336 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
NEW ENGLAND CEMETERY MEN MEET 
The regular annual meeting of the New 
England Cemetery Association, held at Bos- 
ton October 26, was one of the best meet- 
ings in the history of the organization. The 
meeting was called to order at 3:15 o’clock, 
at the Quincy House, Boston, Mass., Pres- 
ident Henry S. Adams in the chair. The 
records of the last meeting were read and 
approved, and communications read and 
placed on file. 
The applications of James Ii. Chase, en- 
gineer for Forest Hills Cemetery; Charles 
A. Ludden, commissioner of Fairview Cem- 
etery, and Jesse Bannister, superintendent 
of Fairview Cemetery, Chicopee, Mass., 
were received and were unanimously elect- 
ed to become members of the association. 
Under the head of new business, George 
W. Creesy made a motion to make E. A. 
Moulton, of Concord, N. H., honorary 
member. The motion was seconded by J. 
C. Scorgie and the vote was unanimous. 
Superintendent James Warren, Jr., of 
Providence, R. I., gave his report of the 
national convention, which was listened to 
with much interest. Mrs. George W. Creesy, 
of Salem, read a paper on the “Return 
Trip from the Convention,” of herself and 
husband, which was also listened to with 
much pleasure. Frank Waterman, the Bos- 
ton undertaker, read a paper on “Co-Oper- 
ation of Cemetery Superintendents and Un- 
dertakers.” This paper was very interest- 
ing and brought out an interesting discus- 
sion, participated in by L. Ross, J. C. Scor- 
gia, Edgar King, W. M. Carr, C. Ross and 
others. The paper was as follows : 
Co-Operation of Cemetery and 
Undertaker. 
When your president asked me to be present 
■with you today and say somethin?, I have an idea 
that he thought he was going to draw me out: 
that there were differences existing between the 
undertaker and the cemetery superintendent; and 
that T might explode something among you, because 
he said he wanted me to come and give it to you 
right from the shoulder: but such is not the 
case, for I do not think there is any one thing in 
particular that I could have to say in regard to 
the treatment received at the hands of the super- 
intendents and assistants of the cemeteries of 
Greater Boston, as I have always enjoyed the best 
of fellowship with those of you that I have done 
business with. Of course, there have been differ- 
ences, and I believe these differences lead up to 
better service, not only in my business, but to 
yours, and our service to the public, which in a 
sense is sentimental, but must at all times be re- 
spected. 
Times when the undertaker or superintendent has 
found fault, or taken exceptions to something that 
has happened, have perhaps been when the under- 
taker thought he owned the cemetery, or that the 
cemetery superintendent was going to have his own 
wav, but. however, this is all a part of what is at 
times bound to arise, and the differences existing 
have been easily adjusted when the matter is 
brought to the attention of one or the other. 
T do not think it proper for me to find fault 
with what is being done in any particular cemetery, 
or in fact any cemetery, or what this or that one 
connected with the cemeteries are doing, but there 
are matters that interest us as undertaker and su- 
perintendent that can be talked over to benefit 
both. 
I think it is a good idea to get together and 
exchange view's on certain subjects that interest us 
both, and for better service to those that employ 
us in the care and burial of the dead; and as 
I have not taken any one particular subject, T will 
mention some of the things that came to my 
mind. First, Entering the cemetery in winter: 
Every cemetery is possessed of plenty of cracked 
stone and gravel. It is well to see that the ap- 
proaches to and the avenues inside, when icy, have 
plenty of material to make it safe for horses, as 
these horses come over the pavements through the 
city, and it is pretty hard to put them on ice 
where they can hardly stand, when with a little 
thought it could be made comfortable for both 
horses and driver and avoid accidents. 
We reach the grave, and when everything is 
done the best, we have a wooden walk on which 
you have to wmlk in single file; in most cases it 
is only a short walk. Why not double the walks 
so gentleman and lady can walk side by side, and 
not have the man walk in the mud, and the lady 
on the planks? We reach the grave; now at this 
particular point, I do not think much can be said 
to improve the manner in which a burial is made, 
provided the people wish to stand what little ex- 
pense there is attached to make a burial (if you 
can say so) beautiful. There is the platform, the 
tent, the evergreen, the lowering device; w r hat 
more can we ask for, but in this connection there 
are two things that might be bettered; one is 
that if the men employed at an interment could 
only be instructed to go to the rear of the mourn- 
ers, and not stand in front of them, or in sight 
during the burial service. The other matter Is the 
employment at interments of men that cannot un- 
derstand English, not because there is any objection 
to the man because he cannot understand English, 
but because of misunderstandings which have often 
come to my notice and which have placed all in an 
embarrassing position, things happening that are 
never forgotten by relatives and friends. It is not 
of course for me to say who is to be employed or 
not, but I believe there are plenty of good sized men 
that can understand what is wanted, and should be 
used at interment. 
Chapel Funerals: Superintendents know that in 
most cases I use my own men and paraphernalia, 
but not always, depending on the case and kind 
of service required : it is not because I do not 
want to, but for the reason that I have what is 
required and use, my own material. The ceme- 
teries in and about Boston are to be congratulated 
on their chapels, and the service they render to 
the public. Chapel funerals should not be set 
within two hours of each other unless sure of kind 
of service and time required by each. 
