PARK AND CEMETERY. 
131 
‘•It wo. lid b2 of great help to us all if our members would 
report progress made during the year, especially in the way of 
abolishing old methods and the adoption of new ones. Let us 
know how many fences have been torn down, and how much 
curbing has been removed, and also how many mounds have 
been leveled and walks graded up and sodded. There are 
many things similar to the above which would prove encourag- 
ing and of value to cemetery officials who are striving to rid 
their grounds of just such excrescences as these 
“It has been suggested to me that in the past few years the 
Executive Committee has degenerated into merely a programme 
and entertainment committee, and that it might be a good 
plan to have another committee appointed ( or elected ), to be 
known as the Advisory Committee, whose duty shall be to con- 
sider ways and means of promoting the work of the association 
and increasing the membership.” 
“I am afraid that our members for some reason do not give 
the association the prominence which it deserves before their 
trustees or directors, else they might ta’ke more interest in the 
work we are doing. There are improvements which all concede 
should be made, and such as are found in all modern c€»neteries 
and that should become features in all grounds, but which are 
not likely to be, unless we take it upon ourselves, as members 
of this association, to bring the best thoughts that the meetings 
give us directly to those in control of the cemeteries which we 
represent.” 
“From the present outlook it would appear as if our country 
had once more entered upon an era of general prosperity; signs 
of improvement and increasing confidence grow on every hand. 
Under these improved conditions our respective cemeteries will 
undoubtedly share in the general prosperity, purchasers will 
feel that they can select larger and better lots, thus giving us 
more means with which to carry on our improvements, and let 
us hope that the managers or trustees in control will feel better 
able to send representatives to our meetings.” 
Several of the suggestions made in the address 
were acted upon at a subsequent session. 
The annual report of Secretary and Treasurer 
Eurich stated that twelve new members had been 
admitted, two deaths had occurred and several 
names were stricken from the list for non-payment 
of dues. The membership, exclusive pf those.added 
at New Haven, was 147. The receipts for the year 
were ^92.14; disbursments, $780. Included in 
the latter is the cost of printing and binding a selec- 
tion of the best papers read before the conventions 
during the past ten years and printed under the title 
of “Modern Cemeteries.” A large edition of these 
books was issued and are on sale by the Secre- 
tary. 
Difficulties confronting Cemetery Superintend- 
ents, by G. C. Nailor, Superintendent Riverview 
Cemetery, Wilmington, Del., was the first paper on 
the pro^am. Mr. Nailor did not attempt to enum- 
erate all of the difficulties, many of them being the 
outcome of local conditions that must be disposed of 
by means that seemed best to the superintendent. 
The superintendent in charge of a cemetery con- 
ducted on the modern lawn plan knows little of the 
difficulties that confront the man who has to super- 
intend grounds that have been established a half 
century or more. To educate the lot owner out of 
the old ideas and get him to grasp the beauties of 
the new is often a difficult task but one that can be 
accomplished. The sad circumstances ujider which 
the superintendent becomes acquainted with his 
lot holders are peculiar and the future relationship 
that must exist depends very largely upon the man- 
ner in which the superintendent conducts himself. 
A word of sympathy to a bereaved lot holder will 
lessen the possibilities of future difficulties. In cem- 
eteries where the superintendent, in addition to his 
other duties, is expected to attend to office work and 
conduct the financial affairs on an economic basis, 
he assumes marked responsibility and becomes 
the main spring that drives the entire business. 
Having been assigned to our duty, it should be 
fulfilled even if the way does seem dark. 
Frank Goodwin, a young boy of Jamestown, 
N. Y. , sent a voluntary contribution on the subject 
of Sunday Funerals. His plea for a proper ob- 
servance of the Satibath was listened to with much 
interest. “It is the self-respecting citizen who is 
the real power, and when he realizes his duty in this 
direction Sunday funerals will gradually be discon- 
tinued,” was the conclusion held by the writer. 
Mr. Edward C. Beecher of the New Haven City 
Burial Ground read an interesting historical paper 
on “The early Cemeteries of New Haven.” This 
paper covers a period of over 250 years and is such 
a valuable contribution to the historical cemetery 
literature of our country that it will be published 
with illustrations in a subsequent issue of Park AND 
Cemetery. 
Other papers read during the afternoon and 
evening sessions were as follows: “The Influence 
of Modern Cemeteries,” by N. C. Wilder, Spring 
Grove Cemetery, Hartford, Conn.; “Some of our 
Lot Owners at Home,” by Sid J. Hare, Forest Hill 
Cemetery, Kansas City, Mo.; “How to Make 
Single Grave Sections Compare Favorably with 
Other Sections,” by F. D. Willis, Secretary and 
Treasurer Oakland Cemetery, St. Paul, Minn., and 
“Sepulture and Civilization,” by Hon. L. P. 
Deming of the Fair Haven Union Cemetery. 
The subject of Mr. Willis’ paper is one of 
peculiar importance in every cemetery. He said: 
“ From the view point of an observer the subject of these 
notes appears to be one of the most difficult problerhs which 
confronts the superintendent. 
“ In the improvement of the lot sections only the tastes of 
one person or family have to be consulted, guided or controlled 
for each lot containing an average of six or more graves. In 
the single-grave sections the same question is met for each 
grave. Perhaps the conflicting ideas of two or three families 
must be consulted and harmonized. 
“ In addition to the above may be noted the indiscriminate 
flower planting on and the decoration (?) of the graves with the 
favorite playthings of the dead. As this planting and decora- 
ion seldom last many years, their influence is but transitory and 
