236 
It seems almost superfluous for me to 
suggest to men of your profession the 
several considerations generally recognized 
as important in the designing of a monu- 
ment, but you will pardon me if I enumer- 
ate a few leading principles for the sake of 
emphasizing their importance : A monu- 
ment should be definite in style; it should 
be appropriate to location, and in harmony 
with its environment ; it should indicate 
purpose and perhaps express some well- 
defined sentiment; it should be original and 
expressive of individuality and personal se- 
lection, for which reason it should be es- 
sentially different from any other monu- 
ment in its vicinity or even when practicable 
in the same cemetery. I wish in this con- 
nection to particularly emphasize the im- 
portance of location the structure is to 
occupy. In my study of monuments suit- 
able for cemetery lots, I have been par- 
ticularly impressed with the influence of 
environment on the monument itself and 
the effect produced by the monument on its 
surroundings. The impression may be dis- 
agreeable and disturbing, or suggestive of 
satisfaction and repose according to whether 
or not their relationship is harmonious. 
Many an excellent monument, beautiful in 
its design and general characteristics, and 
faultless in its purity of style and propor- 
tions, has proven a disappointment merely 
because it was inappropriate to location or 
out of harmony with its environment. In 
many instances a beautiful piece of land- 
scape or vista, so dear to the management 
•of the cemetery and so satisfactory to the 
lot owners, has been utterly destroyed by 
the erection of an ill-adapted monument. 
■One monument of inharmonious design 
may ruin a large area or create a discord 
by dominating all other structures in the 
vicinity. The lot owner contemplating the 
purchase of a monument, if not skilled in 
this branch of art, should invite expert ad- 
vice and a dealer or artist should first as- 
certain by personal observation if possible 
the location of his client’s lot, its elevation, 
distance from the avenue or points of ob- 
servation, general contour of the ground, 
the monumental structures and even trees 
intended to be permanent in the vicinity, 
and, having determined to his own satisfac- 
tion, the style of monument best adapted, he 
should freely and fearlessly offer sugges- 
tions and submit designs he knows to be 
suitable and, when necessary, use intelligent 
and logical arguments to dissuade his client 
from the selection of some inappropriate 
thing which perhaps had previously ap- 
pealed to his fancy. 
My observations prompt me to offer a 
few suggestions in the selection and placing 
of monuments. For example, more than 
one monument of a design similar in gen- 
eral characteristics, although differing ma- 
terially in detail, should not be erected in 
the same vicinity. A proneness exists to 
duplicate good designs, which is to be de- 
plored. The practice is manifestly unfair 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
to the original owner, creates monotony, 
suggests lack of interest or creative genius 
on the part of the designer and an indiffer- 
ence to expression of individual ideas and 
taste on the part of the purchaser. Dupli- 
cations should therefore be avoided in the 
same neighborhood, or better still, in the 
same cemetery. Few spire monuments 
should be seen from any one point of view. 
A spire or obelisk is usually misplaced in 
the foreground, especially if close to the 
avenue. Low monuments should predomi- 
nate in such locations. The spire should 
never be set on a steep side hill. It is seen 
to best advantage on a gentle slope on com- 
paratively high ground and at some dis- 
tance from the avenue, not against an un- 
broken sky line, but backed by a good sized 
specimen or group of trees. A very artistic 
effect is often produced by a spire erected 
at the further end of a gradually narrowing 
vale. In itself the shaft may appear well in 
a hollow or on a level piece of ground, but 
in such a location it generally detracts from 
the landscape. Valleys may be ruined in 
effect by erecting a shaft or other tall de- 
sign in the foreground. Gentle undulating 
surfaces should be preserved in appearance. 
The effect may be accentuated by selecting 
low monuments for the lower levels and 
higher designs on the rising and more ele- 
vated ground. The crest of an abrupt rise, 
especially close to an avenue, suggests a low 
monument. In referring to high and low 
monuments, the terms are used in a rela- 
tive sense. There should never be uni- 
formity of sizes in any group or locality. 
It would be as abhorrent as uniformity of 
design. Variety within well ordered and 
artistic limitations is most desirable. Ex- 
cept on very large lots in open sweeps of 
lawn or at an abrupt corner of a section 
very broad styles of monument such as the 
exedra are, I think, obviously out of place. 
These designs should be given a place in 
the background where a proper setting of 
shrubbery may be introduced without detri- 
ment to other lots in the rear. These re- 
marks, however, are only general and mere- 
ly intended to be suggestive. 
I think it is reasonable to assume that all 
designers and dealers in monuments would 
prefer to have their clients select good de- 
signs, plffiti or ornate, classic or modern, 
large or small, as the case may be, but in 
any event good, possessing merit worthy of 
commendation rather than a poor or medi- 
ocre design, a meaningless pile of stones, 
or worse still, one of those composites of 
recent introduction which when well exe- 
cuted, as it must be admitted many of them 
are, serve only to display the wasted efforts 
of a first-class workman, emphasizing a 
total lack of appreciation of true art, per- 
haps even displaying an ignoble purpose on 
the part of the designer to produce some- 
thing flashy, made in some instances all the 
more attractive to the uninitiated and cred- 
ulous public when covered with a misplaced 
medley of cunningly interwoven emblems 
and imitations of art and nature. I 
would be sorry to think, and difficult to 
persuade that any artist or reputable 
dealer in monuments could be so bereft 
of pride in his profession as to be 
wholly satisfied with the sale of any 
kind of monument, having no more in- 
terest in the matter than to make the 
sale, erect the work safely, satisfy his 
customer for the time being, and secure 
payment of his bill. It is true I have 
known of such cases, but I have always 
preferred to think that the dealer felt 
compelled by the attitude of his client, 
the fear of competition and perhaps a 
pressing necessity for business, to coin- 
cide with suggestions with which he was 
perhaps not in full accord, but forced to 
accept for the time being by stern cir- 
cumstances. The lot owner may be 
qualified to make a selection, he may 
have well-defined ideas of what would 
please himself and a due appreciation of 
the style of monument that would be 
most appropriate to the location. He 
may be unbiased and swayed not by 
personal motives but by the high-minded 
principle of co-operation. If he possesses 
these qualifications the problem is usu- 
ally easy of solution, but if he is not dis- 
posed to give heed to these conditions 
or through lack of knowledge of monu- 
mental art, is unable to act intelligently, 
it is clearly the duty of someone to 
assist, persuade, or even when necessary, 
compel him to conform to the regula- 
tions of the cemetery. It is evident that 
the management of the cemetery must 
in most instances assume this responsi- 
bility. This necessitates the adoption 
and enforcement of regulations govern- 
ing monumental structures not only in 
their construction and material to in- 
sure stability and permanency but in 
their design and arrangement to obtain 
individual beauty and harmony in rela- 
tion to their surroundings. No matter 
how well conceived the plan of the land- 
scape engineer may be for the laying out 
and development of the cemetery with a 
view to creating and maintaining a 
place of beauty, the ideal can never be 
achieved unless the plan is adhered to 
and carefully executed in all essential 
details. 
The dealer may advise, but can he be 
expected to interest himself to the ex- 
tent of possibly incurring a controversy 
with his client? I think not. Can he 
consistently suggest and even urge upon 
a customer the adoption of some good 
and commendable style of monument 
well suited for his lot and location or 
advise him not to select and even de- 
cline to sell anything likely to be ob- 
jected to by lot owners in the vicinity 
and by the management of the ceme- 
tery? I think he can, and with advan- 
tage, credit, and profit to himself, as I 
shall endeavor further on to show. 
