68 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
iin Ti ired,or otherwise preserved in receptacles in columbariums, 
or interred in b rrial places, and hum in bodies, and parts of 
bodies, used in medical or other schools (except specimens to be 
preserved) shall not be cast into the waters of the state, nor on 
the ground, nor in receptacks for refuse matter, nor in vaults, 
nor in sewers, but shall either be buried as deep in the ground 
as is by law required for dead bodies, or cremated, as in this act 
provided. But the remains of a person shall not be cremated 
by compulsion, under the provisions of this section, if he or his 
family, or any member thereof, or his church or spiritual adviser 
objects. A violation of any of the provisions of this act is a mis- 
demeanor, and it shall be in force from the day of its passage. 
* * * 
The bids for removing the 3 ,oo bodies from fce old St. 
John’s cemetery, Clinton, to the new St. John’s cemetery, Lan- 
cister, Mass., showed a remarkable range. The eighteen bids 
enumerated, ranged from $16,293 lowest, to $38,834 the 
highest, d’he contract was awarded to Messrs Cooney & Cough- 
lin, of Chelsea, Mass , at $16,500. In connection with this re- 
moval the board of health orders that the contractor shall pro- 
vide a sufficient number of water-tight metallic boxes or cases, 
and no body shall be removed excepting in such a case; also, 
thit wh itever is removed shall be wrapped in a cloth thoroughly 
saturated with a solution of bi chloride of mercury and chlorin- 
ated lime; also, that all metallic boxes shall be disinfected at 
least once a day — the whole w'ork to be at all times subject to 
the inspection and under the control of the board of health. 
* * * 
The Buffalo, New York, City Cemetery Association has ad- 
vanced the price of burial lots in Forest Lawn cemetery from 50 
cents to 1 1 per square foot. The price had not been changed in 
30 years. An act passed by the Legislature May 2, 1887, author- 
ized the board of trustees of the association to set aside a trust 
fund from the proceeds of the sale of lots, the income of which 
was to be devoted to the perpetual preservation of the cemetery 
and the care of lots. In a few years there w'ill be no more land 
to sell and the income will be limited to the fees for opening 
graves, etc., and will be insufficient for the perpetual care of the 
cemetery, and the price is raised in order to swell the perpetual 
care funds, “so that when our income from the sale of lots is cut 
off, an average interest of 3 per cent, on the perpetual care fund 
will suffice for all the needs of the cemetery,” says the secretary. 
CLEANING ASPHALT STREETS. 
In a recent report to the Department of State, United 
States Consul Erdman, at Breslau, Germany, gives the follow- 
ing interesting account of the methods pursued in that city for 
the cleaning of asphalt streets; The treatment of asphalt streets 
here in Breslau is entirely different from methods employed in 
the United States, h'or instance: One man has charge of four 
squares in front of the consulate. His tools for keeping the 
streets clean are as follows: An iron hopper wheelbarrow, a 
shovel, a broom and a rubber scraper about f^ct long. The 
rubber is fastened in a viselike wooden clamp and is about 4 
inches wide, X thick, and very stiff. This man during 
the day is continually going over his four squares, taking up the 
litter and keeping the streets thoroughly clean. 
Early in the morning, after having cleaned the street, he 
takes his wheelbarrow, loaded with very fine, sharp sand, and 
scatters the same with his hands or a small shovel lightly over 
the streets, to prevent slipping. Should it be a rainy day, he 
repeats this process several times during the day. Once a week 
two sprinkling cars are sent out alongside of each other, so that 
they cover the whole street at one time with w’ater, washing the 
same thoroughly. Immediately following the sprinkling cars come 
four one-horse roller brush sweepers, about two feet in diameter. 
sweeping the water and slime into the gutter, when the same is 
piled up and carted away. Then the man who has charge of 
these streets comes along with his wheelbarrow and sprinkles 
s ind all over the street. In spring or autumn, when the streets 
are often sloppy and wet, the washing is done several times 
during the week. 
I am informed the washing is done for the put pose of remc v- 
ing the slime which the asphalt seems to leave, and to keep the 
street from being slippery; also for the preservation and harden- 
ing of the asphalt. All streets are kept in excellent conditi n, 
the shopkeepers or tenants not being permitted to put sweep 
ings on the pavement or street. These must be taken up and put 
in a box kept for that purpose. 
The city has wire baskets fastened on lamp-posts, against 
houses, fences or trees, in which the public may throw was'e 
p iper while w’alking along. It is very rare to see any waste paper 
on the streets, as the citizens in general take pi ide in keeping the 
streets clean. The householders have to sweep the streets in the 
center of the street regularly every morning before six o’clock. 
The litter is pi’ed up and carted away by the city teams. 
One of the most beautiful sites in the Arlington National 
cemetery, Washington, D. C., wa that selected for the last rest- 
ing place of the dead soldiers recently brought from Cuba and 
Porto Rico and whose bodies were not claimed by relatives. It 
is on high ground overlooking the Potomac River on the south 
side of the mansion which was at one time the home of Robert 
E. Lee. A handsome monument will be erected to mark the 
last resting place of the heroes who died in the service of their 
country. Colonel Moore said of this spot: “If the parents ar.d 
relatives knew what good care would be taken of these graves 
they would not ask to have the bodies sent home to be buried in 
many instances in the small cities, only to be disturbed by the 
march of progress. If these bodies are buried at Arlington the 
graves will be taken care of as long as the government stands, 
and on each Decoration day the people will decorate their 
graves.” Some 336 soldiers were buried with most imposing 
ceremonies, and the flag of the country was hanging at half mast 
throughout the land in mourning for her heroes. 
* * » 
In view of the fa»t of the generally neglected condition of 
the cemeteries in the South, the ladies of the local chapter of the 
Daughters of the Confederacy of Savannah, Ga., cannot expect 
us to take the following resolution, strongly protesting against 
President McKinley’s suggestion respecting the federal care of 
Confederate graves, seriously; “With full appreciation of the 
impulse expressed in that sentiment, we shrink instinctively, 
with hushed and holy sorrow, from yielding the slightest assent. 
The graves of the Confederate dead are our pilgrims’ shrines. 
From their hallowed hearts eternally ascend mute protest; 
against all assaults upon constitutional liberty. The record 
these incomparable heroes made furnish the brightest pages in 
American annals, wrought out by men of loftiest mold. Only 
reverent hands should lay memorials over their consecrated dust. 
To the women of the South this sacred trust must be reserved 
through all generations.” 
• * » 
All the data necessary for a complete directory of the old 
cemeteries in Boston has been collected by the Cemetery Com- 
mission, and is now being arranged in-the office and the cata- 
logue is about completed. The burying-grounds have been sur- 
veyed, the tombstone inscriptions copied and the plans of the 
grounds have been worked out, showing where the stones are lo- 
cated. .'Ml this information will be compiled into a catalogue 
system like that at the Boston Public Library. The name of 
the interred is written on one side of the card and a true copy of 
he tomb inscription is written on the other side. 
