98 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
CEMETERY NOTES. 
A large tract of land has been purchased in Montgomery 
county, Maryland, by a syndicate for cemetery purposes. It is 
stated that 175,000 has already been expended in this land 
purchase. 
* « * 
The cemetery trustees of Mount Hope Cemetery, Boston, 
in a communication to the mayor of the cit}’, have asked for an 
appropriation of 160,748 for needed improvements in that burial 
ground. 
° * * * 
Springdale Cemetery, Peoria, 111 ., is to be improved bj the 
erection of fine entrance buildings and gate. The structures 
will be built of boulder stones, and will have high pitched 
roofs covered with red tile in the Norman style. The cost will 
be some $20,000. 
* * * 
Improvements amounting to some $25,000 have been made 
about the Garfield tomb at Lake Vievy Cemetery, Cleveland, O. 
The lower story' of the structure has been finished in Italian 
marble and the floors in marble mosaic. A crown of electric 
lights has been placed over the head of the monument in the 
main rotunda. The casket of the president is now in view of 
visitors to the tomb. 
* * * 
Considerable work is being carried out in St. Agnes’ Ceme- 
tery, Albany, N. Y., which now comprises some 120 acres, and 
a connecting link has been made between the old and the 
newly acquired property, “Fernwood.” St. Agnes was conse- 
crated May 19, 1867, and has been managed and improved in. a 
manner that has made it one of the noted Catholic cemeteries 
of the country. 
» * X- 
The annual report of Mt. Albion Cemetery, Albion, N. Y. 
shows total receipts of $9,127.85, and disbursements, $8,040.40’ 
The general fund amounts to $16,350.86, and the deposit fund 
to $12,698.83. This cemetery was dedicated in 1843. Up to 
1862 the cemetery was controlled by the trustees of the village^ 
but in that year the village charter was amended to provide for 
the appointment of three comnii.ssioners. It now has an area 
of 70 acres. 
* * * 
Great improvements have been under way at Evergreen 
Cemetery, Jacksonville, Fla., and the modern idea of the ceme- 
tery is apparently taking hold . Under semi-tropical conditions 
there should be great possibilities for landscape decoration. 
The roads have been improved with crushed oyster shell cov- 
ering, and have been bordered with trees of different kinds — 
Magnolia avenue with magnolias. Live Oak avenue with live 
oaks, etc. The latter is nearly a mile in length. The triangular 
plats, left at the crossings of avenues, are reserved for deco- 
rative planting. ^ ^ 
The Oak Hill Cemetery Association of Lebanon, Ind., 
which has recently secured a private cemetery property for 
improvement and development, has the co-operation of the 
Federation of Clubs of that city, the ladies being represented 
in the Board of Directors. Work on the grounds has been 
prosecuted with vigor, much planting has been done, and 
superintendent’s lodge and other buildings erected, and funds 
are being raised by the clubs for the erection of an entrance 
gateway. The grounds are supplied with city water, which has 
been piped three-quarters of a nule. Co-operation under such 
conditions in cemetery work is a success. 
A cemetery bill, pas.sed by the New York legislature cr<l 
presumably of considerable importance and benefit to rural 
cemetery associations, has been signed by Governor Roosevelt. 
The bill provides that whenever owners of lots in rural ceme- 
teries refuse to pay their taxes or assessments for a period of 
five years, they shall not be allowed to use anj- portion of the 
lot for burial purposes while the taxes remain unpaid. Many 
lots in rural cemeteries are owned by non-residents from whcm 
it is difficult to obtain funds for the maintenance of the burying 
ground. 
* * * 
A monument of particular interest was recently dedicated 
in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass. It was erected by 
ministers and friends of the Lhiiversalist denomination to the 
memory of the late Dr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Saw3'er. Dr. 
Sawyer was one of the best known Universalist divines in the 
countr}', and was the first head of Tuft’s College Divinity 
School. He was professor emeritus of that school until his 
death. The monument was designed by D. H. Burnham, the 
Chicago architect, and is in the form of a Celtic cross cut frcm 
Knoxville marble. It bears the following inscriptions; “And 
I, if I be lifted up from earth, will draw all men unto me.’’ 
“St. John, 12-32. Albert J. Sawyer, S. P. T., D. 1 )., 1804-1899. 
Carolina M. Fisher, 1812-1894.’’ 
* * * 
To record gifts of public spirited citizens tlesigned to im- 
prove our cemeteries is to stimulate beneficiary impulses, and 
it is gratifying to give the following details of a proposed mort. 
uar}’ chapel to be erected in the Pittsfield cemeter}', Pittsfield, 
Mass,, by Mrs. Edwin Clapp, of that city. It is to be con_ 
structed of blue stone after designs by Mr. J. Phillip Ruinn 
architect, of Boston, and will cost some $7,000. The chapel 
will be 45 ft. by 25 ft., and will have a wide porte-cochere giv- 
ing a square tower on lines of old English architecture. Room 
is also provided for the clerg\-, lavatory and store-room, and 
there will also be a cellar. The tower will be 34 ft. in height; 
the interior will be finished in cypress and windows will be 
cathedral glass. It will be roofed with red slate, with coppej- 
gutters and ridges. It will be furnished complete for use, and 
will be an enduring memorial of the donor. 
* * * 
The annual meeting of the lot holders of Magnolia Ceme- 
tery, Charleston, South Carolina, was held on May 9th. Chair- 
man Geo. W. Williams reported that since the organization of 
the cemetery half a century ago 3,000 lots had been sold, 
yielding $187,000, and the number of burials was now 11,000. 
By an agreement with the stockholders the trustees have 
received 20 per cent of the gross sales of all lots to make a per- 
manent fund, the interest from said fund to be used for the im- 
provement of the grounds, roads, lakes and the like. That 
fund now amounts to $38,649.57. The perpetua] care feature is 
a matter in which everv lot owner in Magnolia is interested, 
and this fund amounts to $31,354.30. Speaking of neglected 
lots in the course of his report the president said: “There are 
now 3,000 lot owners interested in the future improvement of 
the cemeterj’. I am pleased to mention the attention that manj’ 
persons are giving to the improvement of their lots. I regret • 
however, to report several hundred private lots in Magnolia 
which are totally neglected; some contain expensive monu- 
ments, which are allowed to be overgrown with bushes, briars 
and weeds, filling the lots with their tangled growth, thus 
marring the beauty of the cemetery. These abandoned lots 
have given the committee on grounds much concern , Doubt- 
less numerous families have removed from Charleston, leaving 
no one to care for their lots. Many seem to feel that their duty 
ends “when they bury the dead out of their sight.’’ Neglected 
graves are melancholy sights.’’ 
