Cemeteries add mausoleums for a variety of reasons, but when they face running out of room for interments, making more efficient use of their remaining land tends to top the list. Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary added 20 years' of interment space with its Garden of the Matriarchs project, but it involved doing a lot of planning, making many appearances before city officials and dealing with neighbors who didn't want their view of the cemetery ruined!

As the end of the 20th century neared, Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary appeared to be approaching the end of its active life. COO Barry Berlin calculated the Culver City, California, property had five to seven and a half years of interment or entombment space left, much of it not prime property. And families coming to Hillside were accustomed to being able to choose the best. The memorial park's list of "distinguished residents" includes people who made their mark in Hollywood, business, education and athletics.

"When you get down near the end of the cemetery's life," said Berlin, "a lot of what you have left is odds and ends. Family estates or single spaces become scarce or unavailable."

There was a ravine behind the maintenance area that was overgrown and forgotten. Forty years ago, Hillside's owners were told the metropolitan water district had an easement on it that made it unusable for interments. But the only other contiguous parcel of land the memorial park owned, a former supermarket site, was tied up in a long-term lease. The cemetery would run out of space before the land was available, much less made usable, and no other contiguous land was available for sale.

So, Berlin took another look at the 2.25- acre ravine area, hidden and separated from the rest of the park by the maintenance building and a garden crypt complex as well as its topography. He found that yes, there was a drainage easement on the land, but it was held by Culver City, not the Los Angeles County Department of Water and Power, and was not as extensive as had been believed. "All of a sudden," Berlin said, "we found ourselves two and a quarter acres of usable land."

In 1999, the first plans were drawn up for the project, which was completed in 2004. Berlin talked to ICFM about coming up with a plan that would make the neighbors and city happy while making the most out of Hillside's "found" land.

What did you have to do to satisfy the city?
Culver City said we could build on the land if our civil engineers could design a drain system to allow drainage through the park to continue. We had to resection the drains in the park so the water would flow under the park. Under the mausoleum, there is a spillway containing 1,500 cubic yards of solid concrete. In the unlikely event the drains overflow, the water will simply go under the building and out.

The whole approval process took three and a half years. We had to go through the Planning Department, which asked for numerous changes, and then of course we had some contentious public hearings—the neighbors were concerned that the new building would block their beautiful view of Hillside's park-like setting—and the whole thing had to go before the Culver City Council.

The neighbors didn't want their view of the cemetery blocked??
Remember, we've been here since 1941, before any of the residences nearby were built. Their view, when they moved in, was of a park, since this is a memorial park without upright monuments. So they were afraid the building would be ugly, or would block their view.

Obviously in the end Culver City approved the project.
The City Council voted unanimously to allow us to build, but with 52 conditions. We had to do a lot of things that really had nothing to do with the project, but the city saw us as a vehicle for getting all kinds of things done.

We had to build bus shelters and benches. We had to beautify the entire exterior of the park, change some of the bushes and trees along Green Valley Circle, Doverwood Drive and Centinela Avenue, which is on the opposite end of the memorial park from where the mausoleum was being built. They had us completely change the irrigation system, build retaining walls, make handicapped-accessible sidewalks, smooth out slopes and put in curbing. Fifty-two conditions of approval, let me tell you, is a lot of conditions! But all the work enhanced the area.

Did you have a number in mind for how many interment spaces you wanted to get out of this property?
We told the architects, Mekus Studios, we wanted to maximize every single inch of space, but we knew that we needed to include ground space as well as wall crypts. In the Jewish religion, most people still prefer ground burial, particularly in the case of Orthodox Jews. While we are owned by a Reform temple, we serve Orthodox, Conservative and Reform families as well as unaffiliated members of the community.

We also had to work with the topography. This was a very difficult engineering project, because the land was a disaster, in terms of its topography. It had deep valleys, high hills and wild trees. We couldn't just go in there with a bulldozer and level it out—the city would have had a hemorrhage, to say the least. And we had to design the building to be as unobtrusive as possible as far as the neighbors were concerned.

We tore down the maintenance building on the edge of the "found" land after we built a new one elsewhere, in a wooded area, but we needed to coordinate the new mausoleum with the existing garden crypt complex, Sunland Gardens.
Our original plan was to have a building of one height, within the city's height
restriction, but that turned out to be too massive. It was back to the drawing board, and what emerged was a three-tiered mausoleum with gardens atop the first two levels and a skylight on the third level, as well as lawn crypts divided into three gardens.

The gardens are beautiful and the neighbors love it. They've called us, they've come over to walk through the gardens and tell us that they are very, very pleased. The ones who were our antagonists at one time have admitted that it's beautiful and very different from what they had envisioned.

We started construction in 2002 and Court of the Matriarchs mausoleum and Garden of the Matriarchs lawn crypts were dedicated in January of this year.

How much space did you end up with?
We added 5,356 crypts, including 2,687 double-depth crypts. In the mausoleum, we have 2,854 casket spaces. We have five family rooms with a capacity of 12 to 18 caskets. All five have been sold, were sold while the building was still under construction. We couldn't include more because that would have decreased total capacity too much.

We estimate this project gives us an additional 15 to 20 years of interment or entombment space. It also gives us a nice array of different types of inventory so no matter what a family is looking for; we have something to show them.

When did you start selling?
We started preconstruction sales in 2002, using artist's renderings, and we've done very well. The early sales helped pay for the project.

What sort of marketing have you done?
A massive amount. We've contacted all the temples and other Jewish organizations. We've worked out arrangements so that if they, or a congregant, purchase property, we will make a donation to the synagogue. We've sent direct mail to the client lists our sales counselors have. We've advertised extensively in the Jewish weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, both with regular ads and inserts.

We've done everything we could to get the word out to the Jewish population of Los Angeles, which is extensive, that we have something new and unique, and it seems to have worked.

What will you do with the land now under lease when it becomes available?
Our master plan shows us tearing down the administration building and mortuary, replacing them with new buildings on that property, which is at the intersection of Green Valley Circle and Centinela Avenue, which is where we'll move the main entrance.
We'll keep the chapel now located by the current mortuary, and include a chapel with the new mortuary. That will give us the ability to handle two services at the same time.

The administration building and mortuary take up about 9,000 square feet, so moving them will free up some land, which we'll use for mausoleum space. Since we'll have a new main entrance, we can close some of the current roadway and develop it, as well.

I won't be here to do all this, but in the cemetery business you have to think long term.

When your cemetery undertakes a project, whether it's building a mausoleum or developing a new section, you want to ensure that it will make a profit and benefit the cemetery's image in the community.
Creative design and planning can do just that.

Planning cemetery developments is far from a one-size-fits-all proposition. In addition to the physical characteristics that affect what can be done at a specific site, many other factors come into play.

Each cemetery has its own traditions, priorities, client base, financial status, ownership and mission, and all of these factors must be taken into account, as well, for a project to be a success. How do you measure success? A successful project must measure up in the following ways:
• Function: It must meet the cemetery's needs as intended.
• Beauty: It should add to the cemetery's image, interest and identity.
• Return on investment: It should generate income.
• Client satisfaction: The result should be considered worth the time and investment the cemetery made in the project.

Money Is Basic
You should begin each project with the premise that your first goal is to make a profit. This generally means that the project has to generate a positive cash flow. One of your first decisions will be about pre-construction sales.

Some states require sales to be delayed until after a new development is completed, but even where this is not the case, many cemeteries prefer to take this approach. Reasons for not selling on a pre-construction basis include:

• Not wanting to get involved with temporary entombments.
• Wanting to avoid trusting of construction funds.
• Wanting families to see exactly what they are getting before they buy.

If you choose this approach, you must take that into account in your financial planning. The money you put into the building, added to the income you will not be earning on preconstruction sales, will affect its cost. Foregoing pre-construction sales will add as much as 10 percent to the cost of your project.

The "If You Build It They Will Come" approach may work in the movies, but in the real world, most cemeteries and funeral homes cannot afford it. Even if your developer offers extended financing, if cash outflow exceeds cash inflow, you have added cost to the project. This is referred to as the "opportunity cost" of capital.

You must also size your project properly to ensure financial success. If your project is too large, it will require too much of a cash outlay and/or will take too long to sell, thereby tying up too much capital.

On the other hand, if you make your project too small, you make the unit cost of development so high that you will be unable to generate a profit.

If you are unsure about the market for your project, you may want to conduct (or commission) a study to evaluate market potential and probable consumer response, to estimate the rate of sales and to gain an understanding of price sensitivity.

What development method generates the best financial results? One that generates a positive cash flow. To accomplish this, the project must do the following:

•    Be saleable by meeting the needs and desires of your clients.
•    Compliment either the image you have already established for your property or the new image you wish to create.
•    Provide value—the perceived quality must exceed the price.

Case Studies
The following projects illustrate how good planning and design can enhance the image of a cemetery and help ensure its long term financial health.

Oak Grove Cemetery
This is a well-run, conservatively operated cemetery in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In the 1980s, the cemetery's board decided it needed to address the following issues:

•    Lack of inventory: The cemetery was fully developed and appeared to lack room for expansion.
•    Public perception: People believed all the cemetery's facilities were old and that the cemetery was full.
•    Buildings in need of work: The maintenance building was in disrepair and the office facility was inadequate.
•    The board had the money for improvements and also had a vision of Oak Grove's role in the community The plan developed for Oak Grove took the following approach:
•    Auditing assets: Usable grave spaces and unplatted lands were inventoried.
•    Analyzing strengths and weaknesses, including land, buildings, people and reputation.
•    Evaluating the integrity of buildings, both structurally and operationally.
•    Creating a master plan showing potential future development, establishing phases of development and estimating the cost of each phase.
•    Arriving at a consensus for action: The board members agreed on a list of short- and long-term goals.

Through this process, a significant number of potential new grave spaces were obtained by removing trees and bush beds and closing a few roads. This effort added 20 years of useful life—additional sales—to the cemetery.

Establishing that the cemetery did have salable inventory provided the financial basis for investing in improvements.

Changing the cemetery's image of being outdated was a top priority. The board decided the first step was to replace the office and maintenance buildings. The design incorporated an office, board room, crematorium and maintenance and storage facility, and looking to the future, included a phased development of a garden mausoleum and columbarium.

The first phase of the project was completed in 1988, and for the next several years, the cemetery conducted a marketing campaign designed to let people know they were still in business.

In 1996, the first phase of the mausoleum/columbarium development was completed, with memorialization for cremation given high priority through inclusion of niches of various configurations. The result? Strong sales and revitalization of a 100-year old cemetery.

Prairie Home Cemetery
The governing commission of this municipal cemetery in Waukesha, Wisconsin, decided its main objective was to operate independent of taxpayer money. To accomplish this, commission members elected to establish a marketing program and add a complete line of products and services to sell.

The cemetery had an excellent reputation and identity. Over the years, it had constructed a number of smaller garden mausoleum buildings. The challenge was to enhance the cemetery's image by offering a unique product that complimented existing structures.

Siting the new development at the front of the cemetery, and next to the main entrance, was considered important. A radius design consisting of three new buildings encircling a central courtyard serves as a buffer to the road located on the cemetery perimeter. A fourth building, lower in height, is located on the inside perimeter to serve as a focal point with a central waterfall. Semiprivate sanctuary areas were integrated throughout the development to provide quiet, intimate spaces.

A large bell tower anchors the entire development. To provide a source of revenue, the tower contains a private room with couch crypts and niche spaces. While it was being built, one patron was so impressed that he gave the cemetery a generous gift, and the tower was named after him.

Sunset Memorial Park
Sunset, in North Olmsted, Ohio, is a large, progressive cemetery blessed with forward-thinking and creative owners. The cemetery has completed many projects, but two in particular illustrate how to enhance the value and image of a property.

First, Sunset wanted to create a chapel that would ease the burden of loss by providing a place for visitation and services as well as banquet facilities, all in one location. This facility would allow for a more comfortable and acceptable place for lot owners.

The facility's open, gracious lobby offers visitors a bright and uplifting greeting. The three chapel rooms can accommodate a service of almost any size, from the intimate "family only" to the largest of gatherings. On the lower level, two banquet areas, complete with small kitchens, provide a place for families and friends to gather after the service. Families may choose a caterer or plan the dinner themselves.

A second project illustrates an income producing concept most cemeteries can use. Sunset had a garden of several acres situated on an uncomfortable slope. The section also lacked identity.

In order to maximize traditional inground burials and use the slope to advantage, a retaining wall was constructed in the middle of the section, and the terrain was reconfigured to create smaller garden areas. A series of columbaria were added along the retaining wall, which became the garden's main feature as well as a revenue source.

*****
Custom design by experienced cemetery planners and architects knowledgeable about the death care profession and sensitive to the client's financial goals does not have to cost more than simply buying a building or a garden design out of a catalog, and can create a project that will enhance a cemetery's image as well as its finances.

During the 2005 ICFA Convention in Las Vegas, I hit a different kind of jackpot, winning a guided tour of the major cemeteries in Australia. Of the hundreds of attendees, I was blessed to have my name drawn by Anne and John Field of Axiom Business Systems for this extraordinary opportunity to visit the premier properties in their homeland.

The best time for me to take time off from my job as general manager is winter. On January 17, 2006, I left my family—two children and an understanding wife—in snowy Omaha and headed for Australia and sunny, summer weather.

After enduring the l4-hour flight from Los Angeles, I quickly adjusted to the time change and started on what I would describe as a student exchange program for an industry executive. Before embarking on the three-city, four-cemetery tour, my hosts, the Fields, gave me a chance to unwind and stretch my legs after the hours of being confined to a standard airline seat by visiting the famed Opera house and bay bridge at The Rocks at Sydney's harbor.

Macquarie Park Cemetery
www.maccem.com.au

Sightseeing over, we began our tour in Sydney at Macquarie Park Cemetery and
Crematorium, named after the first governor of the state of New Wales. Before leaving the United States, I had pulled up the cemetery's Web site, and immediately knew I had a lot to learn from these professionals. Their Web site incorporated all the ideas I had been envisioning for our own site.

Macquarie Park's Web site includes the park's history, contact information, site maps, burial locator, virtual tours, past newsletters, online brochures, funeral catering details and fee listings. What the Web site doesn't mention is the exciting monumental change—excuse the pun—and activity occurring within the park's boundaries.

While Macquarie's mission since its first burial in 1922 has been to celebrate and honor the lives of those gone before, the park has been on top of the trend toward cremation. Macquarie has opened three integrated chapels connected to a state-of-the art crematorium, capturing 20 percent of the market in 18 short months.

It was obvious they accomplished this by going to great lengths to address every detail involved in serving customers' needs. The families visiting Macquarie Park cannot help but have a superior experience without necessarily knowing why. Some of the answers lie with subtleties such as the flower theme carried throughout each facility. The names of the chapels (Magnolia, Palm and Camelia) are reflected in the flower mural on the one-way glass of the family viewing room and the LCD screens discreetly mounted both inside and outside the chapel to accommodate overflow attendance.

During my tour, both adjacent condolence lounges were filled with family members and friends who had stayed for receptions catered onsite following committal services. This was all going on while a band played the tango in one room, cremations were being conducted in one of three crematoriums hidden in the back of the complex and, outside, construction workers and cement trucks were busy pouring the foundation for two more reception halls.

Cemetery officials originally estimated the crematorium would serve 500 families during its first year. The actual number was 1,000, and the number of families served continues to grow. The cemetery built the chapels and crematorium not only to add an immediate revenue stream but also to generate funds for the perpetual care of this city cemetery long after it has reached capacity for interments.

The grounds are laid out in sections, including ones specifically for many different faiths (Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, Jewish) or ethnic groups (Chinese, Armenian). All rows are established toe to toe to save valuable inches.

It surprised me to see that all memorials, both flat and upright, are placed on a "beam." The beam is a ribbon of concrete reinforced with rebar and scored to delineate the width of each space. Speaking again of attention to detail: They even sprinkle an oxide powder over the top of the concrete during finishing to create a patina color to blend in with the lawn.

For flat marker sections, the beam is peaked, sloping down toward each grave. After an interment occurs, a bronze plaque is affixed to the concrete, and plastic vases can be purchased and glued on either side of the plaque. For monument areas, the concrete was flat for the base and the stones were placed back to back, facing their respective graves.

The beams are all about efficiency. They are put in place when the section is first developed to protect the memorials and provide efficiencies. Trimming time is significantly reduced, since there are no individual markers to trim around—just the beams. With graves arranged toe to toe, large mowers can effectively be guided down one beam and back along a facing beam.

In developing one of the newest Macquarie sections, managers faced the challenges presented by being next to a fence and underneath a power grid. These barriers were overcome with a combination of art and inspiration.

Starting at one end of the rectangular section, you stand in the middle of multiple circles of cremation space bordered with plantings, with a path leading to the other end of the section. In the middle of the first circle is a plaque describing how you will embark on a journey that follows Jesus' final hours, concluding at the other end of the section.

The path is lined with one-of-a-kind sculptures depicting each Station of the Cross, accompanied by a bronze marker narrating the scene. This path does not end with Jesus on the cross as do many. On the ground beyond the crucifixion scene lies a broken cross, sending a powerful message to any Christian visitor.

Everything about the cemetery is branded, from the six-passenger golf carts to the nametags each administrator wears. By the way, the golf carts were introduced after Macquarie had to enlarge the parking lot to accommodate the crowds it was drawing. Cemetery officials got the golf carts to provide relief for visitors who would find the longer distances too great to walk.

Operations personnel all wear lightweight, short-sleeved polo shirts made of a neon green material similar to that worn by cyclists or other athletes that provide protection from the sun while being "breathable" in the summer heat. Everyone, including funeral directors and clergy, wears brimmed hats that circle the entire head to protect them from the sun.

Macquarie also provides visitors with a state-of-the-art touch-screen location finder. Almost a piece of art itself, the stainless steel kiosk provides not only a screen with maps, but also a second screen that shows picturesque cemetery scenes. CEO Ross Davis and his staff are driving innovation and inspiration for the families they serve.

On to Adelaide
Leaving Macquarie Park, we were off to the airport on our way to Adelaide.  The city, another coastal community with a population of over 1 million, was the first to be settled by free persons. (Other Australian capital cities started as English penal colonies.) As in Palm Springs in the United States, the temperature in Adelaide is often 100 degrees or more with little humidity, and this was the case during my stay.

The valley is bordered by hills of vineyards such as Rosemont, Chapel Hill and d' Arenberg. Personal inspection of these establishments was required, followed by a walk along the seawall dotted with Norwegian pines originally planted to supply timber for sailing masts.

Sunday started with Mass at Adelaide's St. Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral, celebrated by Archbishop Philip Wilson. We then set off east to Handorf and toured the home and gallery of Australia's premier artist, Sir Hans Heysen. The wonderful day concluded with conversation and dinner at the ranch of Kevin Crowden, retired CEO of Enfield Memorial Park and past president of the Australian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association.

Enfield Memorial Park
Early Monday, it was back to work, with an all-day tour of Enfield Memorial Park, which performs 1,000 body burials and 1,200 cremations annually. We first passed a touch-screen directory for burial and memorial site locations. This was followed by meticulously manicured rose gardens where the individual roses were incorporated on either side of a wedge of granite as part of the memorial package. The wedges either were engraved or held bronze.

Enfield CEO Eric Heapy, along with Manager of Business Development Darren Leuders and Operations Manager Mark Ruthven, led the morning tour through all the gardens and phase one of their newly constructed mausoleum.

Three areas take your breath away. First is the Campbell Memorial Garden, which is bisected by a linear path of water leading up to a stone cremation wall. On either side of the running water are cremation memorials. On the other side of the wall, the water continues into a pond over which stands a fully enclosed glass gazebo.

The stunning aspect is the 100+ birch trees surrounding the gazebo. Cremation memorials circle the base of each birch. The feeling created is similar to the serenity you feel when walking through the birch forests of the Colorado Rockies. Pictures cannot convey the environment these cemeterians have brought to life.

Next came the Western Rose Garden, which is laid out in a semicircle. The zoysia grass is green and lush, providing a perfect background to accentuate the white, red and pink rose bushes separating each wedge marker identifying full body burial graves. While private plantings are not allowed, visitors can use shared plastic vases supplied by the cemetery to leave fresh flowers. The care of this area is reminiscent of the gardens of Hampton Court in England or the Palace of Versailles in France.

Finally, the Pavilion Garden was the most impressive for its simple brilliance and the fact that it could easily be adopted by any other cemetery wanting to incorporate trees. This section of 830 burial spaces feels like a secluded back yard due to the stone wall border. Leaving no space unused, the walls held memorial plates to identify the deceased in lawn crypts below. On either side of each wall memorial, the mason incorporated a planting urn that held a variety of greenery.

