PARK AND CEMETERY. 
295 
■vault is the front, which is of St. Cloud 
granite. 
The shrubs used in the attractive plant- 
ings about the chapel and receiving vault 
-that may be seen in our exterior view 
are the following : Hydrangea paniculata 
grandiflora and querciflora; Spiraea pruni- 
folia, Thunbergii, Douglasii and Van Hout- 
tei ; Philadelphus grandiflora and speciosus ; 
Syringa vulgaris, alba and grandiflora. 
One of the most important problems in 
the construction of the buildings was the 
selection of type of retorts and crematory 
| equipment best adapted to the work to be 
done. Very careful study was made of dif- 
ferent types of plants in the United States 
and abroad. Representatives were sent to 
i confer with the owners of a large number 
of crematories and careful, systematic study 
of the question was made. 
It was finally decided to adopt the Jarvis- 
Koerting system, and the contract for 
| building and equipping the retorts was 
-made with the Jarvis Engineering Co., of 
Boston. The Jarvis-Koerting furnace was 
! believed to be the most modern and scien- 
I tific in the field. Two installations had 
, been made of the furnace just preceding 
those at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, namely, 
one at Springfield, Mass., and one for the 
j city of Philadelphia. 
> Fuel oil is used for the heat in the re- 
i torts, but the system differs from other 
| oil-burning types in that the oil is pre- 
heated and vaporized before it reaches the 
retort. This process eliminates the usual 
spraying of the oil directly from the burner 
l into the retorts and approaches very closely 
to that most desirable condition for this 
work — intense heat without flame. The 
whole system is extremely simple and ef- 
fective in operation. The absence of smoke 
and unburned gases is particularly notice- 
able. 
The two retorts are rectangular and ap- 
1 proximately of the following dimensions : 
Six feet wide, 12 feet long and 7 feet high. 
; The flues are constructed under the floor. 
Owing to the extremely high temperature 
■obtained, which in certain parts of the re- 
torts reaches as high as 3,000 degrees F., 
the entire interior is constructed of special- 
ly made fire brick moulded from a clay 
found only in western Pennsylvania. The 
retorts are encased in red brick masonry 
and cement. Solid cast bronze doors of a 
design conforming with the other doors of 
the building have been placed at the front 
of the retorts. 
Forty cremations have been had since the 
plant was completed in July, 1913, and the 
fact that the retorts are operating with 
entire success has in every way justified 
the trustees in their selection of equipment. 
The first incineration was the body of An- 
drew Larson. Mr. Larson died before the 
S completion of the retorts. He requested 
j that his body be the first to be cremated in 
■ Nebraska. 
It is interesting to note that shortly after 
the Omaha plant was placed in commission 
it attracted the attention of the United 
States government, and its builders were 
engaged by the United States government 
to duplicate the Omaha installation on the 
Isthmus of Panama. The Panama crema- 
tory was completed and the first cremation 
had on February 6, 1914. Up to the pres- 
ent time there have been 4,878 cremations 
at the Panama plant. The company is now 
engaged in constructing a similar plant for 
the Bohemian National Cemetery of Chi- 
cago. 
The question of the elevators was one 
of the hardest construction problems the 
builders had to solve, and a new construc- 
tion was developed which other cemeteries 
will study with much profit. In crematory 
buildings where retorts are placed under 
the chapel it has always been a problem to 
find proper means for conveyance from 
floor to floor, particularly as the buildings 
are often located outside the limits of serv- 
ice lines for electric power or are too far 
from the main lines for hydraulic power. 
