210 
Cities." This will be published in a later 
issue. 
Harry H. Hart, Oakland, Indiana, Pa., 
read a paper in which he answered the 
question, ‘‘Who Is the Cemetery Superin- 
tendent?” He set a high standard for men 
who follow this profession and said they 
should always conduct their affairs in 
such a manner as to command the respect 
of the entire community. 
F. D. Willis, Oakland, St. Paul, Minn., 
summed up the three papers in the one 
word, “Service," which, he said, was the 
main thought they conveyed and which 
should always be uppermost in the minds 
of cemetery men. 
A pleasing incident, not on the program, 
was the presentation of a handsome gold 
watch and chain and a pearl breastpin by 
H. S. Adams, Forest Hills, Jamaica Plain, 
Mass., to Mrs. J. M. Broughton, chairman 
of the Ladies’ Auxiliary. The gifts were 
a token of appreciation from the members 
of the association for the manner in which 
the ladies and guests of the convention 
had been entertained. Mrs. Broughton, in 
responding, said she was sure she needed 
watching and gracefully expressed her 
gratitude to the convention. 
The election of officers for the follow- 
ing year resulted as follows : 
President — Dr. R. N. Kesterson, Green- 
wood, Knoxville, Tenn. 
Vice-President — W. N. Rudd, Mt. Green- 
wood, Chicago, 111. 
Secretary-Treasurer — W. B. Jones, High- 
w'ood, Pittsburgh. Pa. 
Member Executive Committee — James 
Warren, Jr., North Burial Grounds, Provi- 
dence, R. 1. 
Bellett Lawson, Jr., having announced 
that he would not be a candidate for re- 
election to the office he had held for sev- 
eral years, George W. Creesy and W. B. 
Jones were nominated to succeed him, with 
the result as above stated. 
Appropriate resolutions of respect were 
adopted and copies of the resolution or- 
dered sent to families of members who 
had died during the year. 
The city of Norfolk, the various organi- 
zations and individuals who had contrib- 
uted in any way to the success of the very 
enjoyable convention were remembered by 
the committee on general resolutions in a 
well-worded report. 
The committee appointed at the Minne- 
apolis convention to investigate the merits 
and demerits of steel burial cases, consist- 
ing of A. R. Gross, Chicago; James Cur- 
rie, Milwaukee, and E. G. Carter, Chicago, 
made their report, which w’as read by the 
latter and is in part as follows : 
To the average mind steel is symbolic of strength 
and durability, but the practical man knows that 
while it may successfully resist great mechanical 
forces for ages under favorable conditions, it will 
if exposed to certain chemical agencies, among them 
the simple moisture of air or earth, disintegrate 
in an amazingly short period of time, no- matter if 
the metal be in the form of the familiar rusty nail 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
or the avowedly Impregnable steel burial vault; 
oxidation will inevitably accomplish its destruction 
in a few years at most. As proof of this well 
known law of nature and the perishable character 
of these vaults your committee might mention sev- 
eral instances of personal experience and cite ex- 
amples from information received from other 
sources, where these so called burglar-proof vaults 
were on examination, after being in the ground 
onl3' a few years pierced wdth holes and badly 
disintegrated with rust, affording ample and almost 
startling evidence that the steel vault is very per- 
ishable. Your committee being impressed with the 
belief that it is the duty of the management of 
ever>' cemetery to protect and promote the interests 
of lot owners would .urgently recommend, that this 
Association take such action relative to these 
vaults as the members in their judgment deem ad- 
visable. 
The report was adopted without further 
action. 
The committee appointed to look into 
the general subject of insurance for ceme- 
tery employees requested, through its 
chairman, E. G. Carter, that the committee 
be continued for another year, in order 
that a more comprehensive report might be 
made. The committee was continued. 
W. N. Rudd, chairman of the committee 
appointed at a previous session to draft a 
resolution to be presented to the proper au- 
thorities at Washington, D. C., relative to 
the design and material used in the mark- 
ers furnished by the United States Govern- 
ment for soldiers’ graves, presented a re- 
port in which both design and material 
were condemned, and offering certain rec- 
ommendations for consideration at Wash- 
ington. The report was adopted, and the 
committee, which consists of Mr. Rudd, 
Thomas Wallis, Rosehill, Chicago, and R. 
D. Howell, Rock Creek, Washington, D. 
C., was continued. 
Barre, Vt., was selected, without oppo- 
sition, as the place of meeting in 1917. 