Within the confines of the walls, the area was laid out like rows of pinwheels, each with eight graves surrounding a tree. Twelve specially formed concrete pieces placed in the shape of a square lay approximately four feet from the base of the tree to hold bronze memorial plates. The formed concrete was processed to emulate sandstone.

I felt like I was walking, on a crisp fall day, through one of the many family owned apple orchards that dot the two lane road leading from Omaha to Nebraska City. I could not stop thinking how the families of the deceased are comforted here, as one could only conjure up sweet recollections in this setting.

The section tapered to an open-air gazebo with a granite pedestal, providing a quiet location for committals. At that point, I knew this trip was giving me a gift of ideas that I could share with colleagues and potentially develop for my own Catholic families in Omaha.

Centennial Park
 www.centenniaipark.org
The journey continued the next day with a tour of Centennial Park, also in Adelaide. Our host and tour guide was CEO Bryan Elliott. This cemetery planning showed the same elegance and detail as Macquarie and Enfield. Centennial is so named because it was opened in 1936, 100 years after the establishment of South Australia. The staff of 55 includes 18 gardeners, six crematorium staff, a digging crew of five, five in facilities maintenance and 16 in sales and administration.

Like the other two, Centennial is primarily a lawn beam cemetery. Each grave has a license term of 50 years that can be perpetually renewed by the family. If the family does not renew the license, the cemetery has the right to reuse the space. (See "Reclaiming burial space after the 50-year license expires" for details) One burial space can hold up to three people at three depths. The minimum depth of burial is one meter. 

To inter multiple people, you must wait a minimum of three years before you can "lift and deepen." This process involves disinterring the remains of the person in depth one or two (vaults are not used), digging to level two or three and re-interring the skeletal remains. I later found out that this practice is not universal to all of Australia. Each state or municipality has its own legislation allowing or prohibiting the practice.

The cemetery currently holds 120,000 burials, with 65,000 active licenses averaging two deceased per space.

Centennial Park opened its first crematorium in 1953 and added a complex of three chapels, gathering areas and lounges in 1986. As a side note, the first crematorium in the Southern Hemisphere was operating in 1903 in West Terrace Cemetery, only a few miles away from Centennial Park.

The largest chapel seats over 250 and can hold 1,000. Two local city governments oversee the park, which serves various denominations segmented by areas and also has two sections for veterans. Each veterans' section is marked by a large cross-monument, one called the Cross of Sacrifice, for those who died in battle, and the other the Cross of Remembrance, for those who served.

Centennial performs 1,000 burials and 3,000 cremations each year. Of those cremated, 40 percent are then interred in Centennial Park. This activity generates approximately $6.5 million in revenue, with net income after depreciation in excess of $850,000.

In the past, cremations were always handled by cemeteries, but recently funeral homes and other establishments have started offering crematory services, creating competition for the cemeteries. Therefore, all the cemeteries talked in terms of burials, cremations and memorials:
• Burials: the number of body interments in the cemetery.
• Cremations: the number of deceased handled by the cemetery's retorts.
• Memorials: the number of cremated remains interred in the cemetery.

Cemeteries now have a challenge in educating families about inurnment options. Centennial's approach is to create an area called Contemplation Court and Garden Walk, a series of niche walls bordering three fountain ponds, all covered by shade sails. The wall serves as a holding area for cremated remains when a decision has not yet been made on their final disposition.

Contemplation Court gives the family an opportunity to visit the deceased and become accustomed to the idea of having their loved one at the cemetery. The hope is that the family will be inspired to choose some form of memorialization at Centennial. 
 

Centennial Park's approach to marketing and selling focuses on branding, educating and providing customer service. Using television, radio and print media, they have spent $300,000 to bring their message to families.

When you enter the administration building, glossy pictorials of each section, along with the respective memorial samples that can be placed in that particular location, line the length of the room. In addition, a book titled "At The End Of The Road," by Robert Nicol, which tells the history of both Adelaide and Centennial cemeteries, is for sale.

Like Enfield, Centennial provides a burial location touch screen located outside the office; each month, it receives 1,200 inquiries from visitors and prints 900 maps for families needing directions.

With their first 50-year license having expired in 1988, they took out a 20-page ad costing $100,000 in October 2002 listing 8,000 names needing a license extension. They received over 10,000 inquiries in the following week.

Though the response was overwhelming, the residual effect was a massive educational exercise for the community that created ongoing traffic for license renewals and an awareness of what Centennial Park has to offer families for preserving memories.

The Necropolis
www.necropolis.com.au
The next stop was The Necropolis in Melbourne, a two-hour flight from Adelaide. The cemetery entrance is flanked by massive gray granite piers, rising two stories high and displaying the cemetery's name. The grandeur of the gate was a sign of what lay beyond.

CEO Russ Allison personally took time out of his busy day to provide an overview and tour of the cemetery, which covers 422 acres. Though The Necropolis has been its name for over 100 years, the name Springvale Cemetery and Botanical Gardens was adopted in January to better describe the property.

Reclaiming burial space after the 50-year license expires

You could call it the ultimate Florida retirement community, a place where residents will spend their post-golden years in idyllic surroundings, with beautifully manicured grounds and congenial neighbors.  The Lohman family has turned a section of property they rescued from receivership into an exclusive garden that shows there is a market for high-end private estates.

When Nancy and Lowell Lohman purchased their latest cemetery property in Daytona Beach, Florida, three years ago, Lowell thought, "This could be the biggest mistake in our entire lives." The 90-acre property was an overgrown tangle, a landscaper's nightmare. But that was the least of the Lohmans' challenges. The former owner of the cemetery had pleaded guilty to third-degree felony fraud following a police investigation that uncovered dozens of misplaced bodies.

A blog (Internet journal) at the time reported that the previous cemetery was "equated to a house of horrors. Under [the] former owner ... dozens of people were buried in the wrong places, gold teeth were stolen from cadavers and medical waste was illegally dumped, according to state investigators."

The property then was in receivership. The court-appointed receiver encouraged Lowell to abandon his earlier plans to develop a new property on I-95 in favor of taking over this challenging property. The deal would include protecting the Lohmans from lawsuits based on issues that predated their ownership.

The dynamic husband-and-wife team, along with Lowell's brother Victor and son Ty, co-owners in the business, knew the risks but believed the potential rewards were higher. "There was no cemetery in our area that offered the blend of upscale memorialization services and options, especially the private estates garden that we had in mind" Lowell said.

The vision
Lowell's vision was to make the property the signature cemetery in the area. After many months of work and the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Lohman Daytona Memorial Park & Funeral Home is a beautifully landscaped cemetery featuring a cremation garden with a columbarium, a 450-crypt community mausoleum with a four-column portico and bronze and granite memorials dedicated to area police officers and veterans.

But what makes the cemetery stand out is Swan Lake, a garden limited to high-end private estates. The Lohmans are developing, in one section of this cemetery they rescued from neglect, a resting place for Daytona Beach's most famous and successful people, applying and elevating a relatively old concept—developing cemeteries for the rich and famous—through a private estates garden.

With a fountain in the middle, three resident swans and a shore lined with 30-foot palms, Swan Lake makes a beautiful central feature. Eight companion units and six larger-unit estates, all neoclassical style, have been built near the lake.

Six out of 14 units were sold within a year and a half—an impressive rate considering that these high-end private estates, all from Cold Spring Memorial Group, sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece.

One private estate belongs to the Lohmans. Another belongs to the family of Edwin Peck Sr., a real estate magnate who spearheaded development of the first high-rise condominiums on Daytona Beach in the 1970s. Another belongs to L. Gale Lemerand, who launched his pioneering residential insulation company, Gale Insulation, which Lemerand later sold for more than $100 million.

The principals who have prearranged to be memorialized in Swan Lake all have a stake in convincing others to be pre-arranged in equally stately structures to make Swan Lake the grandest private estate garden in Florida. Along with the Lohmans, they are Swan Lake's biggest advocates, assisting the Lohmans in promoting and generating additional private estate sales for Swan Lake.

"We had buried Mr. and Mrs. Williams—that's my wife Hilda's mother and father—and were unhappy that the former cemetery owners had not kept the gardens up," Peck said. "After I read in the newspaper about the Lohmans purchasing the property, I immediately called Lowell and made a prearrangement with him for a six-crypt unit. When Lowell decided to go ahead with Swan Lake, I told him I was all for it and made a trade-off investment to replace my original prearrangement with a columned private estate and also arranged for my wife's parents to be moved to our private estate."

Peck talks about Swan Lake at Daytona Beach social gatherings and parties, sends letters inviting people to tour Swan Lake, and also conducts tours himself. With the wealth of connections that the Pecks, Lemerands and Lohmans have in the community, awareness of Swan Lake has been growing. When the Lohmans held a reception dedicating three newly completed Swan Lake private estates in June, hundreds of Daytona Beach business and community leaders showed up.

Swan Lake originally was a muddy and weed-infested jumble of shrubs and trees. "Until we saw the lake in the back of the property, we didn't even know it existed," Lowell said. "We immediately saw great promise in enlarging the lake and landscaping each private estate with walkways, hedges and a pair of benches. The biggest mistake I've found is that if you can't control the landscape of your property, its value and public appreciation will fall.  No small personalization detail should be omitted in an undertaking like this. For example, we arranged for inscriptions on the estates to be made in gold leaf."

The cost of upscale private estates is beyond the means of most people, but with their Swan Lake development, the Lohmans are proving that there is strong demand for higher-end private estates in markets such as Daytona Beach.

"When all is said and done, the most visible thing you can leave behind for people to remember you by is a private estate," Lowell said. "So we strove to build the best private estate garden in Florida."

Ron Wolfe
It's kind of cliché, but I think it's important to talk about the demographic and social realities of where we are today, primarily looking at the impending demand on your sites of baby boomers as they age.

That demographic is more self-aware than many previous generations, which leads to a sense of individuality, a reflection of trying to look beyond the status quo. How do we do things that are both different and represent our sense of life in our representation of death?

That is an important market than can be addressed. My experience in dealing with the baby boomer generation is they have a much different sense of values and deeper needs that have to be achieved or at least resolved.

Since the '50s, we've been going very homogeneous in our buildings and our developments, and I think it's important, both as a way of articulating that place and as a way of marketing yourself differently, to push quality architecture.

Blair Hines
Many of the cemeteries established in the 19th and 20th centuries are starting to run out of available ground for burial, and there's a great need to provide new burial space.

This has led many cemeteries to construct large community mausolea, and many times we find that these buildings insert fairly urban elements into what was originally designed as a garden cemetery, as a landscape.

Also, sometimes these designs are prepackaged designs bought off the shelf, and they are inserted into an existing garden or rural cemetery without any relationship to the local character of the place.

The first critical aspect of a master planning effort engaged in the development of new interment space is what we call "visual character analysis," which is understanding the elements of the landscape that are pleasing.

If you're going to try to develop something new, it needs to fit in with the existing place, and you need to understand what it is that makes this place attractive and beautiful.

This article compiled from an address presented by the authors at the 2006 ICFA Annual Convention

The creation of the modern cemetery and the renovation and reorganization of ancient cemeteries, accompanied as they have been by a decided increase in the cost of burial lots and services connected therewith, have given rise to the question: Do we receive value for the money paid, or do the cemetery authorities, taking advantage of the circumstances, tax us unduly in order to provide the necessary means for the furtherance of their pet schemes?

The elaborate care bestowed upon all modern cemeteries and the increased interest taken in the condition of older burial places, are matters of comparatively recent times; the outgrowth of advancing civilization, refinement and' education.

The present conditions introduce the question not only of men and means for present work but also the laying of the foundations upon which future generations may safely build.

The cemetery which in its inception failed to provide for the maintenance of the standard at the present time demanded, by working far too small it margin and laying a foundation too narrow for the structure it is called upon to bear, is today struggling with all the difficulties induced by poverty.

Relative values form a problem, perhaps the most serious one, with which the cemetery superintendent and his associates have to contend. Upon them devolves the responsibility not only of meeting the requirements of the present generation, but of laying the foundation of a system which will enable the cemetery authorities of the future to meet the ever increasing demands of their day.

The prospective purchaser of a cemetery lot is sometimes surprised at what he calls the fancy prices he is called upon to pay, not only for a burial lot, but for services performed thereon. He has vague ideas of the cost of land at so much per acre, of labor at current rates as also of excavating and replacing a few yards of earth. He is apt to overlook the fact, that location; the nature of the ground and some other matters, in the purchase of ground for cemetery purposes, are paramount. A fact which is most usually overlooked by the possessor of vendor of the same. In addition to this, high prices are sometimes charged on account of depreciation of surrounding property.

In laying out the grounds, the best and most expensive talent the country can furnish, is secured. In order to preserve and enhance the beauty of the natural features to be found in some of our park cemeteries, as also in the formation of avenues, plots reserved for ornamental planting and for parked entrances, certain areas of ground must be sacrificed.

When the land has been purchased and large amounts of money laid out and buried, since it is practically dead, in the erection of administration buildings, boundary walls and drains, notwithstanding that the plots most readily available are being disposed of and ground purchased by the acre is being sold by the foot, the expenses and difficulties encountered in making a cemetery have only just begun. Equipment must be purchased; the money expended for this purpose, however, is not dead but lively enough to call for constant reinforcements for renewal and repairs. Swamps must he drained and filled; ledge rock removed and barren land made to grow greensward. Also, judging from a few figures taken at random, enormous sums of money are lying unproductive in the way of unsold ground or stock in trade. One cemetery has lately purchased thirteen acres at a cost of $27,000; another has purchased one hundred and eight acres at a cost of $500,000; another two hundred and three acres at a cost of $200,000. While a cemetery we had the pleasure of visiting two years ago, has, according to its annual report, land valued at $300,000 upon which future generations will realize, but which for some time to come will be a source of expense rather than of income.

It is true that cemeteries are free from taxation, but we must not forget that expenses involved in the maintenance of avenues, of public safety and order are equivalent to the same expenses in towns and cities; and also, that these expenses must be met without the aid of public taxation. The value of real estate invariably moves in one direction. One cannot anticipate the time when under proper management, it will cease to be a source of income. On the other hand, a cemetery lot once sold becomes a source of expense and the trustees holding the money paid for it are on that account responsible for a proportionate share of the expense of administration, repairs and deterioration for all time.

For these reasons, in arranging the prices of cemetery lots a liberal policy must be pursued. The price to be obtained for the lot must cover the cost of purchase, construction and maintenance; and even then the ability to recuperate in case of losses which no amount of business sagacity could have prevented or foreseen must not be lost sight of.

Since nature has decreed that every man shall once in his life perform the office of dying and since the law demands that the dead shall be interred in certain specified grounds and that the control of these grounds shall be placed in the hands of competent and authorized persons, the use and patronage of the cemetery becomes compulsory.

In view of this fact it may be asked: What justification can there be in erecting such expensive structures and making such elaborate layouts as we find in our modern cemeteries, in an institution of public necessity?

The cemetery has simply moved with the times and must be placed in the same class with public buildings, parks, thoroughfares and places of worship. It is not generally considered a hardship that the poorest of us have to contribute, directly or indirectly, to the maintenance of these things.

The expenses connected with our final departure vary with locations and conditions, and like all other expenses are largely influenced by the prevailing custom of the times. The time when the dead were carried out and buried at the least possible expense consistent with decency has passed. Instead, the question invariably asked is: Is there anything more we can do?

Among those whom mortuary expenses affect the most seriously, the expense is lavished upon the funeral which tomorrow is but a memory; while the cemetery, the last resting place of dear friends, which is visited by the family for time without limit, receives but scant attention; and I think it safe to say, that in the majority of cases, the money paid for superfluities exceeds the amount paid to the cemetery including the cost of the ground.

As in life, so in death; the character or quality of our abode must be in keeping with the quantity of this world's goods which has fallen to our share. The rich will own an ample plot which is approached by broad and well-kept avenues and crowned by an expensive monument; while the poor will be laid away in a crowded neighborhood and his resting place will be known to the officials and remembered by a few friends.

The value of services must be measured by the same standard as the value of lots. It is quite likely that a contractor would be able to open and refill a grave at a less figure than that charged by the cemetery. An irresponsible gardener would grade your lot for ten to twenty percent less. Most of us have had some experience with foundations built by monument dealers.

The results of this kind of figuring are to be seen in nearly all cemeteries not established upon modern lines. In addition to the actual first cost there are the expenses of perpetual administration which, like Banquo's ghost, "Will not down." A general and uniform arrangement of graves and grading must be maintained and a record of all burials and many other classes of work kept. The Superintendent is often called upon to give account of work done by himself or by his predecessor a score or two of years previously. So that if graves were opened and all other work performed at contractor's prices, a substantial fee must be charged or a tax imposed upon all work done in the cemetery.

In comparing work done in the cemetery we must bear in mind that a great part of the work is done under conditions not found outside; for building foundations and burial vaults and for all work connected with burials we cannot arrange a date. A sufficient number of men must be kept on hand to execute any order promptly and for whom it is sometimes impossible to find profitable employment.

I find that the charge for opening a grave in a large cemetery is from five to seven dollars. In the smaller cemeteries it is nearer three dollars. In the larger cemeteries more money is demanded for a single grave than we get for a family lot. Our forms of burial are simple; we dispense with uniformed attendants, shelter tents, rubber mats and lowering devices.

It is needless to say, of course, that our margin is correspondingly small. We have a less imposing administrative staff and if we have not a simpler way of keeping records we have a cheaper place in which to keep them.

There is a credit side to this question we must not fail to look at. As the cemetery improves in appearance and increases in wealth and importance, so increase the responsibilities and expenses. Your superintendent must be a man of sterling worth; of qualifications too numerous to mention here; and he will not fail to realize that the laborer is worthy of his hire.

Cemetery work creates within the heart of the Superintendent a feeling of fealty so strong that nothing but a call to the better land or to a better position will sever the bond between him and his employer. Taking any other position with an equal number of patrons to serve, equally important interests to guard and requiring the same amount of general ability and technical skill as the positions filled by the cemetery Superintendent and his assistants, together with the remuneration received therefore and the Superintendent and his assistants would not gain much by the comparison.

A man who embraces any other branch of professional or mercantile life expects to be able to retire in time to enjoy a few years of life between the office and the cemetery. He not only expects to be able to glide down the hill of life easily, to make ample provision for his family but invariably leaves a lucrative business to give his sons a start in life.

The cemetery Superintendent invariably dies in harness and leaves behind for his family nothing but the leg of a stocking with a few odd dollars he may have been able to put into it.

Your clerical staff and your responsible men must be up to the standard and you will find that a good man will not work for a cemetery for less than he can obtain elsewhere where there are chances of promotion or of partnership. In the interests of the cemetery the remuneration must be liberal enough to insure not only their conscientious labor but their hearty interests.
 
It is not my intention in this paper to criticize the principles upon which the modern cemetery is conducted, neither to pile up figures upon figures and facts upon facts nor to weary you with innumerable comparisons when there are so many men waiting to give us the benefit of their wider experience. As this may be read by some outside the brotherhood I have perhaps gone a little wide of technicalities and spoken in a general way of a few important matters with which the general public does not always trouble itself.

I am aware that I have not offered you much information, but with my limited experience I will be honored if I may have opened the way' for the better informed to do so.

If I may make free with the words of a celebrated humorist: "I have not told you all of the truth" about the relative values of cemetery lots and services, but enough to show my seniors and superiors in the profession, the necessity of their giving us information upon this subject, which I hope they will lose no time in doing.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Convention
Held at New York City, NY
September 14, 15 and 16, 1909

It should be understood that the following notes apply more particularly to cemetery tracts of the larger sizes, not especially diversified in topography, adjoining the larger cities and in which the first cost of the ground is high and the expenses of development heavy. It may be stated that they are written more especially for conditions where the platted lots represent a cost of $2,000 and upwards per acre, exclusive of buildings, and where the average price obtained per square foot is 75¢ or more; it being understood also that a large proportion of the lot and grave owners are of the poorer classes and necessarily desirous of being as economical in their expenditures as possible.

In those cemeteries where the first cost of the ground and the subsequent development are low, a more liberal allowance as to the sizes in the smaller lots and the space allowed for the single graves will be permissible. It is always to be remembered, however, that every additional foot of ground entails a continuing additional expense for future care; that every foot of ground needlessly used for drives, either by excessive width of the roadway or by providing for more drives than are absolutely necessary, is a serious burden for the future. There is not only the loss of the receipts from the sale of the ground so wasted, but the continuing heavy expense of maintaining the extra driveway, which is very much greater than the expense of maintaining the same area in lawn or shrubbery planted ground.