This problem has been solved at the Forest 
Lawn crematory by the installation of an 
elevator which consists of a plunger, un- 
derneath a platform, operating through a 
stuffing box into a cylinder. The power 
plant consists of a street railway type 
closed air compressor with governor, air 
tank reservoir and oil tank reservoir. This 
is located at a convenient distance from the 
hatchway and in a small tank there is a 
supply of oil equal to the displacement of 
the plunger with necessary reserve. The 
air reservoir is normally charged at 90 
pounds pressure. When lifting the load 
air is discharged into the oil tank, forcing 
oil under the plunger, thus raising the load, 
and when descending surplus air in the oil 
tank is discharged through a muffler, the 
oil being forced back into the tank and 
used over again. The advantages of this 
plant are simplicity, absence of wearing 
William Dennison, for many years prom- 
inent in park and cemetery work in Chi- 
cago as a former superintendent of Oak 
Woods Cemetery and former superintend- 
ent of West Park boulevards, died Oc- 
tober 12 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. 
J. Lawrence Hewitt, 940 North Lawler ave- 
nue, Chicago, following a lingering illness. 
The funeral services were held from the 
Hewitt home, the Rev. Mr. Rich, of the 
Swedenborgian Church, of which he was a 
devout member, officiating. Interment was 
at Rosehill. For many years Mr. Dennison 
was a writer of political and economic 
subjects for the Maury Democrat, of Ten- 
nessee, under the nom de plume of “Carry 
Scott.” He was also engaged in the cut- 
stone and lumber industries in the re- 
building of Chicago after the fire of 1871. 
He was also connected in an executive ea- 
parts, automatic lubrication of all parts and 
accessibility of machinery, and in a build- 
ing where there is sometimes no heat in 
winter the use of the oil is designed to 
eliminate the possibility of freezing. The 
installation of Forest Lawn crematory is 
made for a net load of 600 pounds and 
the platform is 4 feet by 7 feet 8 inches. 
The elevator platform floor is designed to 
correspond with the chapel floor, being fin- 
ished in the same tile design and forms 
part of the chapel floor when elevator is 
not in service. 
The chapel has a seating capacity of 150 
and is equipped with Durfee opera chairs, 
a convenient type of seat that will fold and 
still leave the legs open and standing. They 
are made of quartered oak and genuine 
leather and were furnished by the Durfee 
Manufacturing Co., of Grand Rapids, Mich. 
The total cost of the building was 
$103,000. The architect was John McDon- 
ald, of Omaha, and the general contractor 
Walter Peterson, of Omaha. The marble 
work was furnished by the Colorado-Yule 
Marble Co., of Marble, Colo. The crema- 
tory equipment was designed and built by 
the Jarvis Engineering Co., 61 Oliver street, 
Boston, and the art glass and mosaic work 
by J. & R. Lamb, of New York. The ele- 
vators were specially constructed and in- 
stalled by the Otis Elevator Co., of Chi- 
cago. 
Following are the officers of the Forest 
Lawn Cemetery Association : O. C. Camp- 
bell, president; T. A. Creigh, vice-presi- 
dent; M. H. Bliss, treasurer; H. S. Mann, 
secretary; J. Y. Craig, superintendent. 
There have been 15,298 interments made 
to October 1, 1914. The first was made 
September 18, 1886, under the direction of 
the present superintendent, J. Y. Craig. 
There are 320 acres in Forest Lawn, suf- 
ficient to accommodate the people of Oma- 
ha and vicinity for many generations. 
About 25 acres have been sold and about 
55 improved. 
pacity with the early harbor and break- 
water improvements and the Illinois and 
Michigan canal. He was superintendent of 
Oak Woods Cemetery for many years and 
also superintendent of West Park boule- 
vards during Governor Altgeld’s adminis- 
tration. His latest work was the laying 
out, designing and improving of Riverside 
Cemeteries at Fargo, N. D., from which po- 
sition he retired three years ago and had 
since lived with his daughter. Mr. Denni- 
son was born July 17, 1844, at South 
Shields, Durham County, England. For 
forty-four years he was a resident of Chi- 
cago and for eight years a resident of 
Austin. His widow and four children — 
Walter H. Dennison, Mrs. William A. Fur- 
ness, Mrs. J. L. Hewitt and Mrs. J. T. 
Yerkes — survive him. 
THE OBITUARY RECORD. 
