107 
PARK AND 
The contract, has been let for the erection of a chapel and 
gateway at Mount Hope cemetery, Boston, at a cost of 119.500. 
* * * 
Several hundred dollars have been contributed by the citi- 
zens of Tuscumbia, Tenn,, to aid the City Council in improving 
and beautifying Oakwood cemetery. The improvements have 
already begun. 
* * 
Penn Yan, N. Y., has more graves in its cemetery than it 
has living inhabitants. The cemetery is too years old and on 
Aug. 24 the centennial anniversary of the first burial will be cele- 
brated by the town. There are said to be 8,000 bodies buried 
there, which is more than the town’s population. 
Oakwood cemetery, the principal burying place of Waco, 
Texas, was seriously damaged as a result of the recent flood of 
rain. Graves have sunk from a few inches to two or three feet, 
monuments are leaning, head and footstones are ready to topple 
into graves, and the conditions are such as have never been seen 
before. 
* If- » 
At Mt. Auburn cemetery, Boston, the building formerly 
used as a chapel is being altered into a crematory. It is to be 
constructed with all the latest improvements, and will be com- 
pleted in October. The fitting up of a crematory at this noted 
cemetery is a source of satisfaction to those who prefer this man- 
ner of dealing with the dead, and it also indicates the progress 
of the cremation movement. 
•» * « 
It would be astonishing if the citizens of Babylon, Long Is- 
land, were not heard in loud protest against the invasion of 
their district by a number of cemetery corporations. The list 
of cemetery asso. iatioos that have secured the rights to lay apart 
certain parcels of land near Brentwood in the northern part of 
the town is as follows. The Beechwood, the Maple Grove, the Oak 
Grove, Pinelawr, the Laurel Grove, the Pine Grove, the Holly- 
wood, the Elm. These associations were granted 200 acres at the 
recent meeting of the Board of Supervisors, and the town of Baby- 
lon was authorized to fix a fee of not more than 50 cents for each 
burial in either of the mentioned cemeteries. 
■*•*■*■ 
The trustees of Elmwood cemetery, Detroit, Mich., at a re- 
cent meeting discussed a resolution providing that no more mau- 
soleums or burial vaults will be permitted to be built within the 
cemetery grounds. The reason publicly given for the consider- 
ation of the above resolution, as explained by the Secretary, is that 
the number of these private burial vaults has increased so.rap- 
idly, during recent years, that the natural beauty of the grounds 
is already seriously impaired. It is desirable to preserve intact 
the natural features of the cemetery, producing as near as may 
be a park effect. This may be a giant stride in landscape cem- 
etery practice. 
* * -it 
Mr. Rutan, Architect, of Pittsburg, recently submitted plans 
and specifications to Mr. F. H. Buhl of Sharon, Pa., for a mau- 
soleum, receiving vault and chapel to be erected in Oakwood 
cemetery to cost 150,000. The structure will be of granite with 
white marble interior, and will be 65 by 30 feet in area. The 
chapel will be 40 feet long with three windows and vestibule. 
CEMETERY, 
There will be twelve public receiving vaults, six on each side of 
the corridor, and at the rear of the latter will be two private 
vaults, which are intended for Mr. and Mrs. Buhl. This work 
will be commenced as soon as the contract is let, and will be a 
donation to O.ikwood cemetery so far as it goes in every detail 
except the two private vaults. 
* » * 
D.jwagiac, Mich., is reaping the reward coming from im- 
provements in its Riverside cimctery, in the increasing interest 
taken in the work by the citizens and the appreciative curiosity 
excited in the surrounding districts. Among the latest improve- 
ments are two fountains, one of which was installed from public 
subscriptions and the other Loin the cemetery fund. These are 
erected in appropriate sites in the grounds and are kept playing 
throughout the day, and form attractive features to lot owners 
and visitors. Increased interest is lesulting in additional funds 
for care of lots from lot owners, and the work of the cemetery 
board is rapidly gaining the confidence of the citizens, a result 
invariably experienced under intelligent and progressive con- 
trol. 
* * ■» 
The .financial side of the cemetery question is seldom con- 
sidered in our rural districts, or very few would be left uncared 
for. Back in the spring a new policy was inaugurated at River- 
-side cemetery, Albton, Mich., and a determined effort to redeem 
the spot was made with the result that an altogether different 
aspect attaches to the grounds. A local paper says: While all 
of the improvements have added greatly to the appearance of 
the cemetery the various owners of lots have a duty In the sam.e 
direction to perform. That the expenditure incurred is not ex- 
travagance is shown by the fact that the sales of lots have already 
begun to increase and many people will want to purchase lots if 
the grounds are kept up in good shape. This will be found un- 
questionably true. 
-x- 
The fifty-seventh annual report of the Lowell cemetery 
corporation, Lowell, Mass., has just been published. The treas- 
urer’s report shows that $8580,15 was expended for pay 
roll and the total receipts for the year were 144,886.93, which 
with the balance from previous year makes a total of $44,935 33, 
A balance of $1510.33 is carried over. A paragraph in the treas- 
urer’s report reads as follows: “From a money-making stand- 
point the record for the past year is disappointing. The sale of 
lots amounted to but $2580 81, as against $5887,97 the year pre- 
ceding, and an average yearly sale of more than $5,000 for the 
period coveiing the last 14 years. The collections from lot own- 
ers, partially owing to a less vigorous enforcement of collecting, 
shows a falling oft by $641. 64,” 
* * * 
Judge Buck of the probate court of Minnesota has decided 
for the Woodlawn Cemetery Association in the contest over the 
will of George Plummer Smith, The contest arose over the fact 
that by the will |io. 000 was bequeathed direct to the associa- 
tion. Immediately following this bequest was another clause 
granting to Judge William Mitchell, as trustee of the associa- 
tion, certain real estate in this city, valued at about 1 10,000, the 
proceeds of which should be used in the care of certain lots in 
the cemetery, and generally for the benefit of Woodlawn Asso- 
ciation. It was claimed by the contestants, who are residuary 
legatees under the will, that it was not the intention of the test- 
ator to leave both the 1 10,000 and the real estate, for as the 
money had gone direct to the association, the real estate was all 
that was still in question. 
* * » 
The first graveyard in the city of Hartford, Conn., has been 
rescued from obliteration by the widening of Gold street. In 
it the first settlers and their successors for six generations, in- 