SECTIONS

The sizes and shapes of the sections will, of course, be determined by the general landscape plan and the layout of the roads; each separate tract surrounded by driveways being considered a section, although it will generally be found advisable to divide the spaces lying between the driveways and the boundaries of the cemetery into several sections by lines cut through the narrower parts. It is not a good practice to arrange for the driving of carts into the sections for the purpose of removing grave dirt and the like and the writer believes it is generally abandoned. For convenience in working, therefore, these sections having, drives on both sides should not exceed 300 feet in width except where the lay of the ground makes it absolutely necessary and on the other hand they should not be greatly less than 200 feet in width, both through motives of economy and from the standpoint of general effect. The sections along the boundaries which have a drive on only one side should not exceed 150 feet, nor be less than 100 feet in width as a general rule.

It is our custom considering the high cost value of the property, to allow only ten feet free space between the boundary sections and the line fence, this, of course, being densely planted to trees and shrubbery. The formal hedge-like appearance which it would otherwise obtain being avoided by running the planting out at intervals, somewhat more thinly, into the lots.

The length of the sections should not be less than three times their width and we find sections 700 to 800 feet long not to be objectionable. The laying out of these long sections saves the loss of ground, the expense of making and the maintenance of large areas of driveways.

Another point to be considered is that practically all the vistas in cemetery landscape are down the drives and the adjacent lots, and the only way that long and attractive views can be obtained is by long sweeps of slightly swinging drives; the adjacent lots being deep, the monuments being placed at the back part of the lot and planting undulating towards and away from the driveways to conceal many of the monuments in the long vistas and partly conceal practically all of them. It is to be hoped; however, in this connection that no cemetery superintendent will attempt to make the final layout of his grounds without calling in the assistance of some landscape architect who has had long and successful experience in, the laying out of cemeteries. No matter how competent the superintendent is or how long his experience in cemetery work has been, his training is in the line of administration and development and the writer believes that in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred the aid of an experienced landscape gardener will be of untold value, not only to the superintendent himself but to those who employ him. It is, not the business of the cemetery superintendent to design a cemetery. His work is to develop the cemetery after the plans are made and to administer the affairs in a businesslike way. He is not an artist but a hard-headed business man. Of course, it is necessary that he have a wide knowledge of the technical parts of the work and thoroughly appreciate the results desired to be obtained from the plans. The work of laying out the cemetery should be done by consultation between the landscape gardener and the superintendent, the former giving his wide knowledge and general experience, the latter modifying the ideas of the former to fit the particular conditions with which he is necessarily so familiar.

LOTS

When the point of the subdivision of the sections into lots is• reached, then the work must be done by the superintendent. Conditions in the different cemeteries differ so greatly that it is impossible to properly and economically subdivide the section without an exact and intimate knowledge of local conditions and of the character and wishes of the people who patronize the cemetery.

In those cemeteries where a large proportion of the lot buyers are well-to-do or wealthy people, the lots, of course, will be laid out into larger sizes and less regard will be paid to keeping them in shapes best, adapted for the maximum number of burials with the minimum use of ground. On the other hand, in cemeteries where a large proportion of the lot buyers belong to the poorer classes the lots must be laid out in smaller sizes, as nearly rectangular as possible and the dimensions so figured as to allow the greatest possible number of burials in the smallest space.

Returning again to the subject of vistas along the drives, the reasons given there make it necessary that the lots adjoining the drives be large ones and that they have good depth; a minimum depth of twenty feet should be the standard and this should be increased to forty feet or more to as great an extent as it is possible to dispose of such large lots. A planting space of not less than two feet should be left between the lots and the drives. This is useful as a place for the laying of water pipes and occasional drains, forms a protection to the lot against vehicles and horses and prevents the setting of any headstone too close to the drive. A wider space up to four feet would be desirable from many points of view, but considering the loss of ground and the expense of maintenance it is not to be generally advised.
 
The minimum depth of the front lot, as stated, is twenty feet. This, with the planting space of two feet, gives a depth to the back of the lot of twenty-two feet and if the monument is placed within a foot or so of the back of the lot and the other lots on the other side of the drive are treated in a similar way, an open stretch of ground of fifty feet or more, including the drive, is preserved unobstructed by monumental structures. Adjoining the front lot and extending back to a four foot walk parallel with the drive should be another lot a little shallower than the front lot perhaps, or of equal depth. The minimum depth, however, of any lot should not be less than 17 feet. This gives space for two tiers of graves with their headstones (16 feet) and six inches between the borders of the lot and the ends of the graves, which should be the minimum allowance, one foot, of course, being better. Where some very large lots are desired and the laying out of the whole outer border into very deep lots would produce too many of the larger sizes, they can be alternated, one lot running clear over to the back walk, being 37 feet or more in depth, the next being cut into two, a front lot of 20 feet and a back lot of 17 feet.

A walk of four feet in width, it will be noted, has been recommended. The writer has found it an absolute waste to layout any walk over four feet in width. This gives ample space for drains and water pipes and as there is no teaming in the sections, there is no need for anything wider. At occasional intervals cross walks are to be constructed, running in as far as the first walk, at right angles with the drive and then going square across the center of the section on lines best adapted to the rectangular subdivision of the inside, turning again at the opposite side of the section to meet the opposite drive at right angles.

Several points must be considered in determining the width of the lots on the drives. It should be understood that all dividing lines between these lots must be erected perpendicular to the drive. The width of the front of the lot where it is desired to make the lots rather small and especially where the drive curves outward strongly, must be fixed by a. minimum width of the inside lot on the walk, as it is to be remembered that setting the dividing lines perpendicular to the drive makes them approach more closely as they come to the inside walk and if the front on the drive is made narrow, the front on the inside walk will be too short. In such cases it will be necessary to space off minimum widths along the walk for the inside lots and let the frontage of the outside ones come as it will by dropping perpendiculars. On the other hand, where the drive curves in, the reverse condition will exist and the minimum frontages must be spaced along the drive and the perpendiculars allowed to strike where they will on the inside walk.

One of the main things to be done in dividing a section into lots is to see at the time that no subsequent grouping or crowding of monuments can possibly occur. Where a large demand exists for small lots, it is an excellent practice to layout alternately two wide ones and then two narrow ones, the narrow ones to be sold with the agreement, which is entered in the deed, that no monument shall be ever erected upon them. In this way a large number of very: desirable small lots can be provided and yet the general appearance of the grounds be in no way injured. Our practice in the cheaper parts of the cemetery is to make these small lots 8½ or 11 feet front in the narrow part. By placing burials close together this gives three graves in width and allows a six inch space between the outer graves and the lot line. An 8½ foot front by 17 feet deep will give six graves with headstones. We do not in practice, however, layout anything less than 18 feet deep. In the larger lots grave spaces of 3x9 are allowed and from that on up to 4x10.

When this part of the work is decided upon and the lots staked with temporary wooden stakes, we have a planting space of two feet wide running entirely around the section, a lot 20 feet or more in depth back of that, another lot 18 feet or more in depth further back and adjoining it, and a walk four feet in width running entirely aroui1d the section and parallel with the drive, connected at convenient intervals by cross walks with the drives. These lots, will none of them be square, although where the drive does not curve very much, they are approximate rectangles and the stronger the curve of the drive the more wedge shaped they will be. Enclosed by this walk is the center area of the section and the aim should be to divide this area into rectangular plots of sizes adapted to meet the requirements of the lot buyers. Unless this part of the section is very desirable and is well elevated, it is proper to subdivide it into small lots, in so far as they are needed. Our own practice in regard to very small plots, that is three and four grave lots, is to layout lots 17 feet front and 18 feet in depth. These can be re-divided into halves, making two 6 grave lots, or .into quarters making four 3 grave lots, or into two spaces 9x11 and one space 6x18, making three 4 grave lots; all of these small lots, of course, to be sold without the monument privilege. A lot on which a monument is to be erected should not be less than 20 feet in depth and the maximum frontage should not be less than 11 feet. This width is almost too narrow, however, unless on each side of the lot a no-monument lot is laid out. Two monument lots 11 feet front and adjoining each other will bring the monuments less than 10 feet apart, which is certainly an objectionable practice. In the no-monument lot the size of 11x19 covers an 8 grave lot, or 13½x18 covers a 10 grave lot. 11X20 and 13½x20 make monument lots of similar capacity. In the better parts of the ground 12X20 is a more desirable size for an 8 grave lot and from that on up.

Careful planning is necessary to avoid, as far as possible, triangular lots or lots with long, sharp, tapering corners. Of course, some spaces of this kind will be unavoidable, but it is our practice to cut off these sharp corners and throw the small triangles into the walk, leaving spaces which can be planted with shrubs or used for waste receptacles if surrounded by shrubbery. In practice each lot, of course, is given a frontage on a walk and if two lots are 18 feet in depth this will make the walks 36 feet apart. Cross walks, of course, must be provided at intervals. We have not found it necessary to make cross walks closer than 200 feet apart, and have not found 240 or even 250 feet very objectionable. One point to be remembered in the laying out of all lots is to have no curved lines. Curved lot lines as laid out by the surveyor by the swinging of a radial line, are very objectionable and very difficult to re-establish after monuments and headstones are erected on the lots. If the drive curves very strongly so that a straight line drawn from corner to corner of the front leaves too much width in the planting space, one or two points may be set in along the roadway two feet from its edge and straight lines may be drawn connecting them, the idea being to have every boundary line of a lot a straight line which can always be verified and the points replaced if necessary. In the case of a circular section, which, by the way, is an abomination, points may be set at frequent intervals, maintaining the circular edge of the roadway but making the lot an octagon or similar figure. Small triangular sections, which are always to be avoided when possible, or if they are used must be sold at a very high price in order to reimburse for the waste ground and the additional driveway, may be laid out by erecting perpendiculars from the center of each of• the three sides to meet at a middle point, making three lots. The pointed ends of other sections may, of course, be thrown into one lot in this way. 

In laying out walks, due regard must be had for the general direction of the travel. If the natural course of visitors is lengthways of the section, then the walks must be run largely lengthways, otherwise paths will be worn across the lots. It should be born in mind that every foot of ground in a walk is not only a loss but a constant future expense for care, and much study must be given to so laying out the lots that the minimum amount of ground will be wasted in walks.

After all the lots are staked temporarily, a rough plat or sketch of the section should be made, the lots given their proper numbers, and concrete corner posts prepared and set at the outside corners, or such other markers as may be decided on. The inside corners may be marked by white topped terra cotta markers. The plan in force for marking lots with us, which has worked exceedingly well and saved much time by reason of the visitors being able to find the lots without having some one sent to show them the way, is to have the outside corner posts made eight inches square (we should reduce this to about 6 inches, however, except for the sake of uniformity, having started on the 8-inch basis). Each marker contains the word "Sec." and the number of the section. In addition to that the word "Lot" is twice repeated and the numbers of two lots, it being set one-half in each lot. In this way the visitor, by finding one corner stone, knows immediately what section he is in. The stones are made of concrete 18 inches deep and are faced off like a cement sidewalk; the letters and figures are properly assembled in a form and pressed in at one operation. The expense of these posts, set in place, of course, flush with the ground, is about 35¢, dependent largely on the cost of material, with labor at $2 per day. It is very strongly to be advised that all corner stones be made and set at once. The work can be done very much cheaper if all are set at once instead of setting one by one as the lots are sold; there is no subsequent trouble over the loss of stakes, no subsequent variation by errors in replacing stakes with the stones and if the work is done in this way the final surveying, measuring and platting of the lots can be left until the permanent markers are in. In addition to this it will be found a great convenience in showing and selling lots and make it possible to largely avoid the exceedingly annoying error of showing a man one lot and giving him a deed for another number.

If the cemetery is laid out into 200 foot square, the intersections, of the lot lines with the lines of those 200 foot squares can be noted, the lots then measured up and platted very readily.

SINGLE GRAVES

Single graves are of two classes--the common single grave which is designed to be sold at the very lowest possible price, and the select or preferred single grave which is practically a small lot for one interment. The less desirable parts of the grounds should be selected for single grave districts, and preferably they should be adjoining the boundary of the cemetery and in a location where the visitors to the lots will not pass them. They should, also, if possible, be so located that the crowds of people going to and from the single graves will not be tempted to cross other sections and wear paths in the sod. A very large area should be provided, if possible, to cover all needs in common single graves for many years. This should be of sufficient width to take 50 or more adult graves side by side and should adjoin a drive. A very good practice is to call this one large lot and to subdivide it into long strips at right angles to the drive. These strips are of sufficient width to take an adult grave and headstone; that is, 8 feet in width and if calculated for 50 graves should be 125 feet long, 2½ feet being allowed for each grave space; rough boxes in this locality running 26 or 28 inches wide. Of course, where the general run of adult rough boxes is wider, more space will have to be allowed.

These tiers are numbered generally from the south line of the lot north, as Tier 1 North, Tier 2 North, etc.; the graves in each tier being numbered from the driveway. An 8-inch square stone is set along the drive at each tier, marked "Sec. -, Lot -, Tier I North," etc. and another similar stone should be placed at the other end of the tier. By stretching a line between these two stones, all the graves in the tier can be carefully lined up and the headstones can easily be set in the proper location. The grave spaces being accurately maintained, if it is desired to find any grave in the tier, no matter if all stakes and other markers have disappeared, it is simply a case for careful measurement.

The graves in the tiers are to be marked with round cement or tile markers, each marker bearing two numbers; the number of the tier above, which will be the same for each grave in the tier, and below, the number of the grave in the tier, which, of course, will vary for each grave. The description of any grave is entered in the grave receipt as follows: "Lot _, Section _, Tier __ North, Grave __”.  With this description and a little explanation it will be found that the grave owners can in almost all cases locate the grave they are looking for, thus saving a very large amount of time in the future which would otherwise be used in pointing out the location.

It will be noted in this article that the writer pays no attention to laying out the grounds for the burial of bodies east and west. In the locality of Chicago the old idea that all bodies should be buried due east and west has been abandoned and no attention whatever is paid to the points of the compass. The lots face in all directions and the burial is made entirely with reference to the conditions of the individual lot.

Headstones, of course, in the single grave sections will be kept very low, preferably not over six inches high, will be limited to one foot in thickness and not less than six inches and should be made six inches narrower than the width of the grave; that is, 24 inches, or less.

Between every four tiers, that are 32 feet apart, four foot walks are placed for drains, water pipes and access. Of course, this system contemplates that no mounds whatever shall be raised on the common single graves. The burials are begun at the point farthest from the drive and progress towards the drive, to avoid passing over the graves already buried.

The select or preferred graves are a higher priced proposition and should be of larger area and may be in better locations. We have found it a not bad proposition to take small lots here and there in the cheaper sections of six or eight grave, capacity and divide them, selling them out singly. They being so few in number and being maintained in the same way as the lot graves, they have not been found to be objectionable. (These graves are numbered on the same plan as the common singles; that is, the description of any grave will carry the lot and section number and will be Tier __ North, East or West as the case may be, and Grave __, North, East, or West, as the case may be.

* * *
The laying out of lots and single grave districts is not a matter in itself of great difficulty, although it requires accuracy in the making of the final plat and very careful study. Bad judgment used in this work is costly, either when it causes waste of ground or when it results in an awkward and inconvenient layout. After the plat is recorded and sales are once started in the section no changes can be made, hence the maxim to be observed is "Make haste slowly and study carefully."

The foregoing, as stated in the beginning, applies largely to the laying out of lots in cemeteries where the ground is fairly uniform in its character. The more broken and diverse the character of the sections, the more will the superintendent be compelled to vary from thee plans suggested here. It will be found very difficult to sell a lot which lies lower than the adjacent walk or drive hence it is evident that where there are depressions in the shape of small gullies, walks shall in all cases follow them. Where circular depressions exist, in grading the section they will, of course, be filled to a certain extent. It is an axiom that no part of a section should be so graded as to allow water to stand upon it.

Of course the superintendent will take advantage of mounds and desirable parts of the sections to lay them out in large lots and will be guided by the slope of the ground in setting his stakes and in facing his lots. In a general way the less desirable parts of the sections will be cut into small lots and the more desirable the ground the larger the lot this simply as a plain business proposition. The prominent parts at intersections of the drives should be laid out into one or several large lots and if the point of the section is quite sharp it will be advisable to cut back the lot some little distance and use the space so left out for the planting of shrubbery. 

PRICING

While not coming strictly within the scope of this paper, the pricing of lots is intimately connected with it and a few words may be advisable.

The writer does not believe in pricing lots to the customer by the square foot. Separate prices should be fixed for each lot as a whole. These can be arrived at by fixing a square foot basis for a certain section or for parts of the section, estimating the area and obtaining the price in that way, adding a little to the prices of the more desirable lots and perhaps deducting a little from the lots which will be less readily saleable. For instance, it will be found that lots on the drive or on an elevated part of the section will be sold very readily and in order to prevent their being taken up immediately the section is placed on sale, a material advance must be made in the price of such lots, the general idea being to price each lot according to the sale ability. It is our practice to increase the price of the lots bordering on drives about 10 to 15 percent to add about 10 percent, to corner lots or to lots having a walk on two of their sides. In the smaller lots it is also the practice to add about 10 percent, to a lot on which a monument is allowed over that on which one is not allowed, or if it is not desired to increase the total price of the section, an advance of 5 percent could be made on the monument lot and a reduction of 5 percent on the lot on which no monument is allowed; That is a good proposition in several ways. In the first place it costs more to care for a lot with a monument on it than one on which there is no monument. In the second place it is well worth while to offer inducements to the small lot owner to dispense with a monument.

The writer is not averse to a reasonable number of monuments of good design and material in a cemetery and believes it will be found impossible to prevent their use. The monument is with us and with us to stay. The evils of the monument are good monuments badly placed; bad monuments, that is, of poor material or faulty design, wherever placed, and the crowding of monuments. The poor material and the faulty design are found largely in the cheaper class of lots and the classes of people who buy these lots have a strong tendency to save on the size of the lot and put the money into a monument, thereby frequently making the monument just that much more hideous and unsightly.

I would not be understood as taking the position that a small monument cannot be just as attractive and just as artistic as a large one. In theory they can be, in practice they are not.

PLATS

It is well to adopt a standard scale of all plats. Perhaps the best scale for the original plat is one of 20 feet to the inch. Larger than this becomes unwieldly and a smaller scale does not allow sufficient space. The original plat should be made on a first class quality of cloth backed paper and all construction figures should appear thereon. From this a tracing can be made for record, and in this connection it should be noted that, in the state of Illinois, at least, a severe penalty is provided for those who fail to have a plat of each section recorded with the public recorder before making sales. For working plats, blue prints, etc., a reduced plat to the scale of 40 feet to the inch may be made. A copy of this on tracing cloth with the lines drawn somewhat heavier and the numbers and dimension figures also made heavier, may be reduced photographically for a zinc etching at a very small expense and this can be printed from' very cheaply, thus making it possible to furnish each lot owner with a plat of the section in which his lot is, so that he can readily locate it without having to take the time of the employees in showing him where it is.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Convention
Held at New York City, NY
September 14, 15 and 16, 1909

Since my arrival here in the effete East, I have been subjected to a good many good natured serio-comic remarks about the subject I have chosen for my paper. In self-defense I have decided to inflict upon you a preliminary chapter.
 
One gentleman said to me: "I suppose when you wanted to organize a cemetery out West, you just killed somebody, or turned loose the James or Younger boys, or a tribe of Apaches, or a Kansas cyclone, or a band of cowboys and the cemetery started itself."

Now this is not true, if it ever was. Everybody who dies out our way now must have a regular certificate, and the causes of death appearing thereon read very much like yours, I presume. The tomahawk, bowie knife and six-shooter no longer appear. Ante-mortem conditions have changed. Instead of the bandit, the cowboy and the Apache, we have the doctor, the lawyer and the preacher and the over-sympathetic old neighbor, whose husband died the very same way. The bacillus finds more victims than the bad man from Bitter Creek; the merry microbe succeeds the mirthful cowboy; the greedy germ and numerous other microorganisms frequently get on the warpath and cause more trouble than Geronimo's braves; many people lose their vermiform appendix, but none their scalp lock. Christian Scientists treat more patients than the Indian medicine man. However, I am without data to enable me to give comparative results.
 
Another gentleman from way down East, gravely informed me that beyond the Mississippi, in that part of the country which, I presume, is still marked on their geographies as the Great American Desert, it is only good form for people to die with their boots on and rely upon the coyotes, jackals and turkey buzzards for final arrangements. This is another mis¬take. Post-mortem names and conditions have also changed. Instead of the aforesaid, we, like you, have the undertaker and the hack-man, the lawyer and the preacher, the florist and the monument man, the sexton and the cemetery superintendent, the administrator and the surrogate or probate judge. And they all get theirs.

