PARK AND CEMETERY. ”5 
fashions. Probably this may be attributed to the 
fact, that till Death strikes a family, little or no 
thought is given to the dreaded messenger; people 
avoid thinking of the matter. Death is inevitable, 
but in the opinions of most, had better not be 
thought of, with the consequence, that, when the 
time for separation arrives, attention is at once de- 
manded. It cannot be postponed, grief prevents 
a calm consideration of the best method for the dis- 
posal of the remains; we hate to see the forms of 
our dear ones being taken away, though knowing 
it must be done, and that quickly. Consecjucntly 
we adopt those methods which have been in vogue 
for ages. With costly preparations, we endeavor 
to keep the body so that it will resemble as nearly 
as. possible that form which we remembered when 
living. Burial therefore seems the best, and in- 
deed the only way of disposal. 
From the dust of the earth man is made, and most 
surely to dust must he again return. Do what we 
will the process cannot be prevented; our puny efforts 
in this direction are fruitless. The most that can 
be done is simply to retard the process by embalm- 
ing or mummyfying. Natures ways are inscrutable 
and must be obeyed. Nothing can be more dis- 
tressing to minds of the surviving, than the know- 
ledge that the bodies of their dear ones, which arc 
deposited in the earth, despite all efforts to the 
contrary, are slowly, but surely, becoming loath- 
some masses of corruption. The dear forms 
which are photographed in the minds eye, will be- 
come so changed that if they could be brought to 
the light they would make the strongest turn away 
with disgust. And even after a lapse of years, 
the sight of our bones will create a shudder. 
Knowing all this would it not be better to calm- 
ly and philosophically reason the matter, and as 
from dust we come, is it not most reasonable, 
after we are done with upon this sphere, to be re- 
turned to our natural element the dust, quickly as 
possible. And incineration is undoubtedly the 
quickest method. 
Cremation in all civilized communities is largely 
upon the increase, and is likely to become more so, 
as people give their attention to the subject. One 
thing which retards progress, is the present great 
cost of incineration. But this will soon remedy 
itself, as the movement becones more popular. 
The crematorium, and cemetery, should be com- 
bined, and doubtless will be in the near future. 
Their combination will allow smaller and more 
ornamental burial grounds being made in the midst 
of populous centres, without being a menace to the 
health of the living. In the larger cities the ques- 
tion of burial will soon be a matter of great ex- 
pense and trouble. Large tracts ot land, at con- 
siderable distance from residential parts, will have 
to be dedicated for cemetery purposes. The cost 
of reaching these places, whether by railroad or 
otherwise is bound to be considerable. The very 
fact of conveyance alone, will far exceed the cost 
of cremation and depositing the ashes nearer by. 
Then as an ecomomic fact the Crematorium and 
Cemetery should work together. All reforms 
come slowly and it is a difficult matter to get the 
public much out of the rut. When the combina- 
tion is consummated, smaller family burial lots 
will answer, and can be used by succeeding gener- 
ations, for the disposal of the ashes, either by in- 
terment and become a part of the soil or be scat- 
tered upon the grassy surface. That nature resumes 
itself is most true. All organic vegetable matter 
sooner or later becomes a part of the soil, and re- 
appears in some other form. And it should be 
pleasant to know that the ashes of the bodies of 
our departed friends can assist to make the face of 
nature beautiful. When living 'most persons have 
a preference for some particular tree or plant. 
Then after incineration let our mortal ashes be so 
placed that they can quickly be absorbed by our 
favorites, and for a time at least live again. To 
the objectors for such means of disposal interment 
can be made in small graves. Columbariums will 
surely be built with niches for thousands of urns, 
and thus accommodate those who wish to preserve 
the ashes. 
There is nothing repulsive in the modern met- 
hod of cremation. The body is taken away by 
the attendants from the chapel or ante-roonp and in 
a short time all that is left, contained in a small 
receiver is returned to the friends for final disposal. 
Crude oil and steam perform the work very exped- 
itiously. And when incineration becomes more 
popular probably electricity will be brought into 
use and do the work still more rapidly. 
Bellctt Lmvson. 
A beautiful lawn is one of the grandest works of 
nature, let it be flat, undulating, or curved in out- 
line, and the nearer we can copy nature the greater 
perfection we will attain. The predominating feat- 
ure of all modern cemeteries of to-day is a lawn. 
When the body is laid at rest in our cemeteries, the 
friends return after a few hours or days as the case 
may be, there is nothing that seems to give them so 
much satisfaction as to find the grave, whether 
mounded or flat, also the lot covered with a soft 
green velvety lawn turf; even the beautiful flowers 
never seem to give so much satisfaction. They soon 
fade and are gone, whereas the green grass remains 
and grows more and more beautiful as the days go 
by, if only well cared for. — N. C. Wilder. 
