2 2 2 
PARK AND CEMETERY, 
RECENT LEGAL DECISIONS. 
RKr.n.ATION OF LOCATION OF CI',M 
The supreme court of Wisconsin sa\'s that it niav be adniit- 
teil that cemeteries are not nuisances in themselves. They are 
necessary and rightly regarded as .sacred places. They ought 
not to he considered injurious to ])eo])le of average sensibilities 
and intellect from the mere fact that they are the re.sting places 
of the dead. With the customarilv laid out walks and drives, 
the mounds, the flowers and shrubs, the monuments and in- 
scriptions, and many other incidents that may be mentioned 
characterizing a modern cemetery, the\- are in many resjiects 
places of heaut3’ as well as of inevitable deca}'. Nevertheless 
public welfare recpiires reasonable regulations in regard to their 
location and management. All mere sentimental considerations 
and individual interests hearing unjustly ujion the interests of 
others ought to .give wav to the necessities of the case, and the 
police power of the state is ample to secure that result. The 
])revention of the locatiau of cemeteries in the thickly ])opulated 
])ortions of the country, or where such condition is probable, or 
near dwellin.g houses actually exi.sting, has generallv been con- 
sidered a ])ro])er exercise of police power when re.gulations in 
that re.gard have been challenged on constitutional .grounds. 
And the court holds, in the case of I’fleger a.gainst Groth, 
that section 1454 of the Revised .Statutes of Wisconsin is a valid 
exercise of police power, which section prohibits the establish- 
ment of any- cemetery for burial purposes within the platted por- 
tion of any citv or village in that .state so as to appi'oach nearer 
than one mile to any lot or block in the plat ujion which there 
may be a building; also prohibits the lavin.g out or establi.sh- 
ment of any such cemetery outside the ])latted portions of any 
city or village, within 200 rods of any inhabited dwelling stand- 
in.g on any lot or block in such citv or villa.ge, without first ob- 
tainiiyg the con.sent of the municipal authorities thereof; and de- 
clares that any violation of the statute shall be deemed a nui- 
sance and .subject to aliatement at the suit of any per.son ag- 
grieved. 
Nor does the court consider that acquiescence for even ei.ght 
years can be regarded as sufficient evidence of the consent of the 
munici])ality required by the statute in a case where the munici- 
pal authorities and the law were disregarded entirely. 
And the court repudiates the su.ggestion that the law of 
1.S93, now embraced in section 1454a, of the Revised .Statutes, 
jiroviding a method for takin.g land in invitum or agaimst the 
will of the owner, for the enlargement of cemeteries, but limit- 
in.g the right in that regard, except in cities and villages, to lands 
that do not approach nearer than 20 rods to a residence owned 
h\' the occupant thereof, without his consent, amends section 
1454 bv removing all restrictions to the enlargement of ceme- 
teries in cities and villa,ges. It holds that the act of 1893 amends 
section 2 of chapter 315, Laws 1887, and relates solely to the 
subject of taking lands for cemetery purposes b}' right of emi- 
nent domain. It does not deal with or affect in any way the law 
re.gulating the location of cemeteries or their enlargement. It 
provides how land ma\' be acquired for such enlargement when 
permission .shall have been obtained to make it under section 
1454, Revi.sed Statutes. 
Notes. 
The common council of Neenah, Wis., has pa.ssed an ordi- 
nance creating a cemetery commission for that city-, to exercise 
a general supery-ision over the cemetery owned by- the city- or 
any- land that may be hereafter acquired for such purpo.ses. 
* * * 
There has recently been purcha.sed for Calvary cemetery, 
Cleveland, O., an adjoining 571^ acres of land on the ea.st side. 
This purchase gives to CaU-ary- cemetery a total area of 160 acres, 
making it one of the largest Catholic cemeteries in the country. 
It is intended also to place it in the front rank in re.gard to im- 
])n)yemenls. 
* * * 
Improvements are in active jn'o.gress at the neyv lVIornin,gside 
cemetery, hrattleboro, Vt. .V contract has recently been let for 
a public vault to be constructed of .granite from desi.gn bv INlr. 
C. F. Pa.ge, architect, Rutland, Vt. It will be 24 .ft. bv 31 It. 
and contain 42 catacombs lieside the chajyel. 'I'he estimated cost 
is |io,ooo. The foundations yyill be put in this winter, a tent 
hein.g used for ])rotection, in which salamanders for yyarming 
purpo.ses will facilitate work. 
The .\lden Improvement Club, (lakland, Calif., has jilaced 
itself on record in the matter of the need of Oakland for a great 
])ark. At a recent meetin.g the subject was taken u]) and an im- 
jxjrtant jiaper read on the subject. 
-X X X 
Italv .seems to be followin.g America in establishin.g an 
.\rbor day. It is to be held in the month of October. In tbe 
parks, or .some other ])ublic place, le.ssons in tree cnlture will be 
.gi\-en to cbildren. 
-X X 
The ])ropo.sition for the city of New Orleans, La., to pur- 
cha.se Central ])ark bv the i.ssue of bonds, on being .sidjinitted to 
public vote was lost, the number of affirmative votes being less 
than the two-thirds-majoritv required. 
XXX 
Col. Martin Kingman, Peoria, yvhose liberality in re.gard to 
the soldiers’ monument of Peoria merits public recognition, has 
just been in the .South to ne.gotiate the purchase of Breed's Hill, 
south of Kenesaw IMouutain, of which to make a park and erect 
thereon a monument to the 86th Illinois. It is proposed event- 
ually- to offer it to the government for a national park. 
■jf -if -Jf 
Springfield, Ilk, has at la.st taken up the question of pro- 
viding a park system for that city-, a matter far too long neg- 
lected. A park and boulevard committee of citizens have about 
decided on the extent of the proposed improvements and in an 
estimate of the taxable value of the di.strict tributary to the 
boulevard project, it would give an annual increase for the park 
sy-stem of approximately |5o,ooo. 
X- X X 
Largely- through' the efforts of the .Santa Barbara, Calif., 
Chambers of Commerce a new forest reserve has been set apart 
b}- the general government, embracing in the neighborhood of 
150,000 acres, and extending from Gaviotato below the Ventura 
county line. The new national park is called the Santa Ynez 
Forest Reserve. A proclamation reserving it for public u.se was 
.signed by President McKinley on the .second day of October, 
XXX 
The park commissioners of Chattanooga, Tenn., have been 
an active body in improvement work. It has recently had a 
force of workmen engaged in the improvement of the citizens’ 
cemetery which has been thoroughly cleaned and will be im- 
proved as much as possible now so that it will not be difficult to 
complete the improvement next year. The commis.sion has also 
decided to set out 1,500 water oak trees in the city. 
XXX 
As a memorial of the recent expositions at Omaha, Neb., a 
park of some eley-eti acres is to be establi.shed, to be known as 
Kountze park. This in great part is due to the liberality of Mr. 
Kountze, yvho donated 5 acres of the tract, and sold at a rea- 
sonable figure the other 5 '4 acres to the city. The city- accepted 
the donation under the conditions named, and the work of im- 
provement will proceed in due course. The tract in question 
yy-as in the very centre of the .grand court of the exposition. 