About the only advantage there is in dying out West, is that after these are all done and there is anything left of the estate.  New York State does.

The West is surely behind on facilities for cremation. The nearest crematory to the Great American Desert is at St. Louis, making it neces¬sary for the few advocates of that method for the disposal of the dead, to travel long distances sometimes.

Not long since, a disconsolate widow from Topeka was returning from St. Louis with the ashes of her deceased fourth husband in an urn, as a part of her hand baggage. She had for a neighboring passenger a maiden lady from either Boston or Rochester; I do not just remember which. The Eastern lady, noticing the evident distress of the Topeka widow, sought to comfort her, and inquired the cause of her sorrow. Upon being told, she became quite agitated and exclaimed that here she had lived sixty-five years without any husband, while this woman had husbands to burn.

Nature provides wondrous and devious ways to regulate and control the population and depopulation of the earth and the Indian, the cowboy and the bandit were but cogs in the wonderful mechanism of nature's regu¬lator.

Death may be more important to the world than life. Wars may be blessings. Pestilence and famine may make for good. An epidemic of breakfast foods may not be an unmixed evil. The automobile may be doing its deadly work in the interest of humanity. Fire and flood, Fourth of July and football may all be elements in nature's great economy, to provide room for generations yet unborn. Let us prove it by a mathematical demonstration.

Rural New York claims the best high schools and academies and col¬leges in the world. It was in one of these, not far from Rochester, that I learned to figure and almost learned to believe figures will not lie. We shudder at the loss of life during Caesar's wars, which occurred about 2,000 years ago, or sixty generations of 33 ⅓ years each. Let us suppose that two more people had escaped death in these wars, and that the ratio of increase for these two was 1½ per generation of 33 ⅓ years each, which does not seem unreasonable, even in these days when we hear so much strenuous talk about race suicide. A simple mathematical formula, worked out on the basis of these figures, shows that the increase from this pair would have added to the population of the earth at the present time, 73,560,000,000 souls. This would make it somewhat crowded for us, and we may have abundant reason to thank Caesar that no more of them got away.

So the calamities of our generation become the blessings for those yet to come. It is safe to assume that nature's laws will continue to operate to keep the ratio of increase of population within proper limits, and the cemetery may be regarded as a permanent institution, and should be or¬ganized accordingly.

The question of cemetery organization seems to be important, yet we hardly ever hear it discussed in detail among cemetery people, so I have chosen this subject, knowing that I will be expected to say but little about it. In fact I do not dare to say much, for I might give some detail away and some superintendent might be led, in the heat of discussion, to tell something of which his governing board might not approve.

The organizing of a cemetery now is a different proposition from that of 100 or even 50 years ago. One hundred years ago only about 3 percent of our population lived in cities; 97 percent was rural. The burial of the dead had naught to do with business. Sympathizing hands prepared the body for burial; one kindly neighbor made the coffin, another dug the grave, the best vehicle in the community carried the remains to the church yard, where free interment was made. The grave was marked and cared for by kindred people, until finally lost in the blissful oblivion of weeds and forgetfulness. In all this there was no thought of pay or gain. Now 40 percent of our population is urban, most of the rest is suburban.

Under present conditions, when death occurs, friends and acquaint¬ances ride in the carriages, offer advice, sympathy and flowers, but seldom anything else. The disposal of the dead has become a business proposition. Most undertakers make a modest charge for their services. In fact, I believe they are made safe in most states by being made preferred cred¬itors. The minister who officiates wears, at the proper time, an expectant look above his clerical necktie. The liveryman usually renders a good sized bill and his drivers belong to the union. The florist expects more profits from funerals than weddings. There are more of them. It takes two to make a wedding, one only to make a funeral and besides some do escape matrimony. While I am decidedly averse to saying anything about our good friend, the doctor, candor compels me to admit that he looks you up in Bradstreet and makes his charge for what he thinks you or your estate can stand then adds a percentage as a factor of safety. The lawyer who breaks the will is usually satisfied with one-half of the estate, if it is quite large. A lawyer out our way, after lying a long time at the point of death, finally died. His trusting wife placed upon his memorial the inscription: "A lawyer and an honest man." One of our old plantation darkies, noticing this, remarked with evident surprise, "I wonder how they came to bury two people in one grave." The price the monument man names indicates that he never expects to get another opportunity, and wishes to make the most of this one; and so all along the line, until we come to the cemetery, we find everything connected with mortuary affairs organized on a basis of financial profit. But we find cemeteries organized in divers and wonderful ways. We have them on the basis of poverty, politics, patriotism and pri¬vate greed, charity, church, city and corporation, lot owners mutual; some mutually strong, others mutually weak. Nothing seems to be settled; no particular plan seems to be accepted as best. All are subject to more or less criticism.

The ownership and operation of large cemeteries by churches has been practically abandoned, except by the Catholic Church. No other one de¬nomination having the compact membership, the perfect discipline and splendid organization to successfully handle larger cemetery propositions.

Cities can and do own and operate cemetery properties. Municipal ownership offers some advantage. The city's credit can be used to secure the money to purchase the necessary ground and provide for initial im¬provements. The general fund is handy to make up any deficit that may occur. Too often, however, the city cemetery receives either too much or too little attention from the city authorities. Mayors and aldermen are looking for patronage, and some of them do not hesitate to prostitute the highly honorable positions of superintendent or sexton, and others, to po¬litical purposes.

I heard of a case down east somewhere, where a large number of men were needed in the city cemetery just before a close election, but were not needed long after and the dominant party was accused of voting them all, besides a good many names from the memorials.

At best, public sentiment is apt to be fluctuating and spasmodic, and the cemetery suffers in consequence. In any case, while many of the older city burial grounds are very well conducted and cared for, very few, if any, cities are establishing new ones.

Probably one half of the cemeteries in the United States are conducted by an organization or reorganization of lot owners. The governing boards consist of a number of good natured old gentlemen who have no financial interest in the proposition, but who are benevolently inclined enough to be willing to help by having their names printed on the list of trustees, but can seldom be gotten together to attend to the cemetery's business. Not getting anything out of it themselves, they sometimes fail to grasp the mag¬nitude of the financial proposition they are called upon to administer. I have heard some superintendents complain that they expected to have a $1,000,000 proposition handled by a $1,000 superintendent.

The elasticity of the organization of lot owners' cemeteries has in most instances enabled them to reorganize on broader business and financial lines to meet modern requirements.

A large majority of the larger cemeteries started in the last fifteen years have been organized as some form of private corporation. Some of these have been organized, as commercial propositions pure and simple; others, as a matter of public necessity, by public-spirited citizens, who in¬corporate, in order to more properly finance and more perfectly secure and maintain the interests of a large public enterprise. This method of organi¬zation seems to be more a matter of necessity than choice. Large cities are not establishing new burial places.

The modern cemetery requires too large an initial expenditure for a lot owners' organization. The cemetery is, as we have seen, more and more of a business proposition, Hence, modern methods of business and finance must be applied to it. Some people object, for sentimental or superstitious reasons, to cemetery investments. I knew one man who said he was willing to take money won at poker, bet on a horse, race, or gained by speculating in wheat, but he'd be hanged if he wanted any made by a cemetery investment. His trouble was more superstition than an over-heated conscience.

The first cemetery of which we have any account in holy writ was strictly a commercial proposition. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, had died in Hebron. Abraham demanded of the sons of Heth possession of a burying place with them. They offered him a choice of all their sepulchers without charge. But Abraham, with laudable pride, wanted a burial place of his own, and proposed to pay for it. He wanted the cave of Machpelah, which was in a field owned by Ephron, the Hittite, and he said to Ephron, "I will give thee money for the field, take it of me and I will bury my dead there." And after some further parley .about price, "Abraham weighed upon Ephron 400 pieces of silver, current money with the merchant, and the field of Ephron and the cave which was thereon, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a burying place by the sons of Heth."

The modern cemetery for the use of a large or rapidly growing city is a larger business and financial problem than the field of Ephron.

It should have ample grounds, say from 200 to 500 acres, not too near the city, but easily accessible by modern means of transportation. It should be large for several reasons, First, to meet requirements for 100 years; second, to provide plenty of room for park spaces, ornamental planting and like Abraham’s burying place, "to have trees in the borders round about"; third, to protect itself from new competition; fourth, to provide a large and permanent endowment fund for perpetual care, after sales of ground have ceased; fifth, to protect itself from condemnation, in consequence of the rapid increase of urban population.

Small cemeteries are constantly in danger, in or near large cities. And above all, perhaps, it should be large so that a policy to prevent overcrowd¬ing may be adopted and no danger from a sanitary standpoint may ever present itself. The evils and scandals arising from small and overcrowded burial places became so intolerable in the large cities of Great Britain, that in 1855, an act was passed by Parliament closing them all, with but few exceptions.

Burial within the limits of cities and towns is now almost everywhere abolished and at a very, large expenditure of money London and most of the chief provincial towns have outside cemeteries, which are under the supervision of local burial boards and of inspectors appointed by the government.

France has gone through the same experience. In consequence of the cemeteries of Paris being more or less crowded, a great cemetery with an area of over two square miles was laid out in 1874, sixteen miles north of Paris. Every city and town in France is required by law to provide a burial ground outside of its limits, properly laid out and planted, and in which each interment must be made in a separate grave. This last re¬quirement is not always followed in this country, where land is plentiful.

The large grounds being secured, they must have extensive initial im¬provements. While all of the property is not to be improved at once, yet a careful expert study should be made of the property as a whole, and a general plan for systematic and complete development must be outlined. A system of roads must be constructed; a system of drainage must be es¬tablished; a water system must be provided; perfect grading, shaping, sur¬facing, sodding and seeding of grounds enough for twenty-five years must be completed; an intelligent and extensive scheme of planting must be started, and a nursery should be planted for raising hardy ornamental shrubs and trees. Greenhouses-- but better wait awhile until you have to have them. Elaborate entrance or entrances must be provided; chapel and receiving vault must be built; a number of other buildings must be erected, such as suburban railroad station, administration buildings such as office, stables and tool houses, superintendent's residence, sexton's house, gate keepers' lodges, etc. Oftentimes local conditions require the construction of bridges, culverts and artificial lakes and waterways. Modern conditions seem to tend more and more toward forcing the cemetery to enter into competition with itself and establish a cemetery.

These grounds and improvements have to be perpetually maintained and cared for, an expense still greater than and just as important as the cost of initial improvements.

This must be provided for in the original financial organization. Bearing in the mind the idea of perpetual care and the fact that a cem¬etery proposition is a permanent investment, all the work referred to must be of the very best permanent character. The buildings, entrances, bridges and culverts must be of stone; the roadways of the very best macadam; the drainage system, including gutters, intakes and discharge pipes, must be of ample size and of the best material and workmanship and so on with all the improvements.

The purchase of this ground and the making of these improvements require a large initial expenditure, which, in order to secure the per¬manency of the burial place should not rest as a debt upon the ground.

To do all this you must have the help of the almighty dollar. Talk is cheap, but if you do things of this sort, they would tell you out West "You've got to have the stuff."

Three hundred acres of ground located, as I have indicated, would cost in the neighborhood of $250,000 ;$250,000 more would not make very elab¬orate improvements for a complete cemetery proposition when compared with older cemeteries, making a total of half a million dollars. Allowing 20 percent of the ground for roadways, parking, etc., the remaining 240 acres at an average of $1 a square foot would come to over $10,000,000. We have then, at the outset, a financial proposition of considerable magnitude, even in these days. It should be approached as such, and be properly financed along business lines. How shall it be done?

As I said in the beginning, I knew I would not be expected to say very much about cemetery organization, but I may venture to call atten¬tion to several facts in connection with it, which you already know. To summarize:

The nation, with the exception of a few patriotic cemeteries which it owns and splendidly maintains, pays no attention to cemeteries, or their regulation. Under our form of government, the cemetery would be con¬sidered a local matter and be left for the jurisdiction of the several states, but the states as a rule have no cemeteries and in many cases exercise very little control over them. Cities are quitting the business, and by condemnation for sanitary or other reasons, are causing others to quit. One church only, or possibly two still control cemetery affairs.

The lot owners' organization does not seem to be compact and power¬ful enough to project large, new, modern burial places. Private, individ¬ual ownership does not insure perpetuity and seems gruesome and out of place.

With the rapid growth of city population, a great many large burial places will be needed in the future. The present time seems to mark an epoch in cemetery history. Present conditions are forcing a public utility of the first importance into the hands of private corporations or stock companies. And this is being done without any adequate provision for the protection of public interests.

The citizen has as good a right to demand of the state, protection for his cemetery interests, as for his banking interests. We all have business with the cemetery. Just a few of us have much with the banks. If cemeteries must be conducted by private corporations, it seems just that the state should, by proper legislation, see to it that in the organization and operation of cemeteries, the interests of the public are protected. The public has a rightful interest, for instance, in the perpetuity of the ceme¬tery, and general legislation to secure that protection is desirable. Laws might be enacted, fixing the minimum size of burial grounds for cities of different classes, regulating location well without city limits, and pro¬viding that the grounds shall be entirely dedicated free from debt to ceme¬tery uses forever and that no encumbrance can ever be placed upon any portion of the ground. A larger degree of protection from condemnation should be provided. The proceeds from the sale of ground must provide for current maintenance, perpetual care and interest on and payment of original investment. The public then has an interest in this entire fund, and an equitable distribution of it to secure each of those results should be provided for by law. The matter of records is a proper subject for state inspection and control. It is a lamentable fact that in many of our larger and well kept cemeteries, the earliest records are foggy or uncer¬tain, and in some instances, lost entirely. A complete system of surveys, platting, duplicate or triplicate interment records and plat books kept at different places, should be made compulsory.

That the force of public opinion may be allowed to act for the pro¬tection and benefit of the cemetery at all times, the utmost publicity as to financial matters should be provided for. Some of the states have abso¬lutely no legislation upon any of these and other important points which should be outlined in the original organization of cemetery corporations.

It seems to me that this association might be able to accomplish great good by the appointment of a committee on legislation, to investigate present laws, study legislative requirements and make a report showing legislation needed, if any. The association could then throw the weight of its growing influence in the direction of public good. If this can be done, I will gladly refer the whole subject matter to such committee for consideration and shift the burden of any more of this paper from your shoulders to theirs.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 17th Annual Convention
Held at Rochester, NY
September 8, 9 and 10, 1903

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen: Once again I come before this august body as a pinch-hitter, and knowing that pinch-hitters usually have the habit of striking out, I hope too much will not be expected of me in trying to cover the subject, "Organizing the New Cemetery."

Mr. William Nelson, my associate in Whitemarsh Memorial Park requests me to extend his deepest regrets and apologies for being unable to attend our meeting here this morning, and to deliver his own address. Business and other circumstances made it impossible for him to be present. He wants me to say, however, that he is going to try to run over to attend a few of the sessions, to say "hello" and to renew some of his former acquaintances.

On my own behalf, I am gratified to see such a large attendance and look forward to an ever-increasing association, built on the right ideals, with a broad-mindedness to find a place for all the different groups associating in our business, whether it be monument or non-monument. I personally believe that if each and every man's honest opinion is considered sincerely and respected by the other fellow, we will go far. Should just the opposite occur, I am fearful for it.

Let us pause on this point for just a moment. As you are all aware, this Association was built up out of the meeting we held in Chicago about four years ago, at which time several memorial park owners got together for the purpose of binding ourselves in an association for our mutual protection. Later on the name of the association was changed to the "American Cemetery Owners Association" with the idea in mind of taking into this group, the owners of cemeteries other than memorial parks, until today we have quite a large percentage representing this type of the business.

We believe there is room for all groups and all opinions in this business, providing one or the other group is not dominated or discredited in the eyes of the opposing group. We invited owners of cemeteries other than memorial parks into our group. We gave unsparingly and unselfishly of our knowledge and experiences under the banner that there was room for all and that we should do everything possible for everybody else. Let us not take away that banner standing for this mutual understanding. I do not mean, however, that we should countenance or approve unethical selling methods. I have said before and I now reiterate--crooked promoters and crooked salesmen have no place and are not wanted in this Association. Let us maintain and keep alive that splendid spirit that has carried us this far and let there be no pause in the good fellowship and the sincere desire to help the other fellow. May I say this for the Association: This is our aim; this is our ideal.

Oh yes, I almost forgot, I was pinch-hitting on a talk regarding the "Organizing of a New Cemetery," and not the aims and ideals of an association. Those of you, who know me well, will realize that I am a drifter, drifting from one subject to another; they say this is a form of insanity. But I am not going to worry about that at this time-I'll let you worry about it. Then too, you will also know that on a dry subject such as the one I am supposed to talk about, I am certainly stepping out of character. You know, I don't know where Roy Hatten gets all the subjects that he hands out to the different speakers, I suppose he pulls them out of a hat.

There is not really much you can say about the organizing of a new cemetery. It can be briefly put in a few words and paragraphs, and on the surface this would appear to be all the requirements, but as many of you have sadly found out, there is a great deal more to it than appears. Before you get actively engaged in the business of a cemetery, it appears simple. After you are in it awhile, you will find out that you are in one of the most difficult businesses in the world today. This is what I would call an "opposite" business. You do everything opposite to what you would first think the proper procedure.

The first requisite upon entering the cemetery business is to get "bitten by the itching bug." By that I mean the "Cemetery Bug.” These bugs usually bite you on the palm of the hand and you develop an itching palm. That is your take-off into the realm of cemeteries.

In the original organization, of course, there are several steps to be taken. First, a suitable plot of ground should be secured, preferably without streams, for in many states the health laws prohibit the establishing of a cemetery, through which runs any streams that are tributary to streams from which drinking water is secured. In the highly populated areas this applies to practically all streams. This piece of ground should also be as free of rock as possible, and suitable for burial purposes. In choosing your property, I believe two of the most important features to be taken into consideration are: First, that it be not very distant from the center of the residential population. In larger cities, I would say this should be approximately 10 to 15 miles. In smaller cities or towns, this distance should be considerably less, and most important of all, there should be transportation, and from an advertising standpoint, the property should be located along the main highway. This saves thousands and thousands of dollars in educating the public to go up some side road to find your cemetery.  The ground also should rise somewhat above the roadbed. I found that people do not like to look down upon a cemetery from a highway.

After the acquiring of the ground, it becomes necessary of course to get the cemetery charter, establish an office, the advertising and training of salesmen, proper literature for their sales kits. Some of the grounds should be cleared and at least a few acres at the front and preferably the entrance should be improved. This Improvement Program, to those selling from an investment angle, should not be carried too far back of the entrance. Quite an item in your sales talk is the visualization of future improvements. Your improvements can be planned by any architect and the actual construction can be carried on by yourself if you have the proper superintendent and other lieutenants such as a civil engineer, a landscape gardener, etc., which is the method we pursued in building Whitemarsh Memorial Park. Most of the work in building our park has been done by the company's own departments and their own labor. In doing it in this manner there is a tremendous amount of saving.

May I say here, that one of the last major improvements in Whitemarsh Memorial Park is now being built, and that is the Tower of Chimes.  It will be 172 ft. high, built of steel, granite and limestone. The general contractor on this particular job is the company itself. We believe in doing it this way. On the tower unit alone we will save in the neighborhood of $25,000.00. So you see that doing your own work, if you want to take the trouble to supervise this phase of the business, saves the company considerable money. All you have to do after that, is to sell lots, put the improvements in, keep faith with your customers, and live up to your promises, and behold, you have a beautiful memorial park no matter what part of the country you are situated in.

It seems the only thing I can think of after all this is to recommend to you one of the 100 page sales booklets which has been compiled by my other associate, Mr. Lawrence C. Downey, of Whitemarsh Memorial Park, and which explains in detail how to sell and train men for every phase of this particular business. There have been so many repeated requests for a copy of Larry's book that I understand he is contemplating printing some extra copies and selling them to fill these requests.

All this sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, that is how the building of memorial parks sounds to almost, everyone you sell a lot to.  Their first expression is, “What a swell and profitable business. Gee, I would like to start a cemetery." I remember back in about 1925, when I was a real estate broker on the New Jersey coast. You will well remember that we had quite a boom for a few years, which continued until about 1927. One day I happened to be sitting with another broker. It was he who really put the cemetery bug in my ear. I can hear him saying now, "George, after we have sold off all the coast line of the state of New Jersey, I think the cemetery business would be a good one to go into. You get 100 or more lots to the acre and you don't depend on booms to bring you customers."

