204 PARK AND CEMETERY. 
? i . i , » - ■ ■ ■ !» — I M ■■■*■ " 
T HE question of the Sunday funeral is again 
forging to the front, this time owing to the 
flagrant breaches of decorum which have re- 
cently been recorded in public print, caused by the 
thoughtless crowds of Sunday visitors at the ceme- 
teries ruthlessly invading the precincts of the open 
grave and the sanctity of the mourners about it. It 
is admitted that it would be contrary to the ten- 
dency of wise principles to attempt to remedy 
such conditions on the lines of ordinary government 
of the community, for it would degrade the occa- 
sion and reflect in a detrimental manner on the bet- 
ter side of human nature. And it would be equally 
subversive of the best possibilities of the cemetery 
to close its gates on Sunday. On the contrary, the 
utmost freedom of access should be afforded the 
public consistent with the preservation of the ceme- 
tery in its highest perfection. And after all the in- 
tention of the thoughtless crowds is unquestionably 
not dictated by evil curiosity, but by an illy regu- 
lated desire to witness the last sad rites attending 
human existen e, regardless of the special consid- 
eration due to the bereaved immediately concerned. 
Several methods have been tried to isolate for the 
time being the burial party, but with unsatisfactory 
results. Another feature of the gathering of such 
unseemly crowds about the Sunday burial, and of 
material importance quite equal, in a sense, to the 
moral question involved, is the destruction about 
contiguous graves and family lots. This is a matter 
in the interest of all cemeteries, which must receive 
most careful attention. It not only causes expense, 
but more important still, it undermines the devotion 
of the lot-owners to the higher development of the 
cemetery. This must not be checked at any cost. 
It is upon this that the future of the cemetery de- 
pends for its continual progress, and everything to 
encourage and promote such sentiment must be 
ministered unto. Looking at the question from all 
sides the remedy which appears to present the most 
satisfactory and comprehensive solution of the diffi- 
culty, is the abandonment of the Sunday burial ex- 
cept in cases of contagious disease. The cemetery 
management can readily arrange for receiving re- 
mains when necessary, and holding services in the 
chapel or receiving vault, awaiting a week day tor 
interment; and examining all sides of the question, it 
looks as though the solution of the difficulty mainly 
lies with the cemetery officials. Several of the larger 
cemeteries now prohibit Sunday burials; let others 
follow suit, and we shall soon be relieved from the 
recurring scandals about the graves on the Sabbath 
day. To help the good work to a speedier fulfill- 
ment, cemetery officials should invoke the aid of the 
ministry, as well as funeral directors, and united 
it should be an easy matter to hasten reform. 
RESIDENCE STREETS, III. 
LINES. 
The boundaries of roadways and sidewalks are 
lines which must be determined before the work of 
construction can be commenced. Ihe roadway is 
of the first importance, since it should always be 
made in accordance with certain rules. It should 
be formed of approved materials, and given the 
right grades. Where there are no street car lines, 
the width of the roadway should generally be a 
multiple of eight teet. Experience has shown that 
thirty-two feet is ample width for a thickly settled 
residence district. The sides of the road-bed are 
usually made parallel to the sidewalks and the lot- 
lines or boundaries of the street, but this is not ab- 
solutely necessary. There are many cases where a 
slight deviation from a parallel line should be 
adopted to save a group of trees, or ease an angle 
between two streets. Such a deviation having for 
its object the saving of one or more trees, should 
be made by a long gentle curve rather than a short 
turn. We might imagine that the tree to be saved 
had some feeling of modesty, and so begin to turn 
long before reaching it, and thus relieve it of any 
embarassment it might feel from occupying too 
prominent a position or appearing to be in the way. 
An additional protection for the tree, and an inter- 
esting feature for the street, would be a group of 
shrubs placed on each side of the trunk. No criti- 
cism can be made on the usual arrangement of hav- 
ing- a sidewalk six feet wide on each side of the 
street. Occasionally, in sparsely settled districts 
where the soil is porous but at the same time con- 
taining some binding material, the ordinary travel 
of pedestrians will make a path that will be quite 
smooth and satisfactory. In similar localities a walk 
narrower than six feet would often answer every 
purpose and, of course, save expense. Again, 
where houses are far apart, the property holder 
owning several hundred feet, or a whole block, a 
sidewalk on one side of the street maybe sufficient. 
Roadways and sidewalks do not add to the beauty 
of a street, but are matters of comfort and conven- 
ience. Their areas should, therefore, be restricted 
to those actually "needed for use. Sidewalks are 
usually made parallel to the front lines of the abut- 
ting lots, but there is not the least harm in curving 
the walk to save a tree, provided the curve used is 
the line one would naturally take to avoid it if there 
were no walk. The curve should be long and 
graceful so that the distance traveled will not be 
appreciably increased. While it is true that city 
ordinances generally require sidewalks to be placed 
at definite distances from lot lines, and at a uniform 
grade with the roadway, it is also true that the strict 
observance of such ordinances has caused the need- 
