PARK AND C EM F.r ERY. 
TO MEMBERS OF THE A. A. C. S. 
Association of American Cemetery 
Superintendents 
Columbus. Ohio. 
During the year now opening before us it is my most earnest desire to 
see our membership increased to its fullest extent. This cannot be accomp- 
lished by myself, alone, it must be by the united effort of every member, 
therefore I seek your kindly assistance. 
Much excellent work has been done in the past years by the faithful work- 
ers, but it is the duty of every Superintendent, in justice to himself and his 
fellows, to uphold in every possible way this grand organization and do his 
share towards the general advancement. 
This gathering together is the moulding and assimilating of the con- 
crete wisdom of the many, and thus brings the members to a lively sense 
of their duties and privileges and a better realization of what is possible 
through the medium of a well supported organization to promote the fra- 
ternal spirit, with a more correct understanding and better appreciation of 
the nobility of our calling. 
Thanking you in advance, and with kindly greetings to you all, I remain. 
Yours Sincerely and Fraternally, 
John J. Stephens, President, A. A. C. S. 
CmETERY NOTES 
Arrangements have been made 
whereby the former City Treasurer of 
Springfield, 111., is to turn over to the 
Oak Ridge Cemetery board the funds 
of that body held up pending a set- 
tlement of the commission govern- 
ment case, which had been referred to 
the Supreme Court. By this move 
the board’s treasury will be enriched 
by $ 7 , 500 , which has been held back. 
Houston, Texas, appears to be well 
supplied with cemeteries, many of 
them very attractive. The principal 
burial places are: Glenwood, Holly- 
wood, German, Evergreen, Catholic 
Magnolia, Hebrew, Beth Israel, and 
Holy Cross. 
An important innovation in the 
method of managing the finances of 
the cemetery department of Waltham, 
Mass., has been decided upon by the 
Committee on Finance, and the ques- 
tion has been put up to the city soli- 
citor. Heretofore the cemetery board 
expended the money received for the 
sale and care of lots, an appropria- 
tion by the city being made sufficient 
to cover any balance of expense that 
might be necessary. It is now pro- 
posed to have the city appropriate 
money for the cemetery dvpartment 
just as other appropriations are 
made, the receipts for the care of lots 
and the sale of lots to be paid into the 
city treasury. This will simplify mat- 
ters exceedingly and enable the board 
to conduct their finances in a more 
systematic manner than has been pos- 
sible under the old methods. 
Owing to an oversight in perfect- 
ing the deeds connected with the pur- 
chase of a ten-acre tract of land for 
cemetery purposes by the authorities 
of Fort Smith, Ark., legal complica- 
tions ensued. When the purchase of 
additional ground was taken up, a 
tract was purchased from C. P. Wil- 
son, although opposed by the mayor. 
Wilson neglected to sign the deed be- 
fore presenting it, and he did not dis- 
cover the defect until the time speci- 
fied in the ordinance had expired. A 
deal was then made for a tract adjoin- 
ing the city cemetery and Wilson se- 
cured an injunction from the Chan- 
cery Court against the delivery of the 
warrant. The Supreme Court has ren- 
dered a decision which holds that the 
city had the right to purchase a ceme- 
tery at any place it saw fit. One of 
the principal points relied upon to 
sustain the injunction was the claim 
IGl 
that a cemetery could not he located 
within the city limits. The colored 
citizens have Ijeen badly in need of 
more burial land for some time past. 
The Center Cemetery Company 
filed papers asking for the right to 
incorporate for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a burial place. The incorpora- 
tors and directors are J. B. Wallace 
and R. E. Dowler, of Midway, Pa., 
and J. M. Aiken, D. W. Smith and 
J. K. McCalmont, of Bulger, Pa. The 
home of the corporation will be in 
Midway and the burial ground will 
be in Smith and Mt. Pleasant town- 
ships. There will be no capital stock 
and the company asks to be allowed 
to have an income not to exceed $10,- 
000 annually, and to be allowed to ac- 
cept gifts of real estate, etc. 
Fairlawn Cemetery, the Hebrew 
cemetery and the Catholic cemetery, 
of Oklahoma City, Okla., a short time 
since were all advertised for sale by 
the county for taxes, and an applica- 
tion for a restraining order followed, 
which was filed in the district court by 
the Fairlawn Cemetery Association 
against the county treasurer. The land 
in question is a tract of fifty-two 
acres, five of which had been sold to 
the Catholic Cemetery Association, 
and two acres to the Hebrew Cem- 
etery x\ssociation, and a large portion 
of the remainder had been transferred 
to Oklahoma City residents for burial 
purposes. The contention of the cem- 
etery association is that as the cor- 
poration has no capital stock and 
since it is not operated for profit, it 
is not subject to taxation under the 
state laws. The tax on the entire 
tract is $1,000. 
In a lawsuit in which a cemetery 
was sued as a nuisance, the Supreme 
Court of Georgia in a decision de- 
clares: “Cemeteries are a necessity. 
A place where the dead may be given 
decent Christian burial must be es- 
tablished, and the location of such 
must necessarily be upon some 
tract of land more or less suitable 
and commodious, and it is impossible 
to find a tract of land that is not 
contiguous to the land of some one 
else. And inasmuch as cemeteries 
must be established, and should be 
located where they are reasonably ac- 
cessible, it is rarely possible to so fix 
their location, when they are designed 
for the use of a populous town or 
city, where they will not be in more 
or less proximity to some residence; 
and unless the soil of the land used 
as a cemetery and that of the conti.gu- 
ous owners is such as to cause a 
drainage which will produce a con- 
tamination of the waters, thereby put- 