That remark started me thinking, and from 1925 until 1930 I was investigating cemeteries at every opportunity, securing all the data and information available. The more I investigated, the more I thought that this was the real thing; that creating a cemetery was nothing but just an easy job. I was never more mistaken in my life. About the latter part of 1929, after the stock market crash, I was joined by my two associates, Mr. Nelson and Mr. Downey, and we did all the things that I mentioned before, and after all the exhaustive searches that I had made, and after we had had our eye teeth cut, and the new organization of the cemetery already set up, then we really began to find out the real way to run a cemetery-after it was organized.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the organization of a new cemetery goes way back to your school days. For a man or woman to be successful in this field must, out of necessity, have certain training along certain lines and certain qualifications which are obtained only through hard years of experience in visualizing the future, feeling the pulse of the public, experience in selling from a development standpoint, and a lot of other qualifications too numerous to mention.

You have gone through the country and you have observed memorial parks started, and a good many of them, alas, too many of them, are at a standstill. You have also run across men in this business that have the ability to build cemeteries, who have started perhaps more than one, and instead of keeping faith with the customer, and really building the cemetery, they put in the least improvements possible. You also have heard one of the real pioneers and a man of ability in this field; say the cycle of success in any particular business was to have a definite, safe profitable plan, with capable and honest management. If you have all these particular qualifications in your business, you will be successful and you will also realize what I mean when I say the organizing of a cemetery starts back in your school days. I would lay more stress on the latter of these requirements, and that is honest and capable management."

Honesty, of course, comes first, and capability second in the organizing of a new cemetery, for this business can only be a real success in capable hands. That might apply also in other businesses, but it seems that you can hire capable employees to handle your affairs in other businesses, but where on earth are you going to hire that which this business needs most; a capable sales manager who has had years of experience along certain necessary lines in this land of ours.  I know this is next to impossible, for I have heard many, many cemetery owners asking this same question.

A banker friend of mine once said to a man in his office, who was getting bitten pretty severely by the cemetery bug, and the great idea of a memorial park. His remarks to this man summed up, I believe, most emphatically the requirements in organizing a new cemetery.  “It is true that the memorial park idea is wonderful and everything you think it is.  That, Mr. Blank, is 5%.  The other 95% in accomplishing this great idea is sales ability in that particular field."

This banker’s words, Ladies and Gentlemen, express more than the things that I have been saying to you here this morning about what it takes to organize a new cemetery.  I believe that to be really successful in this business, active constant application in governing the affairs of a cemetery company should be confined to a few people who can closely watch through personal management every detail of this business.  I believe that your improvements should be strictly in accord with your brochure and never make a promise to the public or to the salesmen that you cannot and will not keep. Double all the promises to the salesmen and triple all the promises to the public and have the money in your hand before you let a contract for improvements.

A man’s personality is reflected in many ways: his handwriting, his personal appearance, the way he walks, how he accomplishes his work - are all a personal reflection of the character of the man.  So too, is the way you run your business and the way you build your cemetery, a personal reflection of your character. Those of you who have come here lacking some of the fundamental knowledge, experience and ability to carry your park any further than probably the initial start, where it may be getting stagnated, may I respectfully suggest this to them: First, try to get the proper sales manager. This I know is almost impossible, but failing in that, I would suggest that you sit down and talk with those of us here belonging to the Association, who know sales in this particular field. You will find quite a few of them here among you, and you will also find that they are ever ready to give you any ideas that they may possess to help you further along the road to success.

In closing, may I invite you to visit Whitemarsh Memorial Park.  It is less than two hours by automobile or train, and for most of you who are going west, your ticket will provide stop-over privileges in Philadelphia. You will see what we believe to be an execution of the principles that I have mentioned, and you will also see that we have strived to build a very beautiful memorial park. One that we hope is a credit to us and to the Association. It is needless to say, that you will be welcome. I sincerely trust you will pay us a visit.

From the publication:
“ACOA 1938 Cemetery Handbook and Buyers’ Guide"
8th Annual Meeting and Convention held at
Hotel New Yorker, NY

Various kinds of work performed in the large cemeteries of today have come about by a sort of an evolutionary process.

There was a time when the first church graveyard or the township plots with its ten by ten lots were probably aligned by the eye or chord line, and the sexton or near by neighbor could tell from memory all buried therein.

Today it is somewhat different. The lots are designed to fit the contour of the ground and the landscape effects should be most pleasing to the eye. After all it is the living we must please, and a visitor may be so attracted to a certain spot that often times leads up to the sale of the lot in advance of the need.

As I am assuming that all of us here are connected with cemeteries already established, and instead of dealing with an entire new proposition I shall devote my time more to the designing of a new section or that phase of the work.

Cemeteries of any importance should have in their possession a topographical map showing the contours, and the proposed roads, water mains, sewers, etc.

Before constructing a new section it is advisable to first build the road way around it, or at least bring the road to such a point that will be accessible to the section.

There should, be a great deal of consideration given to the roadways as they are a very important factor in the cemetery, the grades and curves should be well worked out. Catch basins should be set at certain intervals depending upon the width, grade, and slope if any on the section. Very steep grades are unbecoming as well as dangerous, and I would say that grades above seven per cent should be avoided and if at all possible hold down to five percent. All drives or roads on a curve in a cemetery boulevard, or elsewhere should be built with a super-elevation, i. e; the outside of the curve should be higher than the inside. This not only makes driving safer but saves the roads as well and will not mar the landscape when properly constructed.

I would like to digress here a moment and call your attention to some of our roads at Lake View Cemetery. We have between six and seven miles of macadam roads; as they were built a great many years ago the surface has been worn off in a great many places. During the past month or two we have tried out a few new schemes—on one stretch of about 1500 feet in length we have resurfaced with a material called Kentucky Rock, or some call it Kirock for short.  On another stretch of about the same length we have resurfaced this with a material known as Amacite.

On your trip tomorrow afternoon these two roads are near the Garfield Memorial, and we will be very glad to go into details of the laying of this material and any information that you care to have along that line.

If we are to have good landscape sections then there must be good roads to produce a harmonious effect which would be pleasing to the eye as one rides along the curved drives leading to or by lakes, ravines, or things of interest.

In designing sections, a great deal of thought should be given to this part of the work—long before a section is needed it should go through the mental stage of construction, even in this stage it may often be torn down and rebuilt. It would be advisable to visit the proposed plat of ground occasionally, and each time approach it from a different angle. Sometimes it may be well to do some free hand sketching. In doing this one will unconsciously acquire a mental photo of the future section.

After this is well established in one's mind, all trees or anything else that might hinder in the plan of burials should be accurately located. This will aid greatly in the designing of lots and should be platted accordingly. Nature has provided our land well with trees. In this part or the country our cemeteries contain many such specimens as the Oak, Maple, .Elm, etc., occasionally in undeveloped parts there maybe a large space that has no trees. In places such as this and others, a  few of the ornamental type might be considered, such as the Ginkgo, Pin Oak, Taxodium, Oriental Plane, or something on the order of the Purple or Copper Beech for color effect. There are many places where these types would be fitting and would not only be in contrast to the general shade type of tree, but would give an artistic effect to the section as well.

Before allotting a section a study should be made of its location as to its surroundings, etc. If one of the remote sections laying somewhere along the border tine it may be better suited for single grave allotments or a part of it for two or three grave lots. If on the other hand it should be the select part of the cemetery which would bring the highest price, an entirely different scheme should be worked out.

It would not be advisable to adhere to hard set rules in platting a section as one plan may require an entirely different scheme from another based on its location, and the contour of the ground. Each one must be a study of itself. In all events there should be a three root reserve strip on the border of the section. In this strip the water mains can be laid, and is a much better place than in the roadways, In case of a leak a repair can be made and the road will not have to be dug up or traffic interfered with. There may be occasions to lay telephone or electric cables an which this strip again becomes useful.

In the average section the first tier of lots back of the reserve strip may be ten or twelve feet in depth then followed by nine foot tiers with a three foot walk. 

It should be kept in mind that in platting the lots to provide for walks in which water lines can be run in which any lot can be reached with a hose on a fifty foot radius, and if it can be so arranged there should be only one drip for the entire section at the lowest .point. There should be a three inch drain in the same trench with the water pipe to take care of the waste water from the hose connections and goose necks where lot owners may have access to the water.

Monument lots should vary in size as well as the small lots which do not permit monuments. These lots should be kept back from driveways as much as possible to be in keeping with the park plan scheme. It gives the monuments more of an individual setting where planting can be used for a background which not only adds to the beauty of the monument but enhances the general landscape as well. Some have gone so far in cemetery designing to suggest that all stone work be eliminated to make it a beautiful park. I think this is overstepping the line somewhat, and is contrary to a deep rooted sentiment of a long time custom to mark the last resting place of those who have gone before. There will be parks, and there will be cemeteries, but let there still be a distinction between the two.

The distance from the road to the farthest lot in which pall bearers would be expected to carry should be given consideration. Probably 150 feet would be a maximum distance. Often times in a very large section it is advisable to run an eight foot service drive through the center in which funerals would have better access to the lot. This would also give better service to the gardener and grave digger in the handling of materials to and from the main drive.

A word or two about drainage may not be out of place. No one wants to bury their loved ones in a wet grave. A section or part or a section that would be inclined to be wet should be drained. This should be done during the course of construction after the rough grading has been done. When the allotting plan has been decided upon, the drains should be so arranged that they will pass through the lots where needed. It is also well to use plenty of cinders to insure better drainage.

The modern cemetery or course must have cornerstones with numbers upon them indicating upon the ground the boundary or lots. This is not only essential, but a great help to the salesman, lot owner, or employees in locating the lot. All corner stones should be furnished by the cemetery, and placed in the ground before the section is opened for sale.

The section or sales map should have all the data noted thereon as to the prices and sizes or all lots, as well as restrictions or whatever nature regarding the section. All details regarding the condition of sale, rules, etc., should be thoroughly explained to the new-coming lot owner, so that there may be no misunderstandings or hard feelings later on.

The selling of burial lots is nothing new; we might go back to Gen. 23: 15-20, where it tells us that "Abraham buried Sarah his wife who was 127 years old, and paid Ephram 400 shekels of silver for the cave in which to bury Sarah." Here we have the first purchase of land and a record of burial. It is very essential to keep an accurate record not only of the burials but all permanent fixtures that go into the ground, as well as on top, because sooner or later information may be wanted by the lot owner regarding past burials. Future improvements maybe made from time to time in which connections must be made to water mains, sewers, etc., which have been recorded in the past. A card index system giving the lot owner's name as well as those that have, been buried on the various lots is a very essential record to keep. From this it is quite convenient to answer the many quarters from the lot owners as to the location of their relatives and friends and often times their own lots. The various cemeteries seem to have their own system of keeping record of location of burials, headstones, etc. Some use the lot diagram book, and some the card system. A few of the larger cemeteries however, record this information as well as other, upon large sheets drawn to a scale. These sheets represent a plat of ground 150 ft. x 200 ft. Lots when platted upon these sheets not only show the adjoining lots but show all those near by, and have been found very useful in an explanatory sense, especially when arranging for burial with a lot owner who is not very familiar with his lot. As stated before, all permanent fixtures are recorded on these sheets, and with the proper index it is very convenient to locate anything, and the whole territory in question can be seen at a. glance. At the intersection of the base lines which represent this block, a permanent monument can be placed upon which is a number, corresponding to the number of the block. A map or record of elevation upon the various monuments will be found quite useful from time to time, especially when working up new territory.

There have been several schemes suggested and tried along the lines of advertising cemetery lots. Newspaper ads etc., may be all right to introduce a new proposition, but an established cemetery upon a running basis can do no better than interest people by its attractive landscape and good service, worked out from a well studied plan.

In many of the cemeteries a lot holder is considered a member of the association or corporation. In this way they take a greater interest in more ways than one, and will undoubtedly be a booster in their community to get their friends to join with them in the self same interest.

Gladstone, England's great statesman; who measured people by their cemeteries once said, "Show me the manner in which a nation or community cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals."

In conclusion it might be said that "cemetery engineering” after all, involves more than the use of transit and chain, as they only play a small part, yet are very useful when the proper time comes for their use in development work, whether it be new sections, roadways, buildings of various kinds, etc. These problems as well as many others require a great deal of methodical deliberation in studying out the various suggestions that come up. It has been said that work well planned is 51% complete, therefore it is absolutely essential that plans be prepared, and be given very careful consideration that later on when fully executed, they will show forth the idea finished in reality, which will be admired by those of like minds, as well as those of the community, and visitors as well, and will prove that time and money have been well spent.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 41st Annual Convention
Cleveland, OH
August 22, 23, 24 and 25, 1927

It would seem rather presumptuous on my part to have you expect me to present something new on this subject when the records of our Association reveal that the same has been repeatedly written about and ably interpreted.

However, in complying with the Committee's wish to prepare a paper on this subject the thought occurred to me that after all the purpose of a paper is not so much to bring before the meeting something new, but rather to provide material for a profitable discussion, so with this thought in mind I have prepared the following remarks:

It is only of later years that cemetery engineering and the co-relative landscape engineering have developed into a branch of civil engineering, dealing with special problems and it may be said that admirable results in the way of cemetery work are to be recorded, for it can be readily understood that cemetery engineering and landscape engineering must plan and work hand in hand in order to produce satisfactory results.

In as much as plans for building and improving a cemetery are positively required, any corporation engaging to do this should seek the advice of and consult with a qualified cemetery engineer before beginning operations. There are a series of plans necessary for the successful laying out and improving a cemetery of which the principal ones are Topographical Plan, the work plan and the Section and Lot Plan.

The first step in the way of plans is to secure an accurate topographical survey and map of the property, giving a description of the same, measurements of the boundaries together with angles, curves, if any; this pan will include the cross-sectioning of the property into squares, usually 100 feet to a side, with one set of lines running parallel and the other at right angles preferably to one of the property boundaries. For the identification of each intersection it is well to use the alphabet for one set of lines and numericals on those at right angles with the lettered lines, thus will each intersection be designated by a letter and a number. The accuracy of this work both on the plans and in the field is of vital importance, because all future plans are based on these lines and intersections; therefore care should be taken to preserve their locations by methods which will prevent losing them when improvements are going on. Cross sectioning as the base for all plans for cemetery improvements has been mentioned in various articles; it bears repetition particularly on account of the minimum chance for any errors in the development of improvements.

In order to secure the conformation of the surface elevations are taken at the cross section intersections and at as many points within each square deemed necessary to be able to plat like level contours. All outstanding natural features present on the premises, buildings, trees, either single or in groups, wooded .portions, slopes, ravines, rocks, water courses, springs, etc., are located with ease from cross section lines and their elevations noted.  There is this to be added in favor of the cross sectioning system that work can be begun and carried on in various parts of the grounds with the absolute assurance that, when the work of these parts are brought together there will be no misfit.

The first study of the road system is made on or with the aid of the topographical plan, when doubtful as to the correctness of any location or direction temporary stakes are set out and when satisfactory lines adjusted to the topography have been obtained measurements are recorded on the "Work Plan."

Preferably this plan is to be drawn in the same scale as the topographical plan, is to have the cross sectioning lines numbered and lettered as mentioned before and the drives located thus forming the system of sections. For setting out centers of drives various more or less intricate methods are employed; a practical and easy method is to do so by measured off sets from the cross section lines. At 20' or 25' equal distances along these lines off sets are drawn at right angles from them to the centre of the drives and the distances scaled as closely as possible; in the field it is comparatively an easy matter to locate these off sets with the subtended distances. If it should occur that stakes thus placed do not exactly meet the requirements of a good curve corrections should be made at once by moving the stakes that appear out of line for a harmonious curve into positions to satisfy the eye. If the scaling was done carefully very few corrections will most likely be required, but any and every deviation found from the given measurements should be recorded on the plan at once.

In as much as centre stakes of a drive are most apt to be lost or misplaced during the progress of grading it is good practice to set guide stakes on each side of the drive opposite the centre stakes about two feet beyond the required width of the drive.  Stakes set in this position are more likely to be preserved and also serve good purpose for marking them with necessary figures for cut or fill required for the grade at these points, thus acting as a guide for the operator in grading.

Established grades of the drives are recorded on this plan and new like level contours may also be drawn indicating the proposed changes in the surfaces of the sections, storm water drains are to be drawn, sizes of crock and grades of the same indicated together with the necessary catch basins and their connections.

Memoranda of underground drains, if such appear to be necessary will be recorded on this plan; so too it will show whatever system is adopted for the distribution of water to all portions of the grounds. Location of main entrance and auxiliary entrances, chapel, vault, office, residence, etc., are also to be shown, as well as any special features, which are to be provided either for temporary or permanent use.

The system of drives forming the sections is produced on the Section and Lot plan in precisely the same manner as mentioned for the previous plan, namely by measured off sets from the cross section lines. Preliminary studies are made for subdividing sections into lots, the principal lines of which should be tried out on the grounds and adjusted.  In this connection it is to be said that no matter how well and carefully the subdivision has been planned and worked out there is always a possibility of changes to be expected in the future to accommodate special demands of prospective purchasers; for that reason it is best to complete platting only such portions of the cemetery that are to be opened for sale, reserving the remainder to be arranged for future requirements.

While it is understood that the section and lot plan must be carefully drawn to scale the actual sizes of lots or groups, ornamental spaces, grass walks and borders will not be recorded upon the same. For that purpose plats in a larger scale should be prepared of one or more sections on one sheet. On these detailed plats again will appear the cross section lines for the purpose of outlining the section itself; all lots are platted from actual measurements taken on the grounds, both as to their sizes and as to their relation to the cross section lines, thus recording the position of a lot or a group in a definite manner.

The system of planning herewith briefly outlined reduces the work of engineering and platting to the simplest method and it is an absolutely reliable method when the work is carefully and accurately done.

It is a fact recognized by experienced cemetery men that the entire and complete planning of a cemetery should not be left in the hands of an artist alone; the latter should avail himself of the helpful assistance of the engineer to accomplish results which will be practical from a business standpoint and beautiful from an esthetic standpoint.

I have purposely refrained from mentioning planting plans or the work of draining, road building, etc., because there is plenty of that in our previous reports to guide anybody in that line.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 39th Annual Convention
Chicago, Illinois
August 24, 25, 26 and 27, 1925

The subject "Creation of a Modern Park Cemetery" would necessitate a theoretical discourse—the "Creation of Forest Lawn" is an actual experience from which you may acquire some practical benefit.

My first glimpse of Forest Lawn Cemetery showed it to be a little country cemetery, of ten acres developed, forty-five undeveloped; with no buildings, no improvements, with the exception of a grove of olive trees and a few scattering headstones. Such a picture most of you have seen many times. Forest Lawn's other assets were a total of 1400 interments, and yearly gross sales of $28,000.

Today, twelve years after we took charge, Forest Lawn Cemetery is Forest Lawn Memorial Park—Park it is, because the visitor rarely recognizes that he is entering into a so-called "cemetery". Forest Lawn now comprises over 200 acres, with a total of 28,464 interments, sales amounting to more than one million dollars per year, and total assets aggregating ten million dollars. It averages 300 interments per month, and 81 weddings per month. Our payroll of yesterday showed an organization of 406 employees, including an Architectural Department of 12 Architects and an Engineering force of like number.

Today it possesses many buildings of historical and architectural charm that house some of the world's greatest art treasures, and last year more than 525,000 visitors passed through her gates. Forest Lawn is not only a safe depository for our beloved dead, but also a place for the living to visit and sacredly enjoy. The manner in which these results have been arrived at are briefly as follows:

My first move twelve years ago when I awoke to find myself in charge of Forest Lawn Cemetery, was to personally visit the great interment places of the world. I talked to Superintendents, Grave Diggers, Presidents, and Undertakers. I wanted to find out why a African-American whistled when he went through a cemetery; I wanted to find out why most of the interment spots in the United States were places to be shunned—looked upon as civic liabilities where they should have been civic assets. I wanted to find out why even the most beautiful cemeteries were visited by people mainly from a sense of duty; why most of them were so ugly, and why they didn't have architects and landscape engineers connected with them. I wanted to find out if the cemeteries were wrong or if it was the people. And then when I had finished with the cemeteries, I visited public parks, glimpsed their lovely vistas, watched their fountains at play, admired their beautiful statuary and studied their architectural buildings. I strolled through museums and galleries of art; I questioned people who had traveled in the art centers of the Old World—and then I came home. I had found my answer.

BUILDER’S CREED

I have always found if I put my thoughts into writing the very act seems to clarify my mind and enables me to approach a problem in a logical manner. And so, on New Year's Day, 1917 I sat down and wrote what I termed "The Builder's Creed", and if I were called upon today to give you my recipe for the "Creation of a Modern Park Cemetery", the best I could do would be to hand you this Creed:

"I believe in a happy Eternal Life. I believe that those of us left behind should be glad in the certain belief that those gone before have entered into that happier life. I believe, most of all, in a Christ that smiles and loves you and me. I therefore know the cemeteries of today are wrong because they depict an end, not a beginning. They have consequently become unsightly stone yards, full of inartistic symbols and depressing customs, places that do nothing for humanity save a practical act and that not well.

