PARK AND CEMETERY. 
205 
that cremation is continually growing in 
favor, slowly but surely. 
The Book Committee reported that the 
association’s nucleus of cremation litera- 
ture in the John Crerar Library had grown 
from 17 to nearly 3C0 volumes, and was 
continued for another year, the usual $25 
being appropriated for the purchase of 
new books. 
.A. rather important resolution was intro- 
duced by Delegate Conrad Krueck, of the 
Cleveland Cremation Co. It recommended 
a direct petition to the Holy See to abro- 
gate the decrees relating to the cremation 
of Catholics, but was not adopted because 
it was held that such petitions should 
properly emanate from Catholic crematists, 
whose number is continually increasing. 
The reading of a paper on “The Re- 
ligious .Aspect of Cremation,’’ by Rev. Dr. 
Geo. -A. Thayer, president of the Cincinnati 
Cremation Co., closed the morning session 
of the first day. 
Nearly the entire afternoon session was 
taken up by a spirited debate on the ad- 
THE PUBLIC 
Audubon Park, New Orleans, is one of 
the most interesting pleasure grounds in 
the country, and its history is typical of 
the public-spirited efforts in supporting 
the parks of this city on very limited 
funds. 
.Audubon Park is situated in the Four- 
teenth Ward. Commencing at St. Charles 
avenue, upon which it faces (for a dis- 
tance of 1,625 feet) from Walnut street 
east, it extends to the Mississippi River in 
an irregular oblong shape a distance of 
6,615 feet. Its frontage on the river is 
2,925 feet. Its total acreage, including the 
batture or river bank, which is gradually 
growing by accretion, is about 280 acres. 
The area which it embraces is a section 
of what was originally known as the es- 
tate of Pierre Fouchey. The major part 
of it he acquired in 1793 from Jacques 
Fontenet, and the eastern two arpents 
fronting on the Missisippi River in 1825 
from Charles E. Gayarre, the noted lit- 
erateur and historian of Louisiana. By 
subsequent sales by the heirs of Foucher, 
it finally was sold to the “Commissioners 
of the New Orleans Park” in 1871 for 
$8<X).000. The State Board of Commission- 
ers, authorized and appointed under the 
acts of 1870 and 1871, were abolished and 
their powers transferred to the City Coun- 
cil, and all laws imposing special park tax 
were repealed. 
At that time the park was known as 
Upper City Park in contradistinction with 
Lower City Park, now known as New Or- 
leans City Park. 
In 1887 the name was changed to its 
visability of issuing certificates providing 
for the incineration of the holder, at death, 
in any crematory of the association and 
the advisability of establishing an employ- 
ment bureau for crematory employees out 
of work or desiring a transfer to some 
other city. The latter proposition was 
adopted, but the former laid on the table 
for one year, pending an investigation on 
the part of a committee. In concluding his 
address on “Cremation via Civilization,” 
Dr. Ernst H. Rothe made a fervent plea 
on behalf of privacy at a cremation fu- 
neral. He contended that laymen should 
not be allowed to witness the actual proc- 
ess of incineration and that this privilege 
should be restricted to medical men, ceme- 
tery superintendents and undertakers. 
In the evening a stereopticon lecture on 
“The Progress of the Cremation Move- 
ment, at Home and Abroad,” was deliv- 
ered by President Hugo Erichsen. Two 
evenings later he repeated the address in 
Planner & Buchanan’s chapel at Indianap- 
olis, Ind. 
PARKS OF N 
II — Audubon Park 
present title in honor of the great ornithol- 
ogist, John J. Audubon, a native of Man- 
deville. La., whose old homestead there is 
still standing. 
Little or no park improvement was made 
up to 1884, when the World’s Industrial 
and Cotton Centennial Exposition was 
held thereon. This served to bring the 
park into notice as an asset of the city 
that was capable of improvement for the 
VIKW IX Hf)RTICUI>TUIlAI> HAM.. AU- 
I)UHf)X PAItK, NKW ORHEA.NS. 
S. Frank Balcom’s (of Indianapolis) pa- 
per on “Prehistoric Cremation in Ameri- 
ca,” which was the first order of business 
at the concluding session of the convention, 
was a scholarly presentation of ancient 
incineration among our Indians and 
mound builders. His dissertation bore evi- 
dence of considerable research and was 
well received by the interested audience. 
He was followed by Daniel A. Ruebel, of 
St. Louis, with a paper on “Cremation Ad- 
vertising” that was of an entirely prac- 
tical character from the viewpoint of an 
experienced advertising man. 
The election of officers resulted in the 
choice of Geo. S. Metcalfe, Buffalo, as 
president ; Richard D’Oench, St. Louis, as 
vice-president ; E. P. Samson, Pittsburgh, 
as treasurer, and A. T. Roever, Cincinnati, 
as secretary. 
St. Louis was selected as the next place 
of meeting. 
The convention closed with an automo- 
bile ride through the Queen City, a visit to 
the crematory, and an excursion to and ban- 
quet at "Coney Island,” on the Ohio shore. 
EW ORLEANS 
betterment of civic conditions and munici- 
pal revenues. The handsome Horticultural 
Hall, now in use at the park, is a bequest 
from the Exposition of 1884. It was by 
virtue of the contract to this effect that 
the City of New Orleans contributed 
$100,000 to the Cotton Centennial Expo- 
sition. 
From this time on the fortunes of the 
park met with varying success. Various 
plans were tried to obtain a consistent 
source of revenue. For several years an 
auxiliary association of contributing mem- 
bership, paying dues of $10 per annum, 
was about the sole source of revenue. 
Many attempts to raise funds by means of 
entertainments and popular subscription 
having failed, in 1890 an attempt was made 
to obtain a special tax on the assessed val- 
uation of the City of New Orleans by 
popular election. An exceedingly small 
levy was asked, but the effort failed. The 
people had not then been educated to the 
advantage of park systems to a growing 
city. Neither were they in position to 
stand the small tax that was asked for in 
addition to the regular levy. 
Notwithstanding the paucity of funds, 
the commissioners succeeded in building a 
main roarUvay at a cost of over $8,000, 
and maintained and measurably improved 
a limited section of the park area. 
The city government in the meanwhile 
contributed small amounts annually, and 
on several occasions made appropriations 
for special work, such as $15,000 for re- 
pair of Horticultural Hall, $5,000 for a 
cement sidewalk on the St. Charles ave- 
