•388 
PARK AND CEME-TERY 
nevin, which has an average of about seven thousand 
interments a year. 
A vote of thanks was tendered Mr. Coyle for his 
paper and a cablegram and contribution to the 
Society. The next paper on “Perpetual Care,” by 
Secretary W. S. Pirie, of “Forest Home,” Milwaukee, 
Wis., is printed in full in another place in this issue. 
President-elect Carter, of Chicago, presented an in- 
teresting and carefully-prepared paper on “Cemetery 
Records.” Mr. Carter said in part as follows : 
It is the purpose of the cemetery to maintain a record of 
its lot owners with their holdings : to readily locate each in- 
terment in its grounds ; and to furnish a positive identifica- 
tion and concise history of the disposition of each body taken 
into its charge. 
The following set of books is intended to fulfill the require- 
ments set forth : 
First— The register of deeds, certificates of sales, the origi- 
nal book of entry, furnishing the evidence of ownership in 
the lots and containing the name of purchaser, with the ad- 
dress, the entries being numbered consecutively for conven- 
ience and made according to date of sale. 
Second — The index to lot-owners, in reality an index to 
the Deed Register. 
Third — The Register of Interments, with an index to same, 
or as it may be termed, the General Receiving Register. 
Fourth — The Lot Diagram Book. 
In the larger cemeteries, I would add to the above. The 
Vault Register, the name of which indicates its use; the 
Book of Single Grave Locations, wherein is listed in regu- 
lar order, a description of each single grave, with the addi- 
tion of the name and interment number of the occupant, as 
the grave is filled, and the Removal Book, for the purpose 
of keeping account of remains transferred from one place 
to another or removed from the cemetery. 
Without following any particular order of discussion, I 
want to say a word first for the Lot Diagram Book. This 
comprehends any system of platting separately each of the 
lots and locating therein the graves and other contents, bound 
volumes not always being used for the purpose. The admir- 
able system of records offered by R. J. Haight of Chicago has 
many advantages and none more to be appreciated than its 
adaptation of the lot diagrams, placing as it does within each 
reach of any cemetery an effective method of platting each of 
its private lots and all that they contain. 
Perhaps no part of the record system receives so frequent 
consultation as the Register of Interments and efforts have 
been made in different directions to simplify and facilitate the 
method of referring to the numerous names, ever increasing, 
inscribed by time on the interment roll. At our own ceme- 
tery we keep a register of fifty lines to the page, wherein is 
entered in chronological order the name of each deceased 
person received at the grounds and opposite the name a con- 
secutive number for convenience of identification and refer- 
ence, also the usual items furnished by the regulation board 
of health statistics and a memorandum of disposition. Each 
of these registers is accompanied by an index of one hundred 
names to the page, on the order of the well known Graves’ 
Index. And here we have a permanent record, substantially 
bound, without danger of misplacement or the liability to 
error that arises where periodical re-copying is required. It 
looks good to me. But it seems from the discussion ensuing 
at our state meeting that this method is not satisfactory to 
some of our brethren, who advise the use of a system of sep- 
arate cards for each entry. No doubt this card system has 
some merit, judging from the enthusiasm manifested by its 
advocates. 
The discussion which followed indicated considera- 
ble difference of opinion on the respective merits of 
card and book records. Bellett Lawson, Jr., thought 
the card record more cumbersome than the book rec- 
ord and found it more convenient to keep two or even 
more books. He also told of a new lot diagram form. 
]\Ir. Primrose of Loudon Park, Baltimore, spoke for 
the card index. The card used in his system bears the 
name of the lot holder, the number of the lot and num- 
ber of deed on its face, and on the back the lot diagram. 
The diagrams are printed on the back and the burial 
card made up from the regular burial record. He 
had tried the old index form and the loose leaf system 
and abandoned them both for the cards. Sid J. Hare, 
Kansas City, Mo., also spoke in favor of the card sys- 
tem, which he varied by stamping the dimensions of 
the lot on the back of the card with rubber stamp. 
Secretary Howell, of “Rock Creek,” Washington, used 
a book for the cemetery office and a card system for 
the city office, keeping two records. Mr. Wright also 
emphasized the necessity of keeping a duplicate record. 
Mr. Diering, of “Woodlawn,” New York, called at- 
tention to the labor of re-writing index books when 
torn or worn out, whereas a card could be easily re- 
placed. The card system is used entirely at Wood- 
lawn. 
Mr. Bargamin, President of Hollywood Cemetery, 
Richmond, Va., was elected an honorary member on 
motion of Mr. Boice, and the meeting adjourned until 
the next day. 
Third Day, Thursday, September 2tst. 
Thursday morning was given over to an automobile 
ride to points of interest about the city. The entire 
party was comfortably accommodated in two of the 
large sightseeing automobiles and a half dozen or 
more smaller machines. After a preliminary tour of 
Washington’s fine residence district, where the guides 
pointed out the houses of some of the public men and 
the foreign embassies, the party was taken down the 
Mall past the Capitol and out into the southeast sec- 
tion of the city to the Navy Yard. Many of the in- 
teresting sights in the foundries and machine works 
were seen from the carriages as they drove through. 
The ride was continued to the old Congressional Ceme- 
tery, which is further out in the same section of the 
city. Here they were met by Superintendent Earn- 
shaw, who showed them some of the interesting sights 
of this old burying ground. The curious old ceno- 
taphs, formerly erected to Congressmen, recalled a cus- 
tom long since abandoned. This cemetery is out of 
the beaten track of Washington life and was chiefly 
interesting as a historic relic of the old-fashioned bur- 
ial ground. 
The drive led back to the hotel, and after luncheon 
the party took special cars to Rock Creek Cemetery. 
Secretary Howell took them in charge, showed the 
well-appointed offices, and took them for a short walk 
around the grounds near the entrance. The little old 
parish church, built in 1719, from bricks brought 
from England as ballast in tobacco ships, and remod- 
eled in 1868, is the oldest in the District. Some of 
the ancient marble tablets near it bear the names of 
the foremost families of the old Maryland colony. 