"I therefore prayerfully resolve on this New Year's Day, 1917, that, I shall endeavor to build Forest Lawn as different as unlike other cemeteries as sunshine is unlike darkness, as Eternal Life is unlike Death. I shall try to build at Forest Lawn a great Park, devoid of misshapen monuments and other customary signs of earthly death, but filled with towering trees, sweeping lawns, splashing fountains, singing birds, beautiful statuary, cheerful flowers, noble memorial architecture, with interiors full of light and color, and redolent of the world's best history and romances. I believe these things educate and uplift a community.

"Forest Lawn shall become a place where lovers new and old shall love to stroll and watch the sunset's glow, planning for the future or reminiscing of the past; a place where artists study and sketch; where school teachers bring happy children to see the things they read of in books; where little churches invite, triumphant in the knowledge that from their pulpits only words of love can be spoken, where memorialization of loved ones in sculptured marble and pictorial glass shall be encouraged but controlled by acknowledged artists; a place where the sorrowing will be soothed and strengthened because it will be God's Garden. A place that shall be protected by an immense Perpetual Care Fund, the principal of which can never be expended—only the income there from used to care for and perpetuate this Garden of Memory. This is the Builder's Dream; this is the Builder's Creed."

That Creed has never been changed from that day to this and at Forest Lawn it has been not only our aesthetic guide but it has been the practical, every day rule upon which all our development and operation has been based.

Let me tell you of a few of the milestones that we passed in our endeavor to carry out this Creed.

Our financial set-up included two corporations—one, a corporation which owned the land and was the usual form of Business Corporation with stockholders who invested their money with the hopes of making profit. The other corporation, called Forest Lawn Cemetery Association, was a mutual association with no stockholders, comprised of lot owners and so constituted that any profits it might make must be expended back upon the cemetery and could not be distributed for the benefit of any individual. The Land Company made a contract with the Association to sell the Association its land and the purchase price was determined by a fifty-fifty division of whatever amount the Association should receive from the public for its lots. The Association thus purchased from the Land Company real estate as it would have purchased it from any other corporation or landowner. The Association then took these lands and manufactured them into a cemetery product.

Financing, efficiency and organization have always been the subjects that we at Forest Lawn give the most Attention. We know if the finances and sales are not forthcoming, the plans that we hold so dear to our hearts cannot be carried out. Forest Lawn had no money; therefore we next turned our attention to a Sales Force.

The Sales Force was divided into two groups: A salaried force for selling our products for immediate use to the purchaser who had a death in his family; the other group sold our product before need and their remuneration was based entirely on commission.

This "Before Need” was the first organization west of the Mississippi to sell cemetery lands in this manner—a method that had been tried in but two other places in the world before. Sales forces are needed, but they can be either a great blessing or a great abomination. I could talk to you for hours on our experience with sales forces, but time does not permit. In passing, let me urge this one word of caution out of our experience. That Sales Force is wrong whose whole theory of salesmanship is based upon price, money, buy cheap today and make a profit tomorrow. The best and highest type of salesmen in this business never mention these subjects—he deals only with the moral factors involved, such as insurance, duty, protection to the family, approaching the matter in the same light as one draws his will.
 
We next laid plans for development. We immediately saw the wisdom of merging together all forms of burial—namely, cremation, mausoleum, and cemetery under one management and one ownership. This, I believe, was the first time this had been done in the United States. The amalgamation of three overheads meant not only financial efficiency but again gave to the purchaser a great service. A family could disagree upon the various forms of burial each one desired and yet in Forest Lawn we offered to them the prospect of finally being gathered together in one spot.

"Beauty" was the yardstick by which we measured equally the physical development of our grounds and buildings the requests of the purchaser that something special be done on his lot or his crypt, or the Engineer's and Architect's plans and specifications. We realized that Forest Lawn must be developed as a whole. No longer must the individual be allowed to do anything in regard to his interment space.

I adopted three slogans:
1.    We shall depict LIFE, not Death.
2.    A safe depository for our beloved dead and also a place for the living to sacredly enjoy.
3.    Spend one dollar in construction today to save one cent in future care tomorrow.

We also changed the method of computing Perpetual Care in terms of a percentage of the purchase price, to that method of setting so much aside per square foot of land area to be taken care of regardless of purchase price received.

Our next step was to revise the rules, regulations and restrictions. Here we encountered the greatest obstacle of all. Precedent is one of the hardest things there is to combat in the human mind. The older we grow the less do we like changes; the more we like to do as was done before. The public looks with suspicion upon radical changes in interment places.

We had early determined that it was monuments that had turned cemeteries into stone yards. I could find nothing beautiful in ninety nine percent of the so-called "monuments" placed in the cemeteries of America. They rendered a Park plan impossible. We first offered the purchaser a ten percent discount if he would accept a deed without a monumental privilege extending above the surface of the lawn. I then called together the prominent monument dealers and reasoned with them. I suggested that in the main they were creating objects of ugliness. I requested that they cooperate with me in endeavoring to create only memorials of beauty. I left that meeting discouraged because it seemed to me there was not one of them on speaking terms with "beauty." A year later, Forest Lawn took the bull by the horns and forever eradicated the so-called "monument." Then they took me to the Grand Jury. "Restraint of trade" was the charge. Have you ever walked into the Grand Jury room as a possible defendant? I explained and the Jury laughed away my fears.

Then we underwent that experience, awful to any cemetery man, viz., of seeing would be purchaser turn and leave Forest Lawn without purchasing, because they could not have a monument. It took nerve to "Stand by the guns" in those days—particularly when we were sailing an unchartered sea. I held firm, however, in the belief that the Five Dollar gold piece was obscured by the Silver Dollar close to our eye and too, one must be true to one's Creed. Soon the tide turned. The public began to see the picture we were striving to create and today, the only requests we have for monuments are when the purchaser desires to spend sufficient money to create a real work of art.

Through the years we gradually affected other reforms. I list a few of them:

We banned artificial flowers.

Nothing in front of or on mausoleum crypts except those bronze vases and crypt memorials designed by and furnished by the Association.

(I wonder why it is that people always go to their attic when they desire to take something to a cemetery or a mausoleum I have seen mausoleum shelves that look like a bottle factory on a spree.)

No memorial decoration whatsoever placed without the approval of the Association.

The Association does all planting.

Markers at graves restricted to bronze only—more lasting and more artistic; lawnmowers do not chip.

No coping or any form of enclosure allowed to mark the lines of any lot or grave.

Memorials in mausoleum either bronze or Carrara marble—other metals and Alabaster prohibited.

No cut-in letters permitted on crypts except in first unit of mausoleum.

All burials in Forest Lawn must be made in concrete boxes, the reason being that wood boxes cave in, leaving an unsightly greensward and add appreciably to care.

We pictured LIFE, not Death. We carefully eradicated the old familiar signs of death. We substituted the winged-doves, swimming ducks, singing birds, splashing fountains—everything symbolical of LIFE. We eradicated even the trees that lose their leaves in the winter time suggesting death. And thus restriction upon restriction we piled up but always that restriction was based upon the good of all, even though it hurt the individual, and always based upon the best professional artistic judgment we could get.

Our first building was inspired by the Architect's visit to that little church at Stoke Poges where the poet Gray wrote his immortal "Elegy, written in a Country Churchyard." In keeping with our resolution to depict LIFE and not Death, we added, adjacent to the pews, conservatories filled with flowers and singing birds. Over the chancel we wrote this inscription: "A New Commandment I give unto you, that ye' love one another." This church was properly dedicated with all due solemnity and ceremony and then, like any other church it was thrown open for sermons, funerals, weddings, christenings, etc. We called this church "The Little Church of the Flowers" and it has become so popular that today we are just finishing another, to be dedicated as the "Wee Kirk o' the Heather." It is an exact reconstruction of Annie Laurie's church at Glencairn, Scotland, which lies in ruins.

Our Mausoleum has been built in units, conforming to a general plan. We estimate the general building will take about fifteen years more to complete, at a total cost of approximately Twenty-five Millions of Dollars. Four units have been completed and sold. The fifth is now under construction and will contain the great Memorial Court of Honor wherein "The Last Supper" window will be placed. These units have been built as sales progressed. Gross sales in the Mausoleum, to date, have amounted to approximately three millions of dollars. Here again we planned to eradicate gloom and depression substituting cheer, bright colors, depicting galleries of art rather than halls of death, always bearing in mind our slogan of "A safe depository for our beloved dead, but also a place for the living to sacredly enjoy." I touch the physical description only briefly because I understand you are later to visit Forest Lawn.

I shall never forget my first purchase of statuary. It was Edith Parson's "Duck Baby," made famous by Robinson's poem at the San Francisco Fair. I suggested to the Board that they authorize me to make this purchase. I immediately saw that the appropriation would not pass the Boards, so I adjourned the meeting without putting the matter to a vote. A week later I purchased the statue on my own authority as General Manager. A short time ago we placed in Forest Lawn the great "Mystery of Life" statue, comprising some twenty two life size figures, the site of which occupies 3,576 square feet, at a cost of approximately sixty-seven thousand dollars. That appropriation passed the Board without a dissenting vote and many expressions of enthusiastic approval. Such was the difference between the old attitude and the new. The same men, the same Board but with a different view point.

In 1923 I started by biennial trips to Europe, with the intention of studying at close range the art and architecture of those places acknowledged by the world, without debate, to be "beautiful." Every other year I have gone abroad, bringing back to Forest Lawn bigger and better things as my experience became qualified and Forest Lawn's progress became more assured. I could talk to you for hours telling you of antique furniture, old tapestries, the sword of Charles the First, Michelangelo's "Moses", "The Last Supper", in art glass, Fanfani's "Mother Love," Canova's "Three Graces" adinfinitum.

If you desire, go see these things for yourself. Be sure to tell my boys to give you a Guide Book, (we finally had to issue one, explaining approximately 165 works of art—educational, inspiring, and replete with the world's best historical romances. Who ever heard of a cemetery having a Guide Book? Who ever heard of a cemetery that, during the month of June, had to close its book of wedding reservations at 165 because there were no more hours left? I hear someone say—"Weddings are good advertising". If you stop there you miss the very point I am trying to illustrate. It means that the attitude of people is changing towards our interment places. Instinctive in every human heart is a desire and a reaching out for the beautiful things of life. Give the public "beauty" and it will respond a hundred fold.

We already have museum rooms at Forest Lawn. I hope the day will come when we shall have a Forest Lawn Academy of Fine Arts, free to the worthy youth of the Pacific Coast. I hope to persuade sufficient people in this Southland to provide in their wills endowments, whereby the Honor man in the graduating class in this institution or arts may be given three years abroad, with expenses paid. An ambitious program, yes, but I believe basically correct and no more difficult of accomplishment than the ones we laid in 1917, a great many of which have come to pass.

Ladies and gentlemen—this brings me to my last topic—the Memorial Idea. All the figures and facts that I have heretofore quoted have been made with the hope of convincing you that the statements I shall now make are not merely theoretical assumptions but facts born of hard experiences in the interment field. I fancy I see u smile come over the faces of the Californians in this audience, because they have heard me speak on the Memorial Idea before. I am sorry, because I fear they will be bored, for I shall say nothing new—I shall not even attempt a newness because the more familiar I can make this subject to them and to you the more surely can I drive home the intense conviction that I have.

The memorial instinct is one of the oldest and greatest in man. It is this instinct that, moving in practical ways, has created the great art and architectural triumphs of the ages. Few people realize that it was the memorial idea that gave to the world the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, which is acknowledged to be the most beautiful building in the world. Westminster Abbey, the Partheon, the Castel Saint Angelo and practically all of the enduring works of architecture and art that succeeding generations have journeyed around the world to see and admire.

Mr. Will Durant, author of that book "The Mansions of Philosophy" which is being so generally read just now, pays a remarkable tribute to the influence which the memorialization idea has played in art and architecture. He says:

"Architecture began with tombs that housed the dead; the most ancient architectural monuments in the world—the Pyramids—are tombs. Churches began as shrines to the dead and places for worshipping them. Gradually the burial place was taken out into the neighboring ground, but still, in Westminster Abbey, the graves of great ancestors are within the church. From these beginnings came the proud temples raised by the Greeks to Pallas, Athene, and the other gods; and from similar beginnings came those fairest works ever reared by man, the Gothic cathedrals, whose altars, like those early tombs, harbor the relics of the holy dead."

All of our history books, our literature and much of our daily living, is derived from the efforts of the past ages to leave a record of themselves in memorials. Everything passes except that generated by this Memorial Idea. Its spiritual significance defends it against encroachments of a material age, and the cemetery, mausoleum, or crematory that plans such development upon this foundation can rest assured that coming generations will approve. If you hold strongly to the spiritual thought which inspires it, if you but carry the message by the dignity of form and proportion, the refinement of color and detail, by the beauty of the whole, present generations will reward you and future generations admire and preserve.

Do not fall into the error of believing that the average cemetery official can create beauty. I seriously doubt if there is a man in this room capable of truly evidencing the Memorial Idea in form and color. If any of you have that capacity then you have combined in you the qualities of a great architect, a great artist, a great landscape engineer and a great sculptor, because these attainments are needed. You will find that in the long run it will be cheaper to hire those men acknowledged to be "Great" in these lines and to whom God, at birth, gave the power to create beautiful things.

If you plan artistically correct in the beginning you will find that in the end you save money. Look at Paris with its Champs Elysees and intersecting streets, planned by a great architect long before the automobile came into existence. Correct planning meant broad avenues which automatically took care of automobile congestion, whereas today we, in our cities, are spending millions to change these narrow streets.

The financial welfare of every man in this room is dependent upon the elevation of the Memorial Idea, to encourage it is obvious—to degrade it is suicide, and yet that very thing we do every day.

THE CEMETERY MAN, who allows an ugly thing placed or developed within the confines of his grounds, or by word of mouth divests if of its spiritual significance, is helping to destroy the Memorial Idea.

THE MAUSOLEUM BUILDER, who allows any material or form of design to go into his building except that acknowledged by the technical world to be the most lasting and the most beautiful, writes his own epitaph.

THE CREMATION MAN who stops with the ashes (incinerated remains) in his hands, and fails to insist that his client create a memorial for those remains, evidenced by an urn and a niche, or solemn committal to a grave or mausoleum, will, in time, like Samson, pull the house down upon us and himself. God hasten the day when the crematories will take their stand and say "No more incineration without the creation of a memorial—we define the word 'cremation' as including incineration, inurnment and permanent deposition—the three actions are inseparable and indivisible."

THE UNDERTAKER who impresses his clients with the feeling that his portion of attending to the death is the most important, that he is, to all practical purposes the end of the transaction (where the Memorial Idea demands that he be but the entrance door to the Memorial Temple), that Undertaker is the greatest fool of all. His is the greatest opportunity because his clients are in a plastic state, ready to be tuned to the highest call of the Memorial Idea, or molded with a commercial, materialistic, get-it-over form of thought, which results in nothing of lasting benefit to society of his family.

How long—how long will the Interment Association endure the degradation of the Memorial Idea by certain low caliber Funeral Directors? I know of many Funeral Directors who are high class, intelligent, sympathetic and in tune with the Memorial Idea, but I am informed that there are many others whose efforts tend to lower the ethical standards so strived at by the Association of Funeral Directors.

God forbid that I shall be compelled to enter the undertaking business, but I solemnly prophecy this: That the Memorial Park of tomorrow will demand sweeping reforms on the part of the undertaking craft or Memorial Parks will build and develop undertaking establishments of their own. I prophecy, because the end is obvious—it is economically correct. In any other business these consolidations would .have been effected long ago. Service to the public of the future will demand an undertaking establishment in every cemetery—in every mausoleum—in every crematory, where the sorrowing purchaser may go and transact all of his interment preparations at one time with one concern and one individual, in a place where he, his family and friends at the time of the funeral may park their automobiles in grounds where roads provide ample parking area and amidst surroundings of beauty and quiet which soothe and comfort their sorrow. The public of the future will demand that this consolidation be effected to save them the high cost of burying. Then, and not till then, will the Memorial Idea be in position to be brought to its highest fruition.

Let you and me resolve to go back to our various institutions and "play the game", resolved to stand staunch and true to the Memorial Idea; resolved that when we are distracted by the barrage of requests from unthinking owners to allow this or that improvement to their interment space, to stand fast and "play the game."

I have known a few business men who consistently have fought a victorious fight, but I think most of us, with all our good intentions fall back boot by boot until at last, for some reason, we stiffen and hold our own. Hold fast to this Memorial Idea—it will make you free spiritually and financially.

Cemeteries can never be separated from religion. Yesterday, religion was puritanical—it spoke in the terms of the Ten Commandments—in terms of sacrifice—in terms of Calvary.  Today, religion is gladsome, radiant—it speaks in the terms of the Beatitudes—of joyousness and the Smiling Christ. And so, as the cemeteries of yesterday evidenced the religion of yesterday, so must the successful Memorial Park of tomorrow, evidence the religion of today. Cemeteries are the physical expression of the religious spirit of their time.

My belief is that the Interment organization that demonstrates its right to exist, must prepare to serve the living by not only giving them a safe depository for their beloved dead, but a place that will be spiritually uplifting, physically beautiful, its personnel filled with a sincere desire to serve its fellowman. Such a place will truly express the Memorial Idea. Such is the true conception for the "Creation of a Modern Park Cemetery".

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Convention
Los Angeles, CA
September 3, 4, 5 and 6, 1929

The subject which I have chosen is a large one and only a few of the obstacles can be considered in this paper. My paper will apply more particularly to towns than large cities.

The first thing to be done is to procure a suitable tract of land, and in most cases this will be the first obstacle. Objections of various kinds will be raised. The land will be needed for building purposes, a railroad may wish to pass through it, for the improvement of the town, perhaps new streets may be needed, and other things, many of which can be overcome by choosing a spot at considerable distance from the town or city.

After a funeral procession has started, a half mile more or less makes no great difference.

Another obstacle to be overcome is prejudice; this is the hardest thing to conquer. Many persons will say, "The old graveyard is good enough for me, and it cost less." "What was good enough for my forefathers is good enough for me." This feeling will disappear in a short time if the modern cemetery is in charge of a practical superintendent who will begin his work and finish it as he goes along, that the contrast between the old and the new may be plainly seen. He must not work in a haphazard manner by beginning everywhere, and finishing nowhere.

Still another obstacle to surmount is the matter of setting monuments and headstones. This is of great importance, as nothing looks so bad in a cemetery as monuments that have been imperfectly or poorly set. It is hard to make some lot owners believe that foundations are necessary, and frequently monument men will tell their customers that a foundation is not needed, while other monument dealers will dictate to the superintendent about depth of foundations, and how the grading should be done; matters that they know comparatively nothing about. Your by-laws should regulate these things as well as the matter of curbing. Curbing of lots should not be allowed, but only well kept lawns, good paths, and avenues, which will save both time and money. In the course of time lot owners will see how much better uncurbed, well-graded lots appear, than where there are several kinds of curbing side by side.

Another thing that will give trouble to the superintendent is the stone wagon. When monuments are brought in, no place is too good for the men to drive over; it matters little to them what they destroy as long as they get close to the foundation, set the stone, and get away. The superintendent must determinedly put a stop to this, and see that his rules are enforced. Plenty of good planking, together with all necessary things for unloading in the avenues, should be kept on hand, that the monuments may easily be rolled to their foundations.

A difficulty quite hard to deal with is the cutting of flower beds in the lots by owners. This can hardly be forbidden, yet it should be discouraged as much as possible. Nothing will mar the beauty of a well-kept cemetery more than patches of sod dug up, and a few plants stuck in without any attempt at proper arrangement. Unless the beds are sodded over in the fall, they make unsightly spots in the winter and early spring. The difficulty can be met and overcome, if the superintendent meets the people in a manner that shows he has some consideration for their feelings.

I have before suggested finish as you go, just as far as possible, and have your flower beds so arranged in such places and sufficient quantities that flower beds in lots will appear unnecessary.

In my opinion the next thing to be built after the superintendent's house is a greenhouse. This will pay its way in a short time and will be invaluable in many ways. At the outset it may be difficult to make the trustees and directors see this, but the matter should be urged very strongly by the superintendent, as a greenhouse will be not only a great convenience for the cemetery, but also for lot owners. At the greenhouse they can procure flowers for decoration of graves and other purposes.

