PARK AND CEA\ETERY 
136 
THE CEMETERY SUPEKINT'EN DEN I'S AT HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY, RICHMOND, VA. SUP’T. HOOPERS RESIDENCE 
IN THE RACK GROUND. — Photo by Campbell & Co., Richmond. Va. 
Convention Notes. 
Some of the pleasantest features of the annual 
convention of the cemetery superintendents are the 
afternoon outings. The morning hours are devoted 
to the reading and discussion of papers, but in the 
afternoons object lessons are sought in the parks and 
cemeteries in and around the city, and these out of 
door sessions, if they may be so called, are always 
helpful to the close observer. Here numerous com- 
parisons are made, reasons for doing things thus and 
so are brought out, defects are profitably criticized 
and even though the places visited may be far from 
modern their very shortcomings serve to point the 
way hoAV not to do certain things. Grass, shrubs and 
trees and every thing else that is interesting comes 
in for its share of attention in the most practical 
way. 
^ ^ an 
Superintendent Hooper's admirably arranged 
program enabled the visitors to see to the best ad- 
vantage all of the parks and cemeteries of Richmond 
excepting two. A threatening cloud having made 
it necessary to forego the visit to Mount Calvary 
and Riverview. The former, a new burial place for 
the Catholics, is said to be handsomely situated for 
fine landscape effects. Richmond is the center of a 
most historic region. Within a radius of one hun- 
dred miles Anglo-American civilization was founded 
on this continent, the political and military history 
of the Revolution was practically begun and ended; 
and here were the decisive contests of the war. In 
the numerous parks, whose total area is about one 
tenth that of the entire city, are to be seen many 
fine specimens of monumental art commemorative 
of brave men of olden and recent times. Crawford’s 
famous Washington equestrian statue, and Mercie’s 
equestrian statue of Lee are monuments of which 
any cit)^ in the world might well be proud. 
» * * 
The drive on the first afternoon of the conven- 
tion gave the visitors a glance at many places of 
interest in the western part of the city. St. John’s 
church within whose walls Patrick Henry gave utter- 
ance to his famous speech in the Virginia convention 
of I 775> and the adjoining graveyard with its ancient 
tombstones engaged attention for some time. The 
accommodating keeper Mr. Grafifigna repeated many 
of the old epitaphs which are dated far back into 
the last century and related much of interest con- 
cerning his ancient charge. 
* * # 
Joauqin Miller once discribed Richmond “as a 
wide city built on seven hills,” and it is frequently 
referred to as the city of hills. Forty years ago 
Thackeray pronounced Richmond “the merriest and 
most picturesque place in America.” The experi- 
ences of later years has modified the then existing 
