PARK AND CEMETERY 
113 
Cemetery Notes. 
C. D. Phipps, superintendent of Franklin Cemetery, Frank- 
lin, Pa., sends a copy of the Franklin Evening News contain- 
ing an article by him in deprecation of Sunday funerals and 
of funeral display. The newspapers of Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania are making an effort to discourage large funerals, and 
in some of the cities are meeting with encouraging success. A 
recent issue of the Oil City Derrick, containing a long edi- 
torial on this subject, is also enclosed, from which we quote 
the following: “Now, with the secret societies joining in the 
work of reform, it does not need much of a spirit of prophecy 
to see the finish of the old custom of having large funerals, 
especially in cities. It is expected of members of the societies, 
of which the deceased was a member, that all should join in 
a procession from church to cemetery, and with many this is 
almost a physical impossibility. In most cases the cost of the 
hearse and a long line of carriages is far greater than the 
death benefit paid by the lodge.” 
* * * 
FROM THE ANNUAL REPORTS, 
The forty-seventh annual report of the Lakewood Cemetery 
Association, Cooperstown, N. Y., shows that during the past 
year the receipts have been $2,159.52 and the disbursements 
$2,035.95. The amount of the permanent fund has been in- 
creased by the sum of $780, and now amounts to over $18,000. 
The total number of interments made since the cemetery was 
opened is 2,396. Since the organization of the association the 
total receipts have amounted to nearly $100,000, and the dis- 
bursements to about $98,000. The following are the officers : 
President, G. P. Keese ; vice president, George Van Horn; 
secretary and treasurer, B. F. Murdock, Jr. 
A report of the receipts and disbursements of the cemetery 
trustees of Sandusky, O., for the fiscal year ending April 30, 
1903, shows that the total expenditures for the year were 
$5,974.05, while the receipts were $6,848.60. Included in the 
disbursements were several improvements made and the actual 
running expenses of $3,892.48. Secretary Huntington advises 
a slight increase in the schedule prices of burial permits and 
vault permits and an increase per square foot in the price of 
lots. He also advises that a list of non-resident lot owners be 
made and that an annual assessment for the care of these lots 
be made. In case the charges are not paid they should become 
a lien upon the property, the lot not to be used for burial pur- 
poses until the lien is satisfied. After ten years the lots should 
be sold to satisfy the liens. 
At the recent meeting of the Woodlawn Cemetery Associa- 
tion, Winona, Minn., the following addition to the by-laws was 
adopted : “Hereafter all mounds placed above graves shall be 
in the form of an arch, said mounds not to exceed three inches 
in height from the surface of the lot to the crown of the arch, 
due time being allowed for the settlement of the ground. Ex- 
isting mounds violating this rule to be conformed to it as 
rapidly as circumstances will permit.” The increase in the 
permanent care and improvement fund for the past twelve 
months in $2,349.40. Part of this is due to the generosity of 
Mr. James Stovall, who presented the Association with $550. 
The sum total of the fund is $38,686.60. The superintendent 
reports the grading of 20,300 feet of ground and the planting 
of 700 trees and shrubs of various kinds. The burials for the 
past year as reported numbered 136; the total number is now 
5,440. The cash receipts on account of general fund (includ- 
ing cash on hand June 1, 1902) were $9,364.17, with disburse- 
ments of $8,667.72. 
LEGAL NOTES. 
Hon. Henry R. Durfee, referee in the condemnation pro- 
ceedings instituted by the Lyons Cemetery Association, Lyons, 
N. Y., to acquire part of the Amelia Smart farm in South 
Lyons for cemetery extension purposes, has handed down his 
decision, in which he holds that the cemetery association per- 
forms a public function, and that they fall within the line of 
corporations which are permitted to take lands under the 
condemnation law. 
The city attorney and assessor of Los Angeles, Cal., are 
trying to determine who shall pay taxes on lots that have been 
sold in Evergreen Cemetery in that city, and are of the opin- 
ion that the lot owners are liable for taxes, though the matter 
is still under advisement. The members of the city council, 
sitting as a board of equalization, will have to decide who is 
liable for taxes on cemetery lots. Heretofore the cemeteries 
have been assessed as a whole to the corporations owning 
them, but the Evergreen Cemetery Corporation recently filed 
a protest against paying taxes on lots sold. The attorneys of 
the corporation argue that the plots have been sold just the 
same as any other real estate, and that the associaion is not 
obliged to pay taxes on property belonging to others. 
The case of the city of El Reno, Oklahoma, vs. the Rock- 
Island Railroad Company was recently appealed to the ter- 
ritorial supreme court. The case involves the question as to 
whether or not the railroad company can be prevented from 
running a line across the cemetery of that town. Legal pro- 
ceedings have been in progress since May 1. 
IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITIONS, 
Dodge Grove Cemetery, Mattoon, 111 ., has recently erected 
a receiving vault of which we have received a photograph. It 
is of blue Bedford stone, 12 x 16 feet in ground dimensions, 
and cost about $1,000. The funds were raised by private sub- 
scriptions of 200 subscribers, none of the contributions being 
over $10. * * The City Cemetery at Tracy, Minn., is being 
remodeled add planted with trees and flowering shrubs. The 
work is under the supervision of park contractor F. M. Dolan, 
of St. Paul, Minn. * * Sid J. Hare, of Kansas City, Mo., has 
furnished plans for a new addition to the Cemetery at Neosho, 
Mo. It contains about 12 acres. 
CORRESPONDENCE, 
The Rochester Convention . 
My “Park and Cemetery” came to hand yesterday and I 
was pleased to learn the dates for our next convention. I al- 
ways hail our conventions with joy. The pleasure in meeting 
is not all. The knowledge that our Association has done so 
much to raise the standard of cemetery work throughout our 
country is most gratifying. There is plenty, of work ahead. 
Every lot owner is looking to the Superintendent to perfect 
himself in his work, .and there is no other way but to study 
and to practice. We are called upon to cater to the most 
sensitive feelings of humanity. Our work does not end in 
making our cemetery beautiful. In fact, our work has no 
end. If this meets the eye of a Superintendent who has never 
attended a convention of our Association don’t let the next 
convention at Rochester slip by without your presence. Don’t 
think your cemetery looks all right and that you know it all. 
Attend our convention and you will go to your home thinking 
over many things that you had never heard of, and you will 
then strive to get out of ruts that you didn't know you were 
in. 
The many papers to be read I know will be interesting and 
useful. We hope to see a good attendance and to see many 
new members and to shake hands with those we have so often 
met and to talk over the many pleasant hours we have spent 
together. William Stone, Lynn, Mass. 
