PARK A N D C E M ET ERY 
47 
Ti 
tide from them. It is said that in 
Paris the people living in the imme- 
diate neighborhood of the great cem- 
eteries suffer from violent attacks of 
headache and also of rheumatism, the 
cause being directly attributed to the 
gases from, the cemeteries. 
That the cemeteries do cause these 
physical troubles is evidenced by the 
fact that people living farther away 
are not so disturbed. 
The New York Board of Health 
states the sanitary conditions in and 
around the cemeteries in Brooklyn 
are good, and that the methods now 
followed in burying the dead arc 
such as to preclude the possibility 
of any injurious effect from their 
presence. The water used in Greater 
New York is piped from a distance 
and by no possible means could it be 
replenished by the waters flowing 
from the cemeteries. On the contrary, 
the cemeteries are systematically 
drained by the pure rain water run- 
ning through them. They are car- 
ried off by the sewerage system and 
thus the cemeteries are constantly 
flushed. 
It is said that the reason why the 
cemeteries of Paris and London, and, 
in fact, most of the old world ceme- 
teries, inconvenience their immediate 
neighborhoods, is that, in a relative- 
ly small space of ground there have 
been generations after generations of 
bodies buried. In these ancient cem- 
eteries bodies are buried to a depth 
of 25 feet, through bones, dust and 
decay. Originally the bodies were 
laid near the surface of the ground, 
but as these cemeteries filled, others 
were sunk lower, through the decay 
of the first bodies, and so on until a 
depth of 25 feet or more the ground 
is but a mass of decay of human 
bodies. 
The gases exuding from these old 
grounds are known as carbon mo- 
noxides and carburetted hydrogen 
gases; and though these gases may 
affect one physically, causing head- 
aches, etc., they are not, in other 
respects, injurious. It is said that 
this is particularly the case with the 
Pere la Chaise, “the Greenwood of 
Paris” and Kensal Green in London, 
where many poets, dukes and other 
important personages have been 
buried. 
The system of burying as observed 
in the Western world, and, of course, 
in these cemeteries surrounding New 
York, is such as to preclude the pos- 
sibility of any such effects as have 
been experienced with the cemeteries 
of the old world. In Paris and Lon- 
don, for instance, graves are rented 
or bought for a certain period. At 
the expiration of the time of rental 
or of purchase limit, the bones are 
either taken up and dumped into a 
pit or charnel house, or other graves 
are dug down through them, this lat- 
ter operation being, possibly, more 
largely followed. 
In our cemeteries, no lots are 
leased or sold for a certain period. 
Whether a lot is cheap or expensive, 
it is sold in perpetuity, and under 
such legal supervision that there will 
be no disturbance of a grave in the 
future unless, indeed, it should be 
through some extraordinary event of 
necessity upon the part of a city in 
its expansion, and in such a case, of 
course, the remains would be taken 
good care of. 
Along about the year 1850 most of 
these cemeteries about Greater New 
York were opened. This curious fact 
is generally attributed to a movement 
at that time to protect the small 
burying grounds in the churchyard 
HENRT GEORGE MONUMENT. 
Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N. T. 
from the fate that has fallen to the 
Old World cemeteries on account of 
their congestion and limited space. 
The movement once begun, others 
and the church organizations saw the 
wisdom of it and followed the plan. 
The business possibilities of opening 
cemeteries also presented itself and 
associations were organized for the 
business traffic in cemetery lots. 
Even to this day the business phase 
commends itself to the extent that, 
notwithstanding the number of ceme- 
teries already established, purchases 
are still being made and options tak- 
en on new lands for the purpose of 
exploiting them in a profitable way 
as cemeteries. Prominent Brooklyn 
politicians incorporated the Mount 
Carmel Cemetery Association, which 
has title to 75 acres of land which 
cost about $250,000, and is located 
east of the Fresh Pond road in the 
town of Newtown. 
It is said that the scheme of most 
of the cemetery associations that are 
founded upon principles of profit re- 
alized at least 100 per cent in the sale 
of cemetery lots, one-half of the re- 
turns being divided among the stock- 
holders and the other half going into 
the cemetery funds for the develop- 
ment, ornamentation, advertising and 
commissions. It is not uncommon 
that undertakers are given commis- 
sions by the cemetery association on 
all lots sold through their influence. 
There are many cemeteries that 
have not paid a dividend on their in- 
vestment, for the reason that in the 
outset considerable money must ne- 
cessarily be paid out in the purchase 
of lands, grading roads and paths, 
building a chapel, installing fountains 
and planting trees and shrubbery. 
After such expenditure, it is not in- 
frequently the case that the cemeter- 
ies thus opened do not become pop- 
ular and preference is given to oth- 
ers. 
Greenwood Cemetery is not a stock 
concern, though it is an incorporated 
trust. There being no stocks, there 
are no dividends nor salaries, except 
for the working officers and the em- 
ployees. Part of the money coming 
into the treasury at Greenwood Cem- 
etery goes to paying current ex- 
penses, and what is left over is put 
into a sinking fund for the improve- 
ment and permanent care of the cem- 
etery. It is the stated purpose of the 
administration of Greenwood to thus 
produce eventually a fund sufficiently 
large to maintain the cemetery per- 
petually in the fine condition in 
which it is today. 
Greenwood is the largest and most 
important cemetery in Greater New 
York. Indeed, this cemetery is said 
to be the largest burial place in the 
world. It comprises about 475 acres, 
and it is estimated that at present it 
contains 345,000 bodies, with annual 
interments at the average rate of 
3,000. 
Greenwood is one of the remark- 
