302 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
noiselessness and simplicity of operation, 
and, with the Jarvis-Koerting retort, meets 
the exacting requirements of modern crema- 
tion. 
The entire interior of each retort and 
flue is highly refractory fire brick masonry. 
Specially molded fire clay blocks are used 
instead of ordinary fire bricks. These have 
much greater durability and strength than 
the usual construction. Each retort, whether 
built as a single unit or as one of several 
in a single masonry structure, is heavily 
braced and reinforced. Fire tile doors, ar- 
ranged for easy operating, are provided to 
completely seal the retort. The flues are 
preferably run under the floor to the base 
of the chimney. 
The Koerting Patented Oil Firing Sys- 
tem, as applied to crematories, consists of 
a small motor-driven oil pump an oil 
heater, a small motor-driven fan for supply- 
ing air to the retort, oil piping, and two 
burners for each retort. The two burners 
are at the rear end of the retort, one for 
the main or incinerating chamber, and one 
for the secondary or combustion chamber. 
There is very little preliminary work to be 
done in preparing for a cremation. The oil 
heater is lighted, or turned on if electricity 
is used, and the pump started. The oil then 
circulates through the piping and in a few 
minutes is ready to be turned into the 
burners. If it is desired to place the body 
in a cold retort, which seems the better 
practice, the lower burner is operated for 
fifteen or twenty minutes in order to heat 
the combustion chamber. This can be done 
before or during the placing of the body 
in the main chamber, as the arrangement 
of the flues is such that there is no indica- 
tion in the main chamber that the lower 
burner is operating. When the body has 
been placed, the tile door is lowered and 
the main door to the retort closed. The 
lower burner is then turned off and the 
main burner operated until the cremation is 
completed. The entire equipment is ex- 
tremely simple and easily operated. 
The Jarvis Engineering Co., 61 Oliver 
street, Boston, Mass., the builders otf the 
Forest Lawn Crematory, are now irtstall- 
ing a crematory of two retorts at Papama. 
This is the first installation made by the 
United States government. 
i 
ECHOES OF THE A. A. C. S. ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 
Snap Shots and Dark Room Thoughts. 
By Sid J. Hare. 
To one who has the convention snap- 
shot habit it is impossible to get down to 
hard work until we had satisfied ourselves 
as to what we caught with the camera at 
St. Louis, for there are few conventions 
where we met such noted people, plants 
and landscape plantings. In the dark room 
there is a revelry of “Oh’s !” and “Ah’s !” 
as picture after picture appears on the film. 
The first one was Brother Boice, with a 
half insulted look as he caught me in the 
act. He looks so natural that we will just 
consider he is getting ready to tell another 
good one. 
Wednesday’s long auto trip was recalled 
by a view in Calvary Cemetery, just as we 
made the loop around the lake. We had a 
ride through the business section, then 
over the boulevards and through the parks 
and fine residence district; then through 
Bellefontaine Cemetery, and then to Cal- 
vary, where we saw the handiwork' of 
Brother Brazil!, who has transformed hill 
and dale into a beautiful park-like ceme- 
tery. 
Friday we were to take the trolley at 10 
a. m. for the Missouri Botanical Garden. 
A few early birds, along with some rab- 
bits, reached the garden an hour or so be- 
fore that time and there met James Gur- 
ney, superintendent of Tower Grove Park, 
and William Ohlweiler, manager of the 
garden, and Mr. Irish, who was for seven- 
teen years connected with the garden. Mr. 
Gurney is the man who has by loving care 
nursed into life many new forms of water 
lilies. Just as we entered the gate and 
stood admiring the beautiful lilies in the 
lake and the conservatory beyond we heard 
someone coming, and turned, and there was 
Mr. Ohlweiler with an armful of the 
grandest water lilies we have ever seen — 
purple and blue, and pink, white and dark 
red. 
Sorry you were not 
story by Mr. Gurney as he opened up his 
soul’s greatest secrets and to see the en- 
thusiasm of this grand old plant lover, who 
has cherished the lilies for eighty or more 
years as a mother does her children. 
Mr. Gurney and Mr. Falconer were at 
one time students and gardeners at Kew 
Garden, England, and Mr. Falconer says, 
“This is the man of all men among plants,” 
and Mr. Gurney returns the compliment. 
One of our pictures shows Mr. Falconer 
placing all honor for results at Mr. Gur- 
ney’s door. He is also largely responsible 
for Tower Grove Park with its water gar- 
dens, which is the real attraction in St. 
Louis. 
This scene recalled a chance meeting I 
had with Mr. Gurney one early morning a 
few years ago. He stood beside a water 
bed of beautiful Amazon lilies, sad of 
heart and somewhat perturbed by the fact 
that someone had advised the Park Board 
of St. Louis to start economy in the park 
system by filling up and sodding over the 
water garden in Tower Grove Park. I re- 
member his argument as we stood and ad- 
mired the plants he had fondled into a 
new existence. “Ten thousand people stop 
in St. Louis each year to see this water 
garden, but show me five hundred who 
would stop to see a green lawn,” he said. 
It is evident Mr. Gurney won the day with 
the Park Board, for he has his water gar- 
dens and St. Louis also has. these beauti- 
ful water gardens and with them a won- 
derful man — just a lover of flowers, who 
can love things into new beauty and ex- 
quisite forms and colors which no one can 
describe with mere words. 
We turned from the water garden to the 
conservatory and there was a tropical land- 
scape brought and placed within the midst 
of cur land in a great glass-covered world 
of its own. We left this varied scene of 
fern-covered slope and valley walk, with 
grotto and stream and lily pool, and on 
the palms of the genial tropics to 
a door that once more leads us out to just 
earth, for between the great range of glass 
was in preparation a formal garden where 
47,000 bulbs will bloom next spring and 
many more thousand plants are now ar- 
ranged to beautify this spot during the 
summer months of 1915. 
Just as the cars unloaded at the gate and 
the 10 o’clock A. A. C. S. members began 
to look around the garden there was a clap 
of thunder that shook the earth and then 
the rain began to fall and all looked for 
shelter. There was a smile of satisfaction 
on the faces of those who came early and \ 
had an hour or so before the storm. 
After lunch was served in one of the : 
buildings we gathered in an assembly room 
to finish up the last session of our con- 
vention. Here several papers were read, 1 
but we lovers of plants listened with eager- 
ness to the paper, “Flower Display With- 
out Rain,” by William Ohlweiler, general 
manager of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 
St. Louis. Many of those present had been , 
sorely vexed trying to produce flowers dur- 
ing the past three dry years. 
Following Mr. Ohlweiler’s paper was one s 
by John Noyes. Mr. Noyes is the land- 
scape designer for the garden. This paper, 
“Pictures in a Park Cemetery,” illustrated 
the secret of placing plants to make a pic- 
turesque landscape. There was profound 
silence as this paper, with its illustrations 
and explanations, was given, and it was not 
until we had adjourned that we heard the 
appropriate words of praise for these two 
addresses. 
Random Reminiscences. 
By William Falconer. 
Wasn’t it a real happy convention? We 
enjoyed every minute of it, and now are 
looking forward to Minneapolis, the Mecca , 
of 1915, praying that we all may again 
meet there and continue in the cheerful- 
ness of the gathering we had at St. Louis. 1 
Even the hotel guests noted us and re- ; 
marked : 
there to hear the through 