Mistakes — I wish it was more customary for the 
office of the cemetery (where the undertaker 
does not or forgets) to call the undertaker by tele- 
phone the day of funeral, to understand if every- 
things is correct, just to go over the arrangements 
to be sure. The auto coming into use now leaves 
a chance for mistake in time, as one cemetery or- 
der calls for the time of service at such a place, 
and figuring a horse-drawn funeral, where it might 
be an auto funeral, and reach the cemetery ahead 
of time, or as some cemetery orders call for time 
of arrival, it may be a mistake of the undertaker 
in not knowing at the time *the order was given 
that it was to be an auto funeral, and reach the 
cemetery ahead of time, and especially in the win- 
ter when we have 10:30, 11:00 and 12 o’clock 
funerals, reaching the cemetery at noon when the 
men are at lunch. I think it is a time when we 
should know, and not suppose, and can help one 
another by asking a few questions to be sure. 
Sale of Lots and Single Graves: Of course it is 
understood that if a lot is to be purchased, the 
people go and select it, pay for it and give loca- 
tion for the grave if one is to be used. Why 
should not the same apply to single graves, and 
the same interest taken to sell a single grave as 
a lot? A great many times a person starting out 
to buy one or two single graves finally purchases a 
small lot. My custom is to have people go and 
select the grave themselves if possible, as they 
see just where it is to be, and can find no fault, 
and then and there decide the name of the person 
the certificate is to be made out to, and if paid 
for at the time, the certificate mailed direct to 
the puchaser, and not the undertaker; but if the 
undertaker is responsible for the payment, then 
the deed should be mailed to the undertaker. If 
the grave is ordered by undertaker, I do not think 
there should be any haste in making certificate 
out for the grave, for after a funeral is over and 
the bill is to be paid, this* or that one says he or 
she will pay the bill if they can have the certifi- 
cate of the grave in their name, and if it is al- 
ready made oiit and not satisfactory*^ there is a 
fight on, and the undertaker through no fault of 
his is kept waiting for his money, so I think 
there is no harm in letting these things rest until 
settled. 
Plans of Lots: I believe plans of lots should 
be issued with each deed, as in a great many cases, 
they are, but it should be designated on plan or 
deed what the area of lot will accommodate as to 
earth, brick, cement, or slate graves for adults. 
A 300 ft. lot, 12 earth, 12 cement, 10 brick, and 
so on. 
There are two subjects that no doubt at the 
present time come to the mind of the undertaker 
and cemetery superintendent, and a question as to 
how they may be best taken care of. These two 
subjects eoine perhaps more to the undertaker 
than the cemetery superintendent, for the under- 
taker is interested in both, and the superintend- 
ent, while interested in both, one does not concern 
the superintendent as much as the undertaker. 
These are the cement vault, how best to have it 
become used, or not used, and cemetery charges, 
how best to be taken care of. They interest the 
undertaker the most because if he furnishes a 
cement vault, he does it at a profit, and if he 
pays! interment fees, and price of single grave, he 
does it at a loss. The undertaker has or is sup- 
posed to have everything on sale pertaining to the 
burial of the dead, and the steel and cement vaults 
are the latest additions to the stock supposed to 
be carried and on sale. There are certain kinds 
of receptacles for the burial of the dead that 
there is more profit in than others. At the same 
time there are those that we have to actually 
handle. The cement vault, wei do not handle, but 
receive a profit on the sale, so I suppose as far 
as the cement vault is concerned, I should talk of 
its use from the standpoint of the undertaker. 
Before their manufacture, the brick or slate 
grave was used (outside of the earth grave) and 
furnished by the cemetery. You can not blame 
the undertaker for wanting to handle the cement 
vault just as he does a pine, oak, chestnut, ma- 
hogany box or steel vault, for the time when 
the cement vault was first introduced, the manu- 
facturers of cement vaults were sent to the under- 
takers by the cemetery superintendents, asi all the 
cemetery did was to build brick graves the required 
size, as they would stand better than any cement 
vault, and so to commence with the cement vault, 
was first thrown down by the cemeteries which 
has led the matter where it is today; and as 
long as the outside manufacturer will make and 
deliver, I do not see why it is not up to the 
cemetery to put the cement vault in that is de- 
livered to the cemetery for use, and seal it up 
after body is placed in it, as much as it is to 
receive any kind of an outside box and do as 
always has been done. In my opinion, there would 
be just as much sense in the cemeteries making 
boxes as it would be to manufacture cement vaults. 
The box making proposition was at one time in- 
troduced by Mr. Safford, the first superintendent 
of Cedar Grove Cemetery, to relieve the under- 
taker from delivering boxes, but after a few mis- 
takes, it was given up, so I believe that making 
cement vaults by the cemeteries would not be a 
paying propositions. 
If the cement vault comes into general use they 
will be furnished through the undertaker and de- 
livered by the manufacturer, and placed in the 
ground and sealed up by the cemetery people, 
charging as to the service rendered. If these 
vaults come into use there will be as many kinds 
and prices as there are outside boxes, and will 
be bought accordingly. 
The undertaker of today is not going to see 
these sales slip through his fingers and is going 
to sell anything people want. A cement vault 
can be made, and is made so that for an ordinary 
size or for an extra size, the width will not 
exceed 2x6, making room in a 300 ft. lot for 
12 burials, where if brick were used for even an 
ordinary size, there would be only room for 11. 
Of course, some people have an idea that as 
long as one or more bodies have been placed in 
brick graves in' a lot why we will have the same; 
but there are quite a few people that want cement. 
There are not a great many used at present, but 
the use will increase, as these manufacturers are 
bound to advertise and put them before the public, 
so that they can be handled by the one having the 
funeral arrangements in charge. 
There are those who would not use a cement 
vault or even a brick grave, and sometimes not 
even an outside box; but to those that want every- 
thing done the best, the cement vault or box is 