New members enrolled at this meeting; 
Francis G. Sellers, secretary Wilmington 
and Brandywine, Wilmington, Del.; Wm. 
Reichert, superintendent Hillside, Roslyn 
P. 0., Pa. ; Wm. E. Tegeler, superintend- 
ent and treasurer Hollywood, Irvington, 
N. J. ; Ernst G. Schulz, superintendent 
Tlion, Ilion, N, Y. ; Norman Michaelson, 
superintendent Mt. Olive, Chicago, 111. ; 
Gustave Krecker, superintendent Mt. Israel, 
Chicago, 111. ; Albert Ecklund, superintend- 
ent Norway. Norway, Mich.; Alexander 
H. Davidson, superintendent Cypress Lawn, 
San Francisco, Cal.; A. G. Chewning, 
president Evergreen, Roanoke, Va. ; R. C. 
Fields, superintendent Mt. Washington, 
Kansas City, Mo.; Charles Wm. Stein, su- 
perintendent Magnolia, Charleston, S. C. ; 
W. N. Keifer, superintendent Ardsley, 
Glenside, Pa. ; John F. Peterson, assistant 
superintendent Mt. Auburn, Cambridge, 
Mass.; M. Mellor Smith, treasurer West 
Laurel Hill, Philadelphia, Pa. ; John J. 
Harden, president Rose Hill, Tulsa, Okla. ; 
John R. Martin, superintendent City Ceme- 
tery, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. ; Henry Conradi, 
special representative Laurel Hill, Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ; Thomas Doyle, assistant su- 
perintendent Lexington, Ky. ; James A. 
Perry, superintendent Oakdale, Wilming- 
ton, N. C. ; Fred E. Ensler, president For- 
est Hill, Birmingham, Ala. ; Edward Pot- 
ter superintendent Wilmington and Bran- 
dywine, Wilmington, Del.; Wm. Wellen- 
berg, superintendent Mt. Zion, Maspeth, 
L L, N. Y. ; J. A. Miller, secretary-treas- 
urer East Harrisburg Cemetery, Penbrook, 
Pa.; W. H. Druckemiller, Jr., superin- 
tendent Pomfret, Sunbury. Pa.; Humphrey 
Calder, superintendent City Cemetery, Rich- 
mond, Va. ; A. Plunkett, superintendent 
Presbyterian, Lynchburg, Va. 
It is encouraging to note in this con- 
nection that this is the largest number of 
accessions to the membership made at any 
meeting in recent years. 
CONVENTION NOTES. 
Alexander H. Davidson, superintendent 
Cypress Lawn, San Francisco, Cal., was 
easily the champion long-distance member 
at the convention. He traveled from ocean 
to ocean to get there and says he lost ten 
pounds in weight owing to the hot weather 
during the trip across the continent. This 
was Mr. Davidson’s first convention since 
the Rochester meeting. 
Robert D. Boice, Geneseo, 111., a member 
of the A. A. C. S. since 1894, with an ex- 
cellent record of attendance at conventions, 
sent a letter of greetings, expressing his 
regret at being unable to be present at 
Norfolk, in which he stated he had recent- 
ly passed his 87th birthday. Mr. Creesy 
was authorized to send the association’s 
greeting by night letter to Mr. Boice, to 
which the venerable recipient promptly re- 
plied in kind. Verily, “the tie that binds” 
was exemplified by these acts. 
Seven of the group that were in attend- 
ance at the first meeting in Cincinnati, O., 
in 1887, when the A. A. C. S. was or- 
ganized, were present at Norfolk — Mr. and 
Mrs. F. Eurich, Detroit, Mich. ; Mr. and 
Mrs. George W. Creesy, Salem, Mass.; J. 
C. Cline, Dayton, O. ; John Reid, Detroit, 
Mich., and the representative of Park and 
Cemetery. 
John H. Stanton with his wife and four 
daughters made the trip from their home 
in Chariton, la., to Norfolk and return by 
auto. 
W. Ormiston Roy, Montreal, was the 
sole representative from Canada. F. H. 
Rutherford, Hamilton, who seldom misses 
a convention, remained at home to respond 
to his country’s call to the front in Europe, 
which he was expecting to receive at any 
time. 
Two of the happiest men at the closing 
session of the convention were John M. 
Broughton, of Norfolk, and Alex. Hanton, 
of Barre, Vt. Both members have for 
years wanted to entertain the association 
in their respective cities. Mr. Broughton’s 
dream had been fulfilled and Mr. Hanton 
was satisfied his would come true in 1917. 
