3o6 
PARK AND CE/AETERY 
ment has been cut before approval of design had been 
secured. Yet such an instance is before us involving 
a large outlay and where the cemetery officials re- 
fuse to allow it to be erected. It therefore becomes 
important that monument dealers should make 
themselves acquainted with cemetery rules concern- 
ing monuments. While primarily it is the lot own- 
ers business to see to this, it is none the less that 
of the dealer, to whom lot owners so often go for 
advice, to post himself on such matters. He will 
have the information not only to protect himself, 
but in connection with his business will be reinfor- 
ced to help the purchaser with intelligent advice. 
T here is food for thought in the fact that 
there are so many instances in park and 
cemetery affairs, where the influence and 
activity of one individual, have been the main fac- 
tors in the success of the enterprise. Even under 
officially constituted governing bodies, it will be 
generally found that in due course a leading spirit 
asserts itself, and provided that the obstacles of 
official red tape and officious interference are not 
overwhelming, its influence in inspiring euthusiasm 
and activity, leads to results which otherwise might 
be very slow in maturing. It is not always that 
the individual meets with merited reward except in 
the self satisfaction; rather, oftener,heis misunder- 
stood and criticized for presumption; but in the case 
ofa completed park and cemetery the result is a per- 
manent gratification, well worthy of sustained deter- 
mination and effort, albeit unseasoned by the grate- 
ful acknowlegedment of those benefited. Happily 
there are cases where a grateful public heartily res- 
ponds so that there is the double reward. 
The Frost Pictures of the Alps. 
Nature is very lavish in her attractiveness, and 
every season has for certain localities, particular 
indications of her diverse power. In the Austrian 
Tyrol, the frost aided by the sun creates some re- 
markable effects among the highest peaks of the 
Alps, which form a natural attraction for multitudes 
of tourists annually. Some of the pictures cover the 
whole side of a mountain; many are failures, but 
others are remarkable enough to make amends. 
The Vienna correspondent of the Philadelphia Press, 
has given an account of these from which the fol- 
lowing is taken: 
“The native designation of these pictures is 
“ausaferungfiguren,” which, liberally translated, 
means molded designs. They are formed by the 
melting snows on the peaks of the mountains in 
May and June. The first cold night after the melt- 
ing season sets in fixes the thawing snow in all 
kinds of fantastic designs. Some of these thousands 
of designs look like nothing at all, but others assume 
shapes which are absolutely perfect in outline and 
formation. The curious part of it is that year af- 
ter year many of these figures appear in pre- 
cisely the same spot and in the same proportions. 
The formations of the mountains over which the 
thawing snow flows are accountable for this oddity. 
“The place from which to view these pictures is 
the Town of Innsbruck, and from every street and 
public place in the little city these figures 
can be seen for weeks at a time. Then, when the 
first hot wind blows up the mountain peak the pic- 
tures melt away, and are seen no more until an- 
other year has gone by. 
“On the highest peak of what is known as the 
Arzler Mountain appears the heroic figure ofa fal- 
coner, attired in the large sleeves and hat of the 
middle ages. While the falconer is one of the most 
durable of the snow pictures, that of an angel, 
which appears just beneath it on the mountain side, 
melts away more quickly than any of the others, 
but, when seen immediately upon its formation, it 
is the most perfect of all. When at its best, the an- 
gel seems to be separated from the mountain, and 
appears, with its spreading wings and extended 
arms, to be blessing the earth. 
“The Herald, with along trumpet in his hand, 
looks magnificent in what seems to be a feather-be- 
decked hat and a costume of glistening silver. 
The figure of the hunter and the dog can be seen 
from a great distance, as it is the most colossal of them 
all. Its great size is brought out dearly by a small 
hut located quarter way up the mountain. This hut 
seems not larger than the head of a pin, while the fi- 
gure looms up with gigantic proportions. It is lo- 
cated on the northeast cliff of the Patscherkopel, and 
is surprisingly sharp in outline. The figure shows 
the kneeling hunter, with his pipe in his mouth, his 
knapsack slung over his back, and holding his eager 
dog. This is one of the latest of the pictures, ap- 
pearing each year after many of the others have 
melted away. 
The water carrier would, in an American city, be 
immediately dubbed the “growler rusher.” When 
the figure begins to melt the legs increase in length 
until they run down the whole mountain side. Then 
they disappear; next the body melts away and later 
the head fades out of sight, until finally only the hat 
remains as a reminder of what was once there. 
“Another curious thing about this figure is, that 
after it has completely disappeared the picture of a 
dwarf appears in its place. In the dialect of the 
Tyrol this dwarf is called the “mandl,” meaning lit- 
tle man. 
“The priest attired in all the glory of his vest- 
ments, who seems to be sprinkling the earth with 
