PARK AND CEMETERY 
3«3 
were made guaranteeing to “water the lot,” the water supply 
gave out, and the, guarantee or agreement became, for the time 
being at least, null and void. Could not the depositor, if he 
were still living, or his heirs, if he were dead, claim that the 
contract had been voided by non-fulfillment, and demand 
the refundment of the amount deposited? How easily this 
danger could have been avoided by simply agreeing to give 
the best possible care to the lot. 
No set rules can be made covering all cemeteries, and each 
must work out its own problem. I would most urgently 
suggest the greatest caution be exercised in not making 
contracts or agreements that it may not be possible to carry 
out. 
One writer to “Park and Cemetery and Landscape Garden- 
ing” says : “Three per cent is a safe rate of interest to 
be allowed on Perpetual Care funds.” Is any rate safe 
when United States bonds paying two per cent are now sell- 
at a premium? Suppose laws are passed , making it obli- 
gatory for cemeteries to invest their trust funds in United 
States Bonds, where is the safety of guaranteeing three 
per cent? Not so many years ago, the trustees of a cemetery 
not five thousands miles away from Milwaukee, accepted 
funds for the perpetual care of lots and agreed to expend 
annually a sum equal to five per cent of the principal. Fortu- 
nately, there were not many of those contracts issued, for it 
there had been, I fear that in a few years, judging from the 
decline in the rate of interest in the past fifty years, the 
Trustees of that cemetery would think their predecessors 
were, to say the least, not good business men. Guarantee to 
do only what is possible, and then do it for all time. 
The neglected and unsightly appearance of many of our 
cemetery lots, when the immediate members of the family 
have passed away or have moved to distant locations, plainly 
shows the necessity for providing for perpetual care. I heard 
of a case not long since where the owner of a lot who was 
possessed of a large portion of this world’s goods, stipulated 
in his will that twenty-five thousand dollars should be spent 
in the erection of a suitable monument on his lot. The ex- 
ecutors faithfully carried out the provision of the will, and the 
“suitable” monument was erected, and the remaining portion 
of the estate, after paying sundry bequests to charitable insti- 
tutions, was distributed among the heirs. Nothing was left for 
the perpetual care of the lot and the monument; and in an in- 
credibly short time the heirs failed to pay any attention to the 
matter and the twenty-five thousand dollar monument was sur- 
rounded by a hay field, which perhaps was fortunate, as it pre- 
vented passersby from seeing that the grave of the one whose 
money paid for the “suitable” monument, was badly sunken 
and neglected. It seems to me that this one incident is better 
than a whole volume on the necessity of providing for per- 
petual care, and I would strongly urge on each and every 
cemetery official, to advise their lot owners to be sure to pro- 
vide funds for perpetual care. 
In justice to the purchasers of lots, the subject of “General 
Reserve Funds” for the perpetual care of the whole ceme- 
tery must be carefully and conscientiously considered, and as 
large an amount as possible of the annual receipts should 
be set aside for this purpose. The Trustees of Forest Home 
Cemetery set aside 20 ■ per cent of the amount received from 
the sale of lots and single graves, after deducting the amount 
paid for lots and single graves repurchased, and, as the 
general income of Forest Home is still adequate to maintain 
the cemetery, the income on the principal is added to the prin- 
cipal each year. 
We are all vitally interested in making our cemeteries 
as beautiful as possible and we must see that funds are pro- 
vided for maintaining the standard in years to come. 
To Recapitulate : 
I. Make your location and organization permanent. 
H. Secure funds for Perpetual Care. In doing so. First, 
avoid impossible contracts and. Second, thus secure perpet- 
ual fine appearance of both individual lots and the entire 
cemetery. 
Annual reports or extracts from them^ historical sketches^ 
descriptive circulars^ photographs of improvements or dis- 
tinctive features are requested for use m this departme?it» 
It is becoming fashionable in Paris to leave cards at the 
cemetery, says the Boston Globe. An oak box placed on a 
tombstone is intended for the cards of those who visit the 
resting place of a departed friend. In this way the near rela- 
tives find out these friends who still cherish the memory 
of the dead. 
* * * 
Sid J. Hare, Kansas City, Mo., writes that he is preparing 
plans for three cemeteries: Greenwood, a 104-acre tract at 
Knoxville, Tenn. ; Mount Hope, an 80-acre tract between 
Joplin and Webb City, Mo., and Highland Park Cemetery, 
Kansas City, Kan. The latter contains 97J4 acres of high, 
rolling, partly wooded ground overlooking the Missouri 
River. 
* * * 
The annual report of the Easton Cemetery, Easton, Pa., 
showed a balance of $3,885.50 on hand a year ago, at which 
time the bonds and mortgages held by the corporation 
amounted to $50,497.78. During the past year the bequests 
and deposits received amounted to $2,775, and $6,071.12 was 
received for work done. The balance of cash on hand to 
begin the new year with is $3,296.25, and the bonds and 
mortgages now the property of the corporation foot up to 
$55,533.33. During the past year the corporation paid out 
$7,592.16 for labor and for the superintendent’s salary. 
« « « 
NEW IMPROVEMENTS. 
Montrose Cemetery, a tract of 104 acres at North 40th and 
Bryn Mawr Aves., Chicago, was recently dedicated. It is 
planned to increase the tract to 142 acres. 
Woodlawn Cemetery is the new tract of the Masonic Ceme- 
tery Association recently opened in San Mateo County, Califor- 
nia. It is controlled by the Grand Lodge of Masons, and about 
$86,000 have been spent in improvements which include a 
complete water system, a handsome chapel and receiving 
vault, and much ornamental planting. It has about two 
hundred interments. 
A new Catholic Cemetery, covering one hundred acres, was 
recently dedicated in Delaware Township, New Jersey. 
The latest addition to Chicago’s constantly growing list of 
cemeteries is Elm Lawn, located at Elmhurst on the Chicago 
& Northwestern R. R. The cemetery is 14 miles from the 
center of the city and eight miles from the limits on West 
Lake St. ; 430 acres have been reserved for cemetery pur- 
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