4 in. by 
9 ft. 8 in. by to ft. 10 in. high. It is built of blue Westerly gran- 
ite, the base and sides rock face finish with cut quoins at corners. 
The pilasters and cap at the doorway are of cut granite, and 
carries in the cap polished letters the name Atkinson. Light is 
admitted through a stained glass window in the rear end, having 
as its chief feature the lily of the valley, this being the favorite 
flower of Lillian Durell. The roof is composed of five stones. 
Entrance to the interior is through polished granite doors, pro- 
tected on the outside by bronze gates. 
It contains four catacombs on each side, the supports and 
frames being built of contrasting colors of Tennessee marble 
highly polished, in a sharp contrast with the marble tiled floor. 
The catacomb for the reception of the casket containing the re- 
mains of Lillian Durell is sealed with a bevelled edge plate 
glass screen, affording a view of the interior, and yet protecting 
its contents completely. 
* * ■» 
Hitherto the state of Vermont has had no provisions for the 
care of funds bequeathed or donated by those desirous of “per- 
petual care” of their burial lots, although instances are numer- 
ous of such funds being left for such purposes with churches. In 
the state laws just published for 1894, there is printed: “An act 
authorizing towns to receive money in trust for the benefit of 
cemeteries and burial lots.” The working of the law is about 
the same as the course pursued by towns in the use of the United 
States Trust Fund, now applied to the support of schools. In 
places where there are cemetery associations, the trustees can 
easily secure the care of lots through the proper officers. The 
survivors of families, living at a distance, can delegate the Town 
Trustee to keep the lots in proper order and for all time. 
* * * 
A Frenchman who recently spent some time in the United 
States, has recorded an impression created by the American 
method of filling teeth with gold, in a French newspaper. It is 
to the effect that the amount of gold annually consumed for this 
purpose amounts to $500,000, all of which is buried in our cem- 
eteries in due course. He figures that at the end of 30 years 
these cemeteries will be veritable gold mines containing some 
$150,000,000 of the precious metal. He fears that this will 
prove to tempting for the practical mind of the future American, 
and we shall see the day when companies will be organized 
to mine the cemeteries and recover the gold secreted in the 
jaws of dead ancestors. 
-x- * * 
The contest over the annual election of trustees of Green 
Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, O., passed off with less commotion 
