152 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
for the clergy and the undertakers to discuss. It is a busy day 
for the clergy otherwise, and it seems as if a united action on 
their part would do much towards lessening Sunday funerals. 
I am aware that we are many miles apart, and that people 
and customs are different. What could be done in an eastern 
city perhaps could not be done in a western or southern city 
and vice versa. We can, however, study reforms in our own 
section and bring them about if we can. Sunday is observed in 
the cemetery over which I have charge, and I wish it could be 
observed in all. 
I should feel remiss in my duty if I said nothing about 
flowers. I consider them as much identified with a cemetery 
as the ground itself. They speak in a sermon, though silent is 
far reaching, reaching to the inmost recesses of the heart. We 
carry them to the sick room and welcome hrnds receive them, 
and the lesson is friendship; we place them upon the silent 
casket and the living are comforted, and the lesson is sympa- 
thy; loving hands carry them to the cemetery and place them 
upon the grave, and the lesson is love and devotion. 
There is a sermon in the trees and shrubs, the grass and the 
mighty rocks, but the sermon of flowers softens our very nature. 
They seem to bring us more in touch with the departed and 
they rob the cemetery of much gloom. 
In my own experience I am satisfied that a public garden, 
so called, connected with a cemetery, where a great variety of 
plants are cultivated, together with aquatics is very beneficial 
and is much appreciated if the number of visitors is a criterion. 
To visit the garden on the way to or from the grave has a ten- 
dency to make the visit to the cemetery more pleasant. 
In studying to improve and beautify our grounds we must 
not overlook ourselves. Don’t get careless. Our positions are 
of the greatest responsibility. Our lot owners place confidence 
in us and we should give them in return courtesy, kindness and 
patience. We are to meet those bowed down with sorrow, and 
they are in no state of mind to be met with abruptness. 
A matter of great importance to us now is to increase our 
membership. There are many superintendents who have never 
attended our conventions, and perhaps the management of their 
cemeteries have not had the matter brought to their notice. 
Agents of business houses go to distant cities and abroad in the 
interest of the business they represent, and they return with 
broader and more comprehensive views of their business, and 
the same rule will apply to cemeteries; any man that takes an 
interest in the position which he occupies cannot but help being 
benefitted by attending our conventions. 
There is a future for this association. Our cemeteries will 
ever be held sacred, made sacred by the dust of loved ones, and 
the interest in the cemetery as loved ones pass away will in- 
crease. While we know that the soul has gone to the God who 
gave it, the ground that holds the dust will ever be held in 
reverence. 
The annual report of the secretary and treas- 
urer showed the association to be in a prosperous 
condition financially and numerically. At least 
twenty names were added to the roll at this meet- 
ing of new or reinstated members, making the 
membership approximately i8o. 
“Practical Management of Cemeteries” by 
George H. Scott, “Elmwood,” River Forest, 111., 
was the subject of the first paper. It emphasized 
the importance of employing practical managers 
for conducting the affairs of a cemetery; suggested 
the qualifications a successful superintendent must 
possess to meet and overcome the difficulties with 
which he has to contend and showed the position 
to be anything but a sinecure and one that demanded 
a high order of intelligence, a determination of 
purpose, the tact of a diplomat and the patience of 
a Job. 
Matthew P. Brazill, “Cavalry,” St. Louis, Mo., 
treated the subject of “Art in the Modern Ceme- 
tery” in an interesting manner. He cited “Oak- 
woods” and “Graceland” Chicago, “Spring Grove,” 
Cincinnati, and “Swan Point,” Providence, R. I., 
as notable examples of the landscape gardeners art 
in beautifying nature. In referring to the beauti- 
ful boulder wall that surrounds “Swan Point” he 
said “here Nature in its most primitive form is 
made to subserve art, and produce a natural archi- 
tecture, a pleasing substitute for the mechanical ar- 
chitecture that defaces the entrance of some ot our 
cemeteries.” Mr. Brazill deplored the work of the 
stone cutter as being too often meaningless in con- 
struction and destructive of landscape art. He 
agreed with the growing sentiment in favor of trees 
as appropriate memorials, “being beautiful speci- 
mens of God’s wonderful works ii; nature and much 
more ornamental than the pagan designs that now 
disfigure our cemeteries.” 
“Some Landscape Ideas Gained in Cemeteries” 
was an interesting and suggestive paper by Sid. J. 
Hare, “P'orest Hill,” Kansas City, Mo. “Rocks 
and Graves” are conspicuous features of most 
cemetery landscapes but it is the disposition we 
make of them that adds to or detracts from our 
grounds. Mr. Hare emphasized the importance 
of landscape effecls, not only to counteract the 
monotony of the ever present monuments but to 
give to the cemetery such restful features as will 
divert the thoughts of sad hearted visitors. 
“Generalities” by a novice, was the title of a 
well written paper by R. F. Robertson, Los Gatos, 
Calif., who treated a variety of cemetery subjects 
in such a way as to show conclusively that he was 
no longer a novitiate in such matters. 
The afternoon was devoted to visiting Calvary 
cemetery and other points of interest. Special 
electric cars, including an electric funeral car, being 
provided to transport the visitors. The route af- 
forded an opportunity of seeing the Standard Oil 
Works and extensive Rolling Mills and Furnaces 
for which Cleveland is famous. Light refreshments 
were served on the lawn at the residence of the 
sexton of “Calvary,” after which the cemetery was 
visited. Under the management of Rev. Chancel- 
lor G. F. Houck assisted by Supt. C. D. Carroll, a 
tract of some i6o acres of farm land about five 
miles from the city, is being gradually transformed 
into a cemetery which it is the intention to conduct 
on the lawn plan. The original plan was prepared 
