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PARK AND CEMETERY 
tendent in Mr. Stone. W'e come to v' U gentlemen 
usually when our hearts are sad, when we are about 
to lay away our loved ones, and we want to meet those 
who will sympathize with us in our bereavement, and 
I believe that in other places as in Lynn we find such 
men in charge of the cemeteries.” 
Bellett Lawson, of Paxtang, Pa., responded, fol- 
lowed by cheers and applause for the speaker, the may- 
or and Superintendent Stone. After a walk through 
the cemetery the party hoarded the cars and went to 
Salem, where they were welcomed at Harmony Grove 
Cemetery by Superintendent Geo. W. Creesy. After a 
stroll through the cemetery and a carriage ride for the 
ladies another light luncheon was served on the lawn. 
The cars were again boarded and the interesting sec- 
tions of Salem were visited. The old Witch house, 
Notes of tl\e 
Due of the best suggestions to the founders of new 
cemeteries made at the P>oston convention was that of 
having the approaches free from evidences of graves 
and the like. The funereal appearance of the ap- 
proaches to many of the older cemeteries makes a de- 
cided iar to the nerves of visitors, especially at funerals. 
The approaches to the Forest Hills, Newton and Lynn 
Cemeteries were especially admired by visiting super- 
intendents because there were no monuments or head- 
stones in prominent view. In the older cemeteries 
no change can he made unless they are so arranged 
that a new entrance is possible. 
* * * 
The discussion over the multiplication of metallic 
markers, tin flowers, etc., on graves will no doubt stif- 
fen up the backbones of many good natured superin- 
tendents. It brought out the fact that superintendents 
at least claim the right to control such things and re- 
move them when they become objects of disfigure- 
ment. If nothing else happens the objectionable arti- 
cle is mysteriously broken or disappears. In most 
cases flags which are put upon the graves of soldiers 
and others on Memorial Day are removed after the 
succeeding Sunday, and not left out to go to pieces or 
become transposed and put on wrong graves. It 
would seem to be a case where the exercise of a little 
tact and good nature was needed ; few lot owners care 
to have their lots disfigured by iron or tin junk sd as 
to disfigure the whole cemetery. 
^ * 
The discussion of the question of perpetual care 
brought out the fact that there is little uniformity of 
custom in the matter. The sentiment of the leading- 
superintendents seemed to be in favor of doing away 
with all special funds for the care of individual lots, 
except for special care, such as flowers and the like, 
and the uniform care of the entire cemetery. During 
the visit of the members of the association to the ceme- 
the custom house, where Hawthorne wrote some of 
his famous works, and the House of Seven Gables, 
were shown en route to the Salem Willows. Here the 
famous shore dinner was awaiting the 134 guests of 
Mr. Creesy. Before the cutting of the watermelon 
the president of the trustees of Harmony Grove Cem- 
etery welcomed the guests, and Mr. E. L. Beecher, of 
New Haven, started in with what promised to be a 
most eloquent response, but just as he was getting 
warmed up a balloon ascended and there was a rush 
from the dining hall to see the parachute jump. It 
may be said that the speechmaking at the most suc- 
cessful convention of the Cemetery Superintendents’ 
Association ever held, went up in smoke — with the 
balloon. 
Convention. 
teries of Boston, the uncared for lots were noticed and 
commented upon and had much to do with the general 
impression of a cemetery. An uncared for lot is fre- 
quently of many times more damage to the cemetery 
as a whole than its care would cost. Cemeteries must 
be kept in order and the greater includes the less. 
* * * 
The American Park and Outdoor Art Association 
is to meet at Buffalo, presumably in August, and has 
partially promised to spend one day at Chautauqua ; 
the Cemetery Superintendents’ Association is to meet 
at Rochester at about the same time. Why not have 
a joint meeting at Chautauqua, which, by the way, is 
about as near Rochester as Buffalo, and have papers 
read of interest both to park and cemetery officials. 
There are many topics of equal interest to the two* so- 
cities, for example, the papers on “Herbaceous Bor- 
ders,” “Grasses,” or “Trees for the Roadside,” read 
at the convention of the A. A. C. S., were of as much 
interest to park as they were to cemetery officials. 
Roads, paths, flowers, shrubs, grasses, trees and the 
treatment and control of visitors are subjects of equal 
interest to the members of both associations. 
It is rather unfortunate that the suggestions of the 
retiring president of the A. A. C. S. in his annual re- 
port did not receive more attention. It was due to 
the pressure of other business rather than lack of in- 
terest in the subjects. The idea of making Park and 
Cemetery a medium for the discussion of current 
topics of interest was a good one, but the chief diffi- 
culty is to get the ablest practical men to take up their 
pens and put their experiences and knowledge on 
paper. The columns of Park and Cemetery are always 
open for the discussion of timely topics and we wel- 
come questions relating to the work of our readers. 
We especially thank the president for his very kind 
words for Park and Cemetery . 
