PARK AND CEMETERY. 
246 
ELABORATE CHAPEL AND RECEIVING VAULT 
The Bellefontaine Cemetery Asso- 
ciation of St. Louis, Mo., has recently 
dedicated a new chapel and receiving 
tomb on one of the prominent hills in 
the cemetery overlooking the Miss- 
issippi river at a cost of about $50,- 
000 . 
It is one of the handsomest and 
most elaborate structures of the kind 
in the country and is of substantial 
and thorough construction. It is il- 
lustrated on the cover of this issue. 
It was designed and erected by John 
H. McCarthy of St. Louis. The ex- 
treme sizes are 73x59 feet, the ground 
plan being in the shape of T with the 
chapel, the interior of which is 22x33 
feet in front, and the tomb in the rear 
is 55x24 ft. There is a frame contain- 
ing five roller bearing rollers in each 
crypt and the tomb is thoroughly venti- 
lated by bronze registers and two elec- 
tric exhaust fans. It also has water 
connections with drains in each corner. 
Thus the interior is water proof and 
can be cleaned with a hose at any time. 
The chapel is heated by electric 
heaters and is lighted with a hand- 
some electric chandelier and wall 
brackets and has Italian marble floor 
and wainscoting to the height of the 
window sills. The rest of the wall and 
ceiling is finished in a very fine granu- 
lated plaster, the ceiling being set off 
with a very heavy cornice in plaster of 
paris. 
The interior of the tomb walls are 
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PLAN OF BELLEFONTAINE CEMETERY RECEIVING VAULT. 
St. Louis, Mo. 
finished with white enamel brick and 
the ceiling is of cement plaster. The 
forty crypts are 6 inches above the 
floor and made of reinforced con- 
crete faced with bronze frames and 
white enamel doors with locks and 
keys. 
The outside walls are of fine grained 
Blue Bedford Indiana stone rubbed 
smooth. The platform at the entrance, 
the first course and the four columns 
are made of medium Quincy granite 
with fine bush hammered finish. 
The roof is made of terra cotta tile 
laid in angle bars and covered with 16 
oz. copper with raised ribs. 
THE SMALLER CEMETERIES 
TROUBLES IN 
There is a rapidly growing interest 
among those in charge of smaller cem- 
eteries in the work of improvement. 
The campaign of education, which has 
been at work for some years, is grad- 
ually exerting an influence towards 
changing the old conditions to comport 
with the modern cemetery, as that term 
is now better understood, and some 
questions asked by the superintendent 
of one of the smaller burial grounds, a 
conscientious cemetery man, are prob- 
ably stumbling blocks also in the ma- 
jority of similar places. 
In reference to the perpetual care 
fund it is asked, whether that fund, or 
any portion of it, loaned out is taxable. 
Now in regard to this it is evident that 
were such funds taxable they would be 
subject to state law. The laws of the 
different states vary very greatly, and 
therefore such a question would have to 
be answered separately for every state. 
On the other hand where a state does 
tax such funds, a cemetery could have 
been established under a special charter 
in which the matter of taxation might 
be modified. However, as a general 
rule lands used for cemetery purposes 
and funds or property held in trust for 
the improvement, embellishment, and 
care of cemetery lots, are exempt from 
taxation. In the state constitution of 
Missouri all cemetery property is ex- 
empt from taxation ; Kansas requires 
that 10 per cent of the receipts shall be 
set aside as a perpetual care fund, and 
this plan is followed by other states. 
The annual care of lots in both the 
older and small.er cemeteries is another 
question that troubles many. 
For the benefit of the cemetery as a 
whole such lots as are, so to speak, 
ownerless, must be cared for ; but in 
many cemeteries the spare land in such 
lots is used for the planting of shrubs 
to give a better appearance to the sec- 
tions ; in some cases the spare land has 
been sold again, but as trouble might 
ensue in the future, it would be well, 
unless state law provides for it, to go 
carefully in this remedy for the trouble. 
Where absolute refusal to pay or extra 
difficulty is imposed in collecting, some 
cemeteries refuse to open new graves 
in the lots indebted to the cemetery 
for annual care, until paj^ment is made, 
and this has been found quite efficient 
in leading the lot owners to realize and 
recognize the right of the question. 
In Indiana a law has been passed 
providing for a fund for perpetual care, 
which covers the case of lots whose 
owners have not been found. There 
is a law in New York whereby the 
dues for care are assessed against the lot 
owners, and if it is not paid within a 
certain period, any unused portion of 
the lot can be resold. 
Rules may be made, and stipulations 
entered on the deeds, for such care, and 
collections can be enforced. 