In some cemeteries the owners employ anyone they wish to care for their lots. All labor of this kind should be done by men in the employ of the cemetery. This will be difficult to enforce at first especially when starting a new cemetery upon the modern plan, and in a place where there is an old cemetery, a sort of go-as-you-place in which everyone may go in and out whenever they choose and work wherever they wish. I have been in such a cemetery, raised bodies, brought them away without any questions being asked.

No cemetery can be kept as it should be except under the perpetual care system, which should be insisted on from the beginning. One section, not under perpetual care, might be used for single graves; an arrangement which will give poor people a chance to purchase a small lot later on when they have the means. Persons who buy a single grave many times buy a small lot at some later period, when they can afford it and place the lot under perpetual care. The cost of removing bodies to a small lot from a single grave is very low and it is much better to do this way than buy a lot on the installment plan, with which so many cemeteries are continually troubled, often having lots left upon their hands, which have only been paid for in part. The best and safest way is to insist upon payment in full for the lot before any interment is made.

We superintendents must educate the people out of the old idea into the new and strive to make the cemetery what it should be, a modern cemetery. As much thought should be given to the laying out of a cemetery, as would be given to the plans for a park that was to beautify the town or city. Try to create a spark of pride among the people in regard to their cemetery that they may be willing to spend a little money for the sake of having a beautiful place where they may lay their dead. Try to eradicate the old idea that a cemetery must of necessity be a gloomy uninteresting place. The cemetery of the future will be in a great measure what the superintendents of today make it. Let us not forget that we are placed in communities as educators, and have a heavy responsibility resting upon us.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 9th Annual Convention
Richmond, VA
September 18, 19 and 20, 1895

The success of a new cemetery depends upon its location and the way it is designed.

Adopt rules and regulations, have them strictly observed and follow the modern plan, for it secures economy and attractiveness. Perpetual care should be provided for. One easily makes costly mistakes. The first step is to select grounds suitable for a cemetery, using precaution not to get ground with too much stone, or that which is low or too near the city. A thorough test should be made before deciding on any particular spot. The size of grounds should be according to population and surrounding places. It pays to purchase all the land you may need in years to come, as interested land holders know how to get a price for what could be bought for two-thirds less when first purchased.

Employ practical help, pay good wages and expect good results. Not many weeks ago I was requested to call and see a new cemetery whose owners had paid a snug amount to get it started. Upon looking around I discovered four men laying out lots in a field with stumps, stories, weeds and ruts (also enjoying good cigars). This work was started by a supposed first class engineer and to my surprise I found the drives as usual in the best part of the grounds. It is a common occurrence to see the mistakes of others and not our own. We do not care to conflict with the many so-called landscape engineers, few of them take advantage of natural beauty. Practical men should see at a glance what to do and how to go about it. Get a lawn or section in use at once, which will help curtail the expense. Beautifying the grounds, making lakes, waterfalls, etc., may be carried on when nothing urgent is on hand. Do not make your lawns small have them large, say from two to three acres in size. Where a smaller cemetery is needed, it will look better to have it in small sections, say one to one and a half acres to each section. Curves are always attractive; have them liberally displayed. When done take measure and stake opposite side for width of drive, which should be no less than eighteen feet, if you do make them smaller, the public will at once say it is a question of dollars, not beauty. When grading allow sufficient fall to carry the water to proper place. Be careful in grading. By all means get the ground smooth and shaped before sowing the grass seed. Grading is a permanent thing and nothing looks worse than a poorly graded place. In doing this use tools best suited for the soil. We at first work the scoop, which is drawn by two horses and carries eight cubic feet. When proper places are filled in we follow with a scraper eight feet long. This is a simple grading device, which does the work to perfection. It is simply an old-fashioned road scraper, governed by two men and one driver. With it we can accomplish more in one day than six men would in one week.

When finished harrow the sections thoroughly, pulverizing the soil to receive the seed. Lay your border with sod ten feet wide. Select some calm hour for sowing, after which apply the best bone fertilizer to be had. By all means abolish manure if you wish to have a nice clean lawn. Manure is a good fertilizer if plowed under, but great care should be taken not to use it for top dressing. Use nothing but Kentucky blue grass, as it gives the prettiest effect. When seeded, harrow again after which roll it with a light land, roller, and in a few weeks when the grass has appeared roll it again. When finished stake out lots to suit location and purchaser. Encourage the purchase of large lots, as they are the secret of a pretty cemetery. By all means do so, on your best sites. If your demand is greater for small lots select some spot where they will not be too conspicuous. Make up your mind to display stone yards on them. Allow nothing but good solid stone work; no patent arrangement should be allowed, as they are not in harmony with a modern cemetery. Keep your place clean, allow no outsider to put in foundation work or set markers. As to planting evergreens, trees, shrubs, etc., use precaution. Do not try to get too much in one spot. Avoid too close planting. Do not conceive the idea that you can succeed by not allowing plants on graves or allowing no mounds. This is too premature, our successors in years to come may accomplish this, but with the present competition surrounding every cemetery one has to use great care in the way things should be governed. Encourage cut flowers, as they are less troublesome and pay better than anything from the greenhouse.

Every cemetery should have its own greenhouses and grow plants and cut-flowers for the accommodation of lot holders. This gives pleasure to the lot holders, as they like to stroll through a greenhouse and appreciate it if properly cared for. Keep it clean. Do not grow anything that has no value. Plants of interest are what we want such as Palms, Orchids, Carnations, Roses, Violets, Pansies, Forget-me-nots, Specimen Ferns, Smilax and Bedding Plants, with a few other good flowering bulbs, as these are the standard varieties. The one in command should have full charge of employing, discharging, buying and paying all bills, and if anything is wrong he is responsible for it.

Have your men who attend to the burials provided with proper garments, such as men should wear. Do not have them appear like tramps, wearing unsightly looking clothes, as if to scare the mourner. Everything should be cheerful.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 9th Annual Convention
Richmond, VA
September 18, 19 and 20, 1895

It would be impossible to treat the whole subject of Cemetery Memorials in an article such as this, because of the many angles from which the subject might be viewed.

A very large number of articles might be written on this subject and each differs widely from the other, the particular theme depending upon the special influence which directed the thought of the author.

To some, certain types of monuments and their setting might have a peculiar interest, and we are sure that much, might be said which would lead to improved conditions in both these particulars.

The sculptor or designer would treat this subject from the viewpoint of the artist as he sees special types of art worked out in each Memorial. His thoughts would dwell upon design and the exactness of line and proportion. His opinion of the Cemetery Beautiful would be governed not so much by the proper distribution of well designed monuments as by the number of such and his opinion might be but little effected by the hundreds of stones which are sandwiched in between and in which, if art were to be found, a flexible imagination would needs be called into play.

This subject might also be considered from the standpoint of the person who purchases the Memorial to be placed upon his lot and it would often times be interesting to know something of the inf1uences which governed his selection and how much or how little of his own thought and character or that of his deceased loved ones are embodied in his Monument.

The Historian has written volumes describing the great outstanding monuments of the world and throughout all time the civilizations of Nations has been recorded through the character of these structures.

The great battle fields of the world are dotted with monuments which mark the spot where brave men fell and this Nation and all other Nations have erected magnificent tombs in honor of their fallen leaders.

The erection of Monuments has not been confined to any period of time, or to any race of people, for the enduring qualities of stones seem always to have been a symbol of eternity.

Reference to Memorials might therefore, bring to the mind's of people generally, widely different lines of thought, but to the Cemetery Superintendent his first thought is of the Cemetery Memorial, its uses and abuses.

It will be the purpose of the writer, then, to consider this subject from the viewpoint of the Cemetery Superintendent, whose vocation brings him in daily contact with Memorials of every description and because of the prominent place which the Memorial has in the Cemetery, he has given much of his time to a study’s of this feature of embellishment in all of its various phases.

Be it said, however, the superintendent does not pose as an Art critic. He has not devoted largely of his time to a study of the Classics. He may be little interested in the particular type of Art displayed in the numerous Monuments which are brought into the Cemetery. His has been a study of harmony in combinations, his eye has been trained in perspectives and he foresees the effect of scenic groupings. He sees the stone work in the cemetery as a conglomerate whole. It is the finished picture of monument and landscape combined which interests him as he plans to preserve some stretches of beautiful lawn from being disfigured by an undue and non-picturesque congestion of monuments and markers.

The question which we must solve is: How can he prevent this undue congestion and thus preserve distinct traces of his original plan?

His mind reverts to attempts made to this end and which resulted in only partial success.

He compares the older sections of his Cemetery with those of more modern development. His mind turns to Cemeteries in which management has been lacking and in which every lot owner has been a free agent. He likens conditions which are here found with those of his idea and an ideal lawn plan Cemetery, the product of trained minds and guiding hands and in which restrictions have been wisely and carefully enforced.

In his mental picture are wooded hillsides with here and there, amid low plantings of shrubbery, or partially hidden by branches of trees, a few well designed Memorials which tell some story of achievement and which have in them a something which will cause the passerby to pause and study and admire.

Rows and groups of monuments on every side are passed by daily, the character of which is so lacking as not to attract even the slightest attention.

Many exceptions, however, are to be found in all our Cemeteries.  The writer pauses often before a roughly hewn boulder, under the shadow of massive oaks, isolated from other monuments, and there reads from a bronze tablet the names of twenty-three men, buried with the County, who fought far America's Independence in the War of the Revolution.

In the Cemetery at Marion, where reposes the body of our beloved Mr. Harding, and where to whose memory a splendid memorial is soon to be erected, stands a Memorial chapel and upon its interior walls are inscribed the names of all the volunteers from Marian County who were engaged in the struggle of 1861 to 1865.

On the banks of a mirrored lake in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton and under the branches of a great tree, stands a boulder paced there by admiring friends, and dedicated to the memory of one who rose above others of his race and color, and on the bronze tablet which bears testimony to the achievements of Paul Lawrence Dunbar in a fitting stanza from one of his poems; "Let me sleep beneath the Willows."

On the brow of a hill in Woodlawn Cemetery, Toledo and overlooking a winding stream, as was the wish of the man who lies buried there, stands a three sided pyramid each dimension of which is thirty feet. This pyramid is constructed or thousands of boulders of various sizes, each stone contributed by a News bay or a News boy's sister, out of love for John Gunckel, the Father of the News boy movement of America.  A man who resigned a good business position, that he might devote his life to the uplift of the boys of the street, not only in his own city, but in all big cities, having found in the "urchin" possibilities or splendid manhood.

Each Cemetery has its Memorials which tell a story of special interest also many others which tell or achievement and which fill a well defined mission, and still others which are well designed and fit well in to the general plan, serving every purpose of a true Memorial.

But, in contrast with these are thousands which have no special mark of interest and which bear only a family name, whatever it may be; Smith or Jones, or, Brown, or White, or Green, and the Superintendent must needs be a well of information to the inquisitive, identify the particular branch of one or another of these numerous families to which the stone has been intended as a Memorial.

The answer to the question of better monuments, and a better distribution or monuments seems to depend upon three important factors; closer cooperation between dealer and Cemetery Superintendent; more general education along the lines of better Memorials and their effective settings; and certain justifiable restrictions an the part of Cemetery officials.

It is not boastful to say that many or the reforms which have been accomplished in monumental work are due to the activities of Cemetery boards, and we need to go back but a few years to find evidences in proof of this statement.

The old time slab, often several feet in height, considered necessary as the marking for each grave, might still have been the marker in common use had not the Cemetery decreed that it was not the marker best suited for the purpose, and adopted a new limit of height of eighteen inches or two feet.

This change to a marker of less height failed in accomplishing desired results, for while it corrected one, evil it gave birth to another.

Many novelties were introduced such as the polished roll, often of highly colored granite and frailly supported in brackets, the scroll, the polished sphere, section of a log, gates ajar, the harp and lyre, and other numerous designs, often two or more, vastly different, placed upon the same lot, and in single grave and small lot sections all of these designs were to be seen in promiscuous array.

Copings, fences, or chains formed the boundaries of lots, and corner stones extended several inches above the sod line, one or the other of these forms being deemed essential to the proper marking of the lot.

Many protests may have been made when these old forms were eliminated. Lot owner and dealer may have considered the order drastic, but who of them now would return to old form of markings?

As these reforms have been accomplished, so are other reforms being brought about through the efforts of men who devote their time to the study of those things which are essential to the beauty and quiet repose of our Cemeteries, and who are convinced that they owe more to posterity than they do to any whims of the present.

Lot owners would profit if the management were consulted, or advice sought of persons known to possess correct taste, before the Memorial is purchased. A design which may be attractive in itself may not harmonize with the surroundings of the lot upon which it is to be placed, or a monotonous similarity of design may result unless conditions surrounding the lot are first carefully studied.

Too often are monuments placed on lots where, because of an already crowded condition, markers would be in much better taste. And in the selection of a Memorial the purchaser may be influenced by some sentiment which the design portrays, and no thought given to the fact that the monument remains indefinitely even though the sentiments change. He may have the Memorial cheapened in material or workmanship in order that the cost may be kept within the amount which he has decided to appropriate. Perhaps another dealer will furnish a larger stone at no additional cost or he may be attracted by a stone of some unusual color and no thought given to general effect.

To prevent the introduction of this condition, and thus maintain that harmony which is so important, it is necessary that designs of all monuments and a description or sample of material to be used should first be submitted to the Superintendent or Trustees for approval, and the location of the monument on the lot should be determined by them, for in these matters, if harmony is to prevail, the ideas and wishes of the individual must be subservient to the best interests of the Cemetery as a whole, and the Memorial which he selects should be in keeping with this thought.

It is also important that we who have so much to do in determining the ultimate appearance of the Cemetery should give constant study to this theme of harmony in design and pleasing arrangement so that in the end the stone work will not be the dominant feature of the Cemetery but a well balanced part of the entire scheme.

In laying out the lots much may be done toward avoiding the congestion of monuments by varying the size and shape, or platting in among monument lots a number upon which marker’s only shall be used. There are families in every vicinity who have no desire for a Memorial other than markers on their lot, but who desire that lot in the very best location.

Monuments should also be restricted in size to a comparative size of the lot, and this restriction should be borne in mind when determining the sizes in which the lots shall be platted. The area of the monument base, in some instances is restricted to a percent of the area of the lot, and its nearest approach to any adjoining lot is determined.

Long straight lines of monuments or markers will be avoided if lots are not laid out in straight lines or of equal size. The importance of this is seen in lots which are in close proximity with the drive ways. And on such lots it is well to have sufficient depth so that the monument may be placed near the rear leaving space for graves and planting area in front.

In some instances no-monument lots might border the driveways, the plan varying with locality and a consequent difference in the size of lots required, but in any event it is well to have the monuments a sufficient distance from the driveway that they may be partially screened with plantings.

Planting areas, which may some time be used for Memorial plantings, should be left on all, sections, and this can be done at no great sacrifice of salable ground.

Whenever a new section is platted the total area could be calculated and the area which is set aside for planting could be calculated in the price of lots, thus each purchaser of a lot is contributing his just proportion in payment for these ornamental spaces from which he receives his share of benefit.

In this cause of prevention of congested conditions why should we not use our splendid opportunity in setting a worthy example?

The consideration of the marker, though left until now, is as worthy our attention as is that of the monument.

One of the prime requisites of any Memorial is its durability. It is placed for a distinct and peculiar purpose, and is expected to endure, unchanged, throughout the life of the Cemetery.

It is essential then, that the material used, also the construction stand for the greatest tests of endurance, and the possibility of deterioration or injury through accident be at a minimum.

The marker answering nearest this standard, and which has been adopted in many localities is the solid block, or one piece marker, set firmly upon a concrete foundation.

For the same reasons which govern the size and location of monuments, that a crowded condition might be avoided, there is a growing tendency to lessen the size of markers and to limit the height to a few inches at most.

Local conditions might determine the most suitable maximum height, ranging from the sad level marker to those which do not exceed three or four inches at the highest point.

This low marker, with edges slightly rounded or beveled, thus eliminating all sharp corners, and with incised inscription cleanly cut commends itself for many reasons; it is neat in appearance, does not stand out boldly in the landscape, has all the elements of durability, and in these times of increasing scarcity of labor less expense is incurred because it is less in the way.

In this study of Cemetery Memorials from the view point of the Cemetery Superintendent we would not be so biased in opinion as to exclude from the exercise of their proper rights any owner of a lot, or any dealer in Memorials whose chief interest is in the character of his work and its rightful place in the Cemetery.

We do now know that too many meaningless monuments have been crowded into our Cemeteries, many of which show carelessness in design and lack of skill in the workmanship.

We welcome the deeper interest which is being shown in the study of Memorial Art with corresponding results which are not obtained through making a profession out of what was once very largely a purely commercial industry.

The Cemetery is, very especially, an institution of the community which it serves. It is the spot where mind and memory lingers. To many it is more sacred than any other spot on earth, and few are the families in any community who have not sought balm for saddened hearts in the beauty and grace and quiet which the Modern Cemetery offers.

What more fitting place to render a service to ones community, or in what more fitting way could honor be paid the memory of the dead than by placing a Memorial in whose benefits others who may be passing through a like ordeal may also share.

A Memorial entrance, Memorial Chapel, Memorial Fountain or Memorial plantings; unselfish in every aspect, the gift of such a Memorial must bring more of delight and satisfaction to the donor because of the splendid service which such a gift would render, not for today only, but which would renew its usefulness day after day and year after year, rendering a service to all who shall, in the years to come pass this way.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 38th Annual Convention
Portland, Maine
August 18, 19, 20 and 21, 1924

When I was asked by your President to write a paper for this meeting, it seemed to me that so many subjects have been covered in the past that there is comparatively little new to be said, unless one considered the cemeteries from a new angle.

In thinking over Cemetery problems for the last few years the great changes which have come about in cemetery methods and ideals have been subjects to which I have given a great deal of thought and the paper which I am presenting to you to day is along these lines. Sometimes I think I am dreaming and if I am I want you to dream along with me and look into the future of Cemetery development.

As we compare the earlier Cemeteries with those of today we find many changes have come about. These have been due partly to economic conditions, but also very largely to the taste and ideas of the lot owners and while many Cemetery men have been leaders in these ideas it is also true that the public are demanding even greater changes, and that there are many forces at work which I believe will result in more beautiful cemeteries. As Cemetery men we cannot shut our eyes to these changes in public sentiment or we will be carried off our feet by forces which we cannot control anymore than the winds and the tides.

Economic conditions are making for simpler tastes in Cemetery Memorials and our public is demanding, not merely submitting, to regulations in regard to memorial stones. This will gradually result in fewer stones and in far better stones, each a work of art in a beautiful location.  Here is a problem of cooperation with designers of memorials which must be worked out carefully.

When all is said and done I believe their business will improve rather than otherwise and they will have less competition and greater opportunity to study their work and make finer memorials.

Cremation means easy burial and should be looked upon as merely a preparation of the body for interment. When looked upon that way the sentiment remains, only the body is in a different form while neither earth burial or ashes are pleasant the public seem to be tending toward cremation which will I believe, especially in the East, simplify the Cemetery problem. Trenching will not be necessary and the natural landscape can be preserved.

So much then for a glimpse of some of the things I have been thinking about and which I hope you will take home with you for serious consideration.

What are some of the practical cemetery problems of today and how do they compare with those ten or twenty years ago? Working conditions have changed materially in the last ten years, probably more so than at any previous period in the life of the ordinary cemetery unless possibly during and after the Civil War period.

What of labor costs? Ten years ago for the week ending August 1, there were on our payroll 118 men working 54 hours per week. In 1924 there were 96 men working 47½ hours per week, or a loss of 1822 working hours. Is this because the men work harder and it requires fewer working hours to keep up a constantly increasing area? I hardly think so! Our Cemeteries are growing larger and we all know men do not work any harder than they used to.

Now let us look further into the problem. Since August 1, 1914 we have sold nearly 1,000 new lots besides hundreds of single graves and there have been erected in the cemetery several thousand additional monuments and headstones, everyone of which has added to the labor of maintaining our grounds. With the great reduction in working hours our payroll is over nine hundred dollars more for the week and yet our income for perpetual care on the old lots has not increased. We have accomplished more in fewer working hours.

I have pictured a condition no worse than that in which the average cemetery find's itself and what future labor charges will be few would care to predict. Now what have we done to balance these increased costs? Do we keep our Cemeteries looking as well as ten years ago? And what of the future?

The average Cemetery probably is as well kept as ever and many improvements have been forced upon us which have made work easier and made it possible to keep a pace with the new working conditions.

We have substituted modern equipment in the way of trucks, automobiles and motor lawnmowers and the following table shows the effect upon the cost of perpetual care of the grass.

