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soft water. This will often work when other things 
fail to remove stains from marble. It must be ap- 
plied to the affected surface, and when thoroughly 
dry, must be rubbed off with wool rags. Soap and 
vinegar may be used instead of muriatic acid. 
* * 
One ounce of oxalic acid in a quart of water to 
which is added enough flour to form a paste will re- 
move ink stains from marble. The paste must be 
applied freely to the spot and allowed to remain 
some days. 
* * * 
Cleaning marble may also be effected by mix- 
ing up a quantity of strong soap lees with quick 
lime to the consistency of thin cream. Coat the 
marble with it and leave it for twenty-four hours 
then wash off with soap and water. 
* * * 
The following is excellent to remove grease and 
dirt from marble: Two ounces of Aqua ammonia, 
one quart of soft water, one teaspoonful of saltpetre, 
one ounce of shaving soap in .=havings; mix all to- 
gether, thoroughly dissolving the soap. 
* * * 
A pound of sal soda in a pail of water, and used 
with a scrub brush on granite and marble monu- 
ments is asserted to be an excellent cleaning wash. 
First thoroughly saturate the monument with clean 
water then apply. This is old fashioned but has 
the merit of simplicity. 
Revival of the Use of Flo wers. 
The revival of the ancient use and meaning of 
flowers during the middle ages is an oasis of bright- 
ness in the gloom of those dark days of ecclesiasti- 
cal fanaticism. The monks were well employed 
when inventing their clock of flowers or perfecting 
their floral directory, which assigned to each flower 
a particular day in the year to blossom and gave it 
a special saint for a tutelary genius. Thus, to the 
virgin they dedicated the immaculate lily and the 
drooping snowdrop, to the first Christian martyr 
the deep purple heath, to St. Barnabas the sun- 
flower, the hyacinth and wild harebell were assigned 
to St. George as the champion of merry England 
and the “blue haired ocean.” Leo the Great had to 
be content with the dandelion, while St. Dunstan 
presided over the helmet-like cowl of the deadly 
monk's hood, to St Augustine was intrusted the rho- 
dodendron, the sensitive plant is for St. Vitas. 
Duringthe domination of the Roman church the 
altars were adorned with flowers, and the great pagan 
Easter feast of flowers was grafted into the Christian 
religion; the goddess Ostara yielded her glory to her 
conquering rival — the holy virgin. But in the 
early days of the episcopal church there threatened 
to be a war of the roses in the church of England, 
due to the bishop of Exeter and his followers pro- 
testing against the use of flowers to adorn the altars 
of the churches, deeming it of worldly intervention. 
In the early days of the protestant church in 
this country there must have been a surprising 
dearth of flowers, fora writer in Harper’s Magazine 
for 1863 comments with enthusiasm on the fact 
that in a certain protestant church in New York 
the altar had been adorned at Easter for the third 
time, and another congregation had assembled 
lilies, roses, violets and other flowers for the se- 
venth time. 
Thus have we dared the insidious approach of 
ancient pagan flower-worship, and after nearly 
half a century continue to use the flowers as an ex- 
pression of higher spirituality. But we are awak- 
ening more and more to the ethical influence ot 
beauty in all its manifestations, and we turn with 
infinite relief and gladness from flowers of rhetoric 
to the silent but none the less eloquent rhetoric of 
the flowers; eloquent for modesty, lowliness -of 
spirit and purity . — Chicago Record. 
A Correction. 
It is due to Mr. G. C. Nailor, superintendent Eiverview 
Cemetery, Wilmington, Del., to rectify an unfortunate error 
that occurred in the printed proceedings of the Richmond meet- 
ing of the Association of American Cemetery Superintendents. 
In a discussion on concrete the report credits Mr. Nailor with 
having presented a formula for concrete in which '‘50 parts” 
should have been written rive. In the February issue of Park 
AND Cemetery, in an article on “Practical work in the Cemet- 
ery,” this formula with others was reproduced and commented 
upon without reference to authorship. Mr. Nailor’s formula 
was as follows: 5 parts crushed stone, 3 parts sand, i part Alsen’s 
Portland cement: mixed thoroughly while dry and mixed well 
when adding the water. In a communication on the subject Mr. 
Nailor states; “Duringthe last two years we have laid about 9500 
square feet of foundations, walks and water paves, composed of 
the concrete formula I gave at Richmond. It had stood the 
frost of 22 degrees and very heavy teams have been crossing it 
constantly, without doing it any injury whatever. I built a 
greenhouse two years ago which rests upon a wall 9 feet wide by 
2 feet deep, and the cellar is 7 feet deep by 16 feet square. The 
entire wall is made of concrete, and it has been pronounced to 
be a very fine piece of work. There are some very important 
facts connected with the composition of concrete for head-stones, 
monuments, etc., also in depositing it in its final resting place. 
Our prices for laying a foundation of concrete, is 60 cents per 
cubic foot under 10 cubic feet, and :;o cents per cubic foot over 
10 cubic feet. Most of our work is for small jobs under 10 cubic 
feet, and I have been told our prices are very high. Our prices 
were based upon the cost of the material used for concreting as 
follows: We pay $2.75 per barrel for cement, $1.30 per yard 
for stone, $1.50 per 2000 pounds for sand. lam convinced that 
a large percentage of men (including Engineers) do not know 
the exact cost of the material used in their daily work. I have 
frequently asked what the material used in forming a cubic foot 
of concrete would cost upon their own formula; the question has 
not been ahswered.” 
