260 
PARK AND CEMETERY, 
I CEMETERY NOTES. | 
The Village Improvement Society of South Coventry, Conn. , 
has been devoting some attention to the Nathan Hale Cemetery, 
and has erected a granite wall on its frontage. 
* * * 
The Oak Hill Cemetery Association, Southington, Conn., 
will have an incentive to continue their good work of improve- 
ing the grounds, in the gift of a handsome fountain by Mr. Mer- 
rit N. Woodruff, one of its directors. 
* * * 
The City Council of Ashtabula, O., has passed an ordin- 
ance looking to the improvement of the old cemetery property 
on Division street. A monument is t.o be erected near its cen- 
tre and the future will know it as Memorial Park. 
* * * 
The reports of the president, secretary and treasurer of the 
Massachusetts Cremation Society, recently presented at its an- 
nual meeting, showed the society to be in a prosperous condi- 
tion. Its expenses last year were about $4,000, and there is a 
small balance in the treasury. The number of cremations the 
past year was 160, against 137 the year before. 
* * * 
The following is worthy of record: The City Council of Visa- 
lia, Cal., recently passed the following resolution: “That the 
Common Council give to the Ladies’ Improvement Society of 
Visalia full charge and control of the city cemetery, with power 
to employ and discharge the sexton and such other help as may 
be necessary to keep the said cemetery in good order, and that 
they be allowed from the city general fund the sum of $50 per 
month, to take effect January 1, 1898.” 
* * * 
Extensive improvement is underway at Lakeview cemetery, 
Cleveland, O., notably a new stone office building, of pleasing 
design, and with the latest arrangements for the care and com- 
fort of those for whose use it is intended. The cost of the build- 
ing will be over $6,000. With the changes and additions in the 
landscape work about the entrance, on which a large sum is be- 
ing expended, a great change will have been effected in the ap- 
pearance of the approach to Lakeview. The trustees are realiz- 
ing that modern ideas are productive of good results, and are 
giving much attention to landscape improvement. 
* * * 
The following notice on the subject of Sunday funerals has 
been issued to the rectors and pastors of the Catholic parishes in 
the diocese of Cleveland, O., by order of the Bishop. It is a 
great step in the right direction. “From and after January 1, 
1898, Sunday funerals will be prohibited in the diocese of Cleve- 
land, except in case of extreme necessity, to which fact the priest 
issuing the burial permit will certify by letter to the sexton, or 
superintendent, of the cemetery in which interment is to be 
made. If by reason of death from contagious disease it is neces- 
sary to permit an interment on Sunday, only a hearse, or wagon, 
and not more than three carriages, or other vehicles, will be al- 
lowed to enter the cemetery. The reverend rectors and pastors, 
as also those having immediate charge of Catholic cemeteries, 
will be governed by the above regulation in regard to burial per- 
mits and funerals.” 
* * * 
An article in another column on the legal side of removing 
bodies from graves without either due process of law or the con- 
sent of those immediately interested, should receive the atten- 
tion of cemetery officials. Many suits are cropping up over the 
country on account of removals, and it may be remarked that 
such vital questions hinge about the sanctity of the grave, recog- 
nized in all ages, that nothing but the majesty of the law or . 
proprietary rights in the remains protected by such law have 
any right to desecrate the grave . It behooves cemetery officials, 
notwithstanding, by-laws, rules, regulations, etc., to be very 
careful concerning their actions in respect to the removal of bod- 
ies once buried. A suit was begun last month for $5,000 against 
the Wesleyan Cemetery Association, Cincinnati, O., for the re- 
moval of the body of a man whose wife, since married again, 
paid a regular tribute of decoration on the grave of her former 
husband. The last visit found the body removed, said to be at 
the instance of relatives of the deceased, who were displeased at 
the second marriage. But the cemetery officials can have little 
defense on that score. 
* * * 
A lovely spot in Colorado is Riverside Cemetery, situated on 
the banks of the Platte, three and one-half miles from the LInion 
Depot, Denver, Colo. It was originally laid out in 1876 by the 
Riverside Cemetery Association on 160 acres of land. It was in- 
corporated April 1, 1876. The first interment was made June 1, 
1876. The cemetery now embraces 225 acres, and contains about 
20,000 graves. It is the oldest improved burial ground in the State. 
The grounds have been carefully and judiciously kept and culti- 
vated and improved yearly. Although the location is below the 
city, the cemetery is on an upland, following the trend of the 
river, which passes along its northern boundary line. The nat- 
ural drainage, therefore, can never become objectionable to the 
city, and the increasing population of the city cannot encroach 
upon it, for the reason that the river is upon one side of it, and 
the railroad upon the other. Among the 20,000 people who have 
been interred at Riverside are many of the pioneers of the State 
and city, and a large number of most distinguished men and 
women. The cemetery contains a great number of good monu- 
ments. 
* * * 
Speaking of the cemeteries which by act of legislature have 
come under city control in Boston, the mayor of that city in his 
recent address says: “The most important general need of this 
department is the erection of a suitable chapel at Mount Hope 
Cemetery,” and he has recommended an outlay of $25,000. The 
want of a chapel at Mount Hope seriously handicaps the trustees 
in competing, in the sale of lots, in competition with cemeteries 
in private hands. “The cemetery trustees also announced that 
a sufficient sum be provided to put the older cemeteries into safe 
condition, so that they can be thrown open to the public. Owing 
to the fact that formerly the covering of graves was made of plank- 
ing, and that this has very generally decayed, it is not consid- 
ered safe to open these cemeteries until the various graves have 
been examined and put in condition to insure the safety of vis- 
itors. It would be desirable, at least, to try the experiment of 
placing one or two of the older cemeteries in proper condition and 
throwing them open to the public. In the city of London many 
of the older cemeteries have been successfully treated so as to 
afford an addition to the public grounds of the city.” 
* * * 
An interesting feature in the ancient cemetery at Passy, a 
suburb of Paris, France, is the tomb of that gifted girl Marie 
Bashkirtseff. It is said to be the finest private tomb in Paris. 
It is in the form of a Russian Chapel, its dome and spire rising 
some 60 or 70 feet from the ground. Its wide entrance is guarded 
by a grated door, through which a museum of mementoes, — the 
implements of the artist from her workshop — may be seen. A 
bust of Marie by an eminent French sculptor stands on a pedes- 
tal at one side of the chapel. On the wall over a small altar fac- 
ing the entrance is a large canvas — an unfinished work of the de- 
ceased. In the crypt below, enclosed in a beautiful sarcophagus 
designed by a brother of Bastien- Lepage, repose the remains of 
Marie. He was a lover of the girl and died 40 days after her . 