Cost Per Square Foot
1914……….……. .0126
1915…..……..…. .0121
1916…....………. .0121
1917…..…..……. .0157
1918…..……..…. .0177
1919…....………. .01765
1920…..…..……. .02493
1921…..……..…. .0248
1922…....………. .02315
1923…....………. .02016
1924…..…..……. .022549

The result of these improvements with us has meant that while it averaged .0126 per square foot to give a lot perpetual care in 1913, in 1923 with labor 150% it should have cost .0315 while it actually cost only .0225 or a saving of nearly one cent per square foot and I can definitely say that the Cemetery is kept as well or better today than ever.

We have also eliminated many unnecessary Cemetery groups of summer bedding plants substituting for them hardy shrubs, trees and grass. We are eliminating bothersome terraces or planting them with hardy plants which are easy to care for and we have done away with useless grave walks, substituting grass which greatly improves the appearance of the grounds. We have improved our roads so they require less care and are adapted to automobile traffic and altogether made many improvements which have resulted in the double satisfaction to us, saving work and beautifying the grounds. What is there left to do to these older parts of the grounds? I am afraid not much. Our hope then is that conditions shall not become worse, but better.

What of the future. This opens up many avenues of thought and leads us to think of the past, the present and the future. A class of students in Landscape Gardening recently visited our Cemetery and was told that it was a fine example of a Cemetery, but in a few years would be out-of-date, or words to that effect, because the Cemetery of the future would have only ground markers.

Our old Cemeteries had terraced lots, gravel paths, poor avenues, granite curbs, iron fences, monuments and headstones galore until you get the incongruous mass stone work seen in some of the old Cemeteries in the large cities. Then came the lawn plan, with a reduction in many things, but still too much grading, too many monuments and too much show, not enough of quiet, peace and harmony.

Is it going too far to say the Park Plan is appearing in the horizon and that such a Cemetery will really 'be the most perfect of all? Not a park in the ordinary sense of the word, or a play ground, but a memorial plot of sacred ground where all who enter may be quiet, mediate and think of the lost ones. The memorials here shall be simple, natural boulders, covered with vines and bushes, with plates recording the names of those buried there, grade markers wherever desired and beautiful memorials, erected by contributions from lot holders and in suitable locations to commemorate the dead in that portion of the Cemetery. Such memorials would be carefully designed by the most famous artists and sculptors of the day-each one a gem in itself in a beautiful setting and erected of the finest suitable material, regardless of cost. What an opportunity to design special sections; the whole a harmonious pot with a definite theme beautifully carried out.

Would not such a Cemetery be far more beautiful than the battlefield at Gettysburg, which we saw last year, where the monumental work is often too thick and ugly even though the area is large and the landscape beautiful. Natural landscape will be retained and possibly the day will come when the earth burial is as uncommon as the cremation is today and the necessity of digging graves in difficult ground will be eliminated.

Are we dreamers when we talk of such things? I don't think so. I think we must get this idea into our heads or a new group of Cemetery men, under the direction of the best landscape architects, will come along and build these Cemeteries while we are worrying about it. This is the Cemetery beautiful and we must study the idea and show our public how such a Cemetery may be made possible. How much more satisfactory such a Cemetery will be, nothing depressing but only sacred ground, quiet, peaceful and altogether lovely.

We have all of us studied the difficult problems of laying out Cemeteries to make them beautiful with rolling lawns, trees, shrubs and graceful avenues only to have them ruined with the laying out of lots and erection of memorial work and all our efforts seem to be in vain.

In the old days Cemetery Superintendents always laid out the Cemetery in squares, now we try to do better, but our problem is difficult and the results often discouraging. The park Cemetery will solve many of these problems and we all know the fewer lots in a section the better it looks. We have discarded curbing and fences soon we will discard other useless decorations and gradually approach the ideal.

We must study these problems seriously, intently and practically and develop our various cemeteries along the ideal which we have in mind, ever remembering that we are but servants of the public and that our duty is to crystallize and develop the highest ideals in our Cemeteries.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 38th Annual Convention
Portland, Maine
August 18, 19, 20 and 21, 1924

The Landscape Development and improvement of a Cemetery is a continual process, requiring constant study, perseverance, and patience, and there is no landscape problem that deserves more consideration and study. A cemetery may be planned and developed, conforming to the plans of the most capable landscape architects and yet, through the ravages of time, the addition of new features or the removal of old ones, existing conditions are so changed that constant replacements, addition, and re-arrangements are necessary to preserve a pleasing and appropriate landscape effect.

Old trees that have stood out as the prominent features in a given section may have to be removed because of damage by storm or defects due to old age. Many plantations of trees and shrubs may have included certain rapid growing species that were planted for their immediate effect and which it was the intention of the architect to remove, as time developed, the slower growing species. The erection of additional features, such as monuments, mausoleums, and etc., may necessitate additional planting, which would in the absence of such features, be misplaced and undesirable; or again, the exact opposite may be true of some planting have to be removed or rearranged, on account of the creation of new view areas.

This continual development rearrangement, control and maintenance, should all be guided by the same motive, and not show the individual characteristics of each succeeding Superintendent or Sexton. To this end it is imperative that a general plan of the entire property be made at the outset. The preparing of a general plan is also a necessity from the standpoint of economy.

This plan should be prepared by a competent landscape architect, preferably one having made a special study of cemetery landscape and having had experience in their development. Unless the architect is to be retained permanently in an advisory capacity, which is strongly recommended, the preparing of the general plan, is but a part of his work, for the plan should be accompanied by a written report of recommendations to cover a period of years, outlining the possibilities of the future, the motive behind the plan, the order of its development and both general and specific recommendations, relative to the treatment and control of individual lots. A report of this kind in the lands of a competent manager would insure harmony in future developments and if issued in pamphlet form for the benefit of the lot owners, would prove not only of educational value but an asset as a sales factor.

It will be the purpose of this paper to outline a few of the principles of landscape development which should be included in such a report.

The real value of any art may best be measured by the feelings it creates, the emotion it stirs, and the inspiration it offers to those seeing or hearing its expressions. The success or value of our cemeteries (as works or landscape are) may then be measured by the nature of the feelings, the emotions stirred and the inspiration given to our visitors and lot owners while in the atmosphere of the cemetery. What should be the nature of these feelings and emotions or what atmosphere should our cemetery create?

First:

The atmosphere of the presence of God, as evidenced by the feelings of ease, peace, hope, seclusion and righteous inspiration.

Second:

The feeling that an artist has utilized the gifts of nature in adapting them for a special use and purpose in creating a beautiful place in which the living may lay their dead.

Third:

The feelings, emotions and inspirations prompted by the visible evidence of individual tributes to the love, memory and honor of departed Loved Ones, ever mindful of the fact that Death is the Great Equalizer and is not controlled by worldly power or position.

These are the feelings that the landscape architect should endeavor to create in our cemeteries by the method in which he preserves, develops, regulates and controls the elements which make up the cemetery landscape. We are all familiar with the terms "Lawn Plan" and "Memorial Park" as descriptive of what the predominating elements of our modern cemeteries are today. These terms have undoubtedly served their purpose in an educational way but I sincerely hope that their continued use will not prevail or will not be necessary, for through the efforts of this and allied associations I look forward to the day when the word "cemetery" will need no qualifications to convey to the minds of the people a distinct meaning vastly greater than mere lawn areas and park atmosphere.

As a race, we have and are developing certain national characteristics in our literature, music, painting, architecture, etc. This is especially true in our landscape design. Distinctly American landscape design fathered by Andrew Jackson Downing and carried to a high degree of individuality by that noted New England gardner, Fredrich Law Olmsted, has always been characterized by what is known as the naturalistic style of development. Adolph Strauch known as the father of the Lawn Plan Cemetery was the first to successfully apply this natural style to cemetery development. His application of this natural style, although considered at the time an innovation, constituted perhaps the most forward step that has been made in the history of cemetery development.

Although there may be some disagreement as to the degree to which the natural style should control the cemetery to the exclusion of all formal effects, there can be no disagreement about the fact that the development of natural beauty should be the predominant theme in our cemeteries if they are to kindle those feelings of emotion and inspiration which we intend that they should.

For the convenience of discussion, let us consider the following units or elements which make up the cemetery landscape and their relation to the development of an appropriate atmosphere.

1.    Entrance area or approach avenue
2.    Administrative area
3.    Service area
4.    Driveways
5.    Views and special areas
6.    Enclosure
7.    Trees and shrubs
8.    Expressions of sentiment

First: Entrance Area or Approach Avenue

First impressions are the most lasting consequently the impression created by the approach to the cemetery is of vital importance. We cannot turn sharply from a busy street finding ourselves immediately in the heart of a cemetery and feel that we are in a secluded, quiet and peaceful area, at least, not without some shock and subsequent loss of ease. The change being sudden does not permit a restful easy transition from the worldly business atmosphere to the quietude of the cemetery. The principal function of an entrance area or approach avenue should be then to create the feeling of approach to a secluded area of peace and quietness. This may be accomplished in four ways: First, it may be possible to approach the cemetery by way of a city or town boulevard system, tree lined and restricted to pleasure vehicles; second, the use of a natural approach as a ravine, or gully within the grounds itself. Ferncliff Cemetery, of Springfield, Ohio, has an example of such an approach following between a stream and a bluff on and not particularly adopted for burial purposes; third, the purchase and development of a special right of way to the cemetery as has been done with such a pleasing effect at Forest Hill Cemetery, in Boston, MA; fourth, by the actual construction of a short drive within the cemetery grounds itself. This drive should ordinarily be of a winding nature in order to make it appear longer and offer a better opportunity to effectively screen a sudden complete view of the cemetery itself. This entrance or approach area should be treated as such in its landscape development, that is, there should be as far as possible, no spectacular or distracting views on either side, the main view being directly ahead. Consequently, an appropriate treatment would be a tree lined avenue with heavy plantings of shrubbery along the sides.

Second: Administrative Area.

The office building and fits accessories should, for the convenience of the public and the management, be located at or near the entrance. If the approach has been effectively made, the office building and entrance features may be combined and should be of harmonizing architectural design. If, however, the approach has been quite sudden it is advisable to have the office building somewhat separated from the gate or entrance feature so as to create the impression that it is well within the atmosphere of the cemetery, thus perhaps softening the mental feelings of those transacting business therein.
 
Simplicity in design and landscape effects should predominate in this area as it is purely an area created as a necessity and not of special meaning in the landscape itself. Massive and elaborate gateways are not desirable as they produce a harsh feeling of rigid enclosure and lack of freedom. Memorial arches, a pair or group of pillars with suggestive chains, an arbor, or some of the iron gateways of simple design which create the feeling of protection without the harshness of an actual barrier are the best types of entrance features. The architect in designing the entrance features and office building should work in harmony with the landscape designer, especially with regard to the question of views from the office or waiting room.

Views from that part of the office where the public transact their business should not include scenes of burial areas, but should be limited either to distant views or that landscape area immediately surrounding the office as it is undesirable to create the impression of burial in close proximity to the administrative area. Open lawn areas framed with groups and specimens of shade trees and shrubs should constitute the principal landscape elements of this area.

Third: Service Area.

The service area and its buildings should be located and designed purely from the economic standpoint to service and utilization of space least adapted for burial purposes. Although this area should receive consideration in the actual plan of the cemetery it requires no special mention in a written report.

Fourth: Driveways.

The driveways of the cemetery although developed principally for the purpose of service in providing access to the burial areas, constitute nevertheless one of the most important elements of the landscape and may be made one of the most attractive features, if properly designed and constructed. The general scheme of road design has been discussed in many papers given at these conventions and we are all thoroughly familiar with the preferred methods of following the general contour of the ground utilizing the valleys for roadways, eliminating sharp turns, circles and the so-called geometrical projections of the engineer, the proper distance between the driveways, their drainage, relative grade with the surrounding area, elimination of the reverse, curve, etc., etc. These and many other factors, the landscape architect must consider in his arrangement of the general plan.

I will touch on a few of the principles of landscape which might be emphasized in a written report, supplementary to the actual plan or design.

You will recall that we treated our entrance drives, purely as an approach to the cemetery, and therefore limited the view solely to the area of the approach and entrance. We have a somewhat different condition now we have arrived in the cemetery for the driveways being primarily means of access to burial areas, must permit in fact emphasize this feeling of access through actual visibility or views of the burial areas. We will discuss the nature of these views a little later.
 
Sentimentally one road is as important as another, yet there are two influences which must be considered in determining their relative importance from the standpoint of design. First there is the purely mathematical or engineering factor which determines the width of roadways according to the area which they serve and the probable traffic from the standpoint of service. Second, there is the question of which roads should be made the most attractive on account of their location, the area to which they lead, and the views which they afford.

From the standpoint of landscape development those roads which offer the most pleasing general views should be made the most important and prominent. Many of our owners prefer a lot that is in a prominent location, while others prefer secluded spots. Our roadways should reflect with their prominence, the areas to which they lead. Thus a roadway leading to an area developed particularly for its reclusive atmosphere should not entice the visitor by its prominence or natural ease of approach.

Roadways while designed to create a natural easy approach to the burial area, must also create a natural free and easy movement of traffic leading out of the grounds. This is quite important especially in our large cemeteries, which if poorly designed, very often remind one of a maze which is very easily entered but one has an awful time trying to find the way out.

There has been a tendency of recent years to plant a row of trees on either side of the road, thus creating a tree lined avenue or boulevard of every thoroughfare in the cemetery. There are undoubtedly many roads that and improved with this treatment, but were every road thus lined with trees restricting our views to the limit of the roadway, we would leave the cemetery with thoughts only or beautiful drives. Let us create a greater feeling of variety and naturalness in our cemeteries by framing some of our views with groups of trees and shrubs rather than evenly spaced row of trees bordering our roadways.

There has also been a tendency to construct the roadways of light colored, glaring materials, thus magnifying their prominence. This may be desirable in some instances of formal treatment as around the Chapel, but for the most part I think the roadways, should be as inconspicuous as possible, considering their natural prominence from the standpoint of service. Therefore, the roadways should be constructed with materials of subdued color. Tarvia bound macadam with a sweep coat of trap rock screenings being perhaps the best in this locality.

Five: Views and Special Areas.

Views and vistas constitute the principal landscape effect of the cemetery. In general landscape development the large sweeping lawn areas provide our most pleasing views. Unfortunately in our cemeteries, we are greatly limited in the possibilities of creating these views on a large scale because of the predominance of expressions of individual sentiment by means of monuments, head stones, urns and flower beds.

The nature of the development around the administration area, the reservation of special areas, and restrictions governing the erection of monuments, will allow the architect to create some of these larger lawn areas, but for the most part, our views will consist or limited view areas. This is by no means an objectionable feature however, as the smaller the view areas are, the greater their number and variety will be, thus magnifying the extent of the grounds, and its atmosphere of privacy and seclusion.

Nearly every cemetery has one or two particularly beautiful spots, such as ponds, wooded slopes, or artistic buildings, which as natural features or artistic developments constitute the main views about which our roadways are developed. These views must be properly framed in the landscape picture and their beauty gradually unfolded to us as we proceed along the drives. I say gradually unfolded, because the sudden vision of an unexpected scene creates not only a feeling of admiration but also the feeling of surprise with a resultant unconscious suspense and alertness of mind, which is at variance with the feelings of ease and peace that we wish to create. Consequently our views should be presented not by the sudden unfolding of one spectacular view or several minor ones all at once but through a gradual transition from one to another catching a glimpse now and then of some view beyond that promises added attraction as we approach it, but which glimpse is not sufficiently prominent to detract from the complete view then in line of view.

One beautiful spot may be viewed from many angles, each view being as attractive as the other and yet sufficiently different to preclude the feeling of sameness or predominance of any particular feature to the exclusion of the lesser views and features; as our nation has developed certain characteristics of landscape so each cemetery and each section in the cemetery should have its outstanding features and characteristics. This character of the cemetery as a whole should be expressed in the development of the natural beauties characteristic of the grounds which we see unfolded in series of beautiful views and vistas.
 
An individual character may be given to various sections, not only by the way we develop the natural features but also by the way in which we control and regulate the individual expression of the lot owners in a given section. Thus we may develop sections of either a prominent or a reclusive nature, garden theme sections, sections developed particularly for the burial of soldiers or special lodges, avenues or areas developed to private mausoleums, etc., etc., even giving a pleasing individuality and naturalness to the single grave section. The landscape architect should be informed of the probable need of such sections in the cemetery to be developed and in his report include special recommendations for their control and development.

Six: Enclosure.

Whenever possible the enclosure of a cemetery should consist of a natural planting of trees and shrubs and not an artificial barrier of rigid enclosure. Unfortunately the later form of enclosure is in most cases a necessity but can be supplemented with a suitable planting to relieve its harshness. Boundary planting should be made with particular attention given to its sky line. A stiff formal hedge-like planting of either trees or shrubs of the same height is not desirable. Boundary planting controls the views of scenes without the grounds and forms a background for those within. Views without the grounds should he limited to those distant views which impress one with the magnitude of the universe. Views within the grounds should have a background with a varied skyline to convey the feeling of depth and distance.

Seven: Trees and Shrubs.

Trees and shrubs are the material which the landscape artist uses to frame existing and create new views. The placing of this material is purely a matter of study in each individual case to create and frame the most pleasing views, and screen the undesirable with a natural arrangement. I hope to have given you some inspiration that will assist you in your study of the proper arrangement of the trees and shrubs in your cemetery as a means of controlling the views. For assistance in the arrangement of this material for natural effects, I can recommend no better help than a study of nature's own arrangement. In nature, we find our trees and shrubs growing either singly or in groups or in compositions of single specimens and groups combined. When in groups we may find one separate group of a single species or again a group may contain two or more species, one species prevailing in a certain area and gradually being replaced by another species.  When singly we may find a few single specimens scattered within a group of another species or we will find a few specimens growing singly without attachment to any particular group.  When in combination of single specimens and groups, we usually find a clump of four or five and then not far distant a single specimen or two which although separated from the group, are seemingly attached to it.

When trees and shrubs are found growing together the shrubs are usually grouped in the foreground as a sort of border in front of the trees, which arrangement would he characteristic of our border or enclosure planting.

When trees and shrubs are growing more or less detached then the tree is usually in the foreground flanked with one or more groups of shrubs. This arrangement is ideal for use in the burial area with the shrubs serving as background for the monuments and the trees breaking up the views into separate pictures and adding depth to the composition.

Skyline plays an important part in this, nature's arrangement and many really wonderful illusions can be accomplished in our landscape effects by a careful attention to skyline. We can create the appearance of distance or vice versa. We can make undulating ground appear to be level ground or we can level off the steep slope almost at will simply through an interchange of high or low growing species in the foreground or background depending on the effect to be produced.

The question of what to plant: Most of those who are entrusted with the care of a cemetery are more or less familiar with the more common trees and shrubs and their natural habit of growth and these should constitute the majority of our plantings. For reference purposes, and a handy guide in selecting plants for special purposes, I would recommend the text books published by Doubleday Page & Company called "The Complete Garden" by A. D. Taylor, Landscape Architect. As a general rule plants used for backgrounds to monuments should have a dense even foliage and be planted close together or in clumps, while plants used in groups purely for the purpose of separating one area from another should have a less dense foliage and be planted more openly thus increasing the lights and shadows and giving an appearance of extent and depth to the area. Hard wood trees and hardy shrubs should be used almost exclusively, care being taken to provide a continuity of bloom and color.

Eight: Expression of Sentiment.

I cannot agree with some of the landscape architects who would prohibit expression of individual sentiment to the point of excluding all memorials and personal tributes. We cannot afford to make parks and only parks of our cemeteries. Why do we say we develop the cemetery for the living as well as for the dead? Is it merely to present them with a beautiful park or is it to create a beautiful setting in which the living may lay their dead, and show evidence of their love for the departed by the placing of a fitting tribute or memorial at this last resting place. Let us not prohibit these personal expressions of sentiment, but let us so regulate and restrict them that they do not predominate the whole, but become a part of it, thus preserving that feeling of harmony, unity and equality which is such a necessity to the atmosphere of the cemetery.

There are many ways in which the individual may express this personal tribute. Possibly one of the most appropriate, is the planting of trees, shrubs and flowers as memorial, for after all are they not nearest to nature and after having served their purpose and the time comes for their removal, they leave no scar to mar the landscape.

Let us encourage their use as expressions of tribute and so regulate their use that they may become at least in part a unit in the landscape development. Trees and shrubs existing on a lot when sold or originally planned to be placed on the lot would settle the problem in many cases. In others the privilege of addling a few perennial flowers in the shrubbery group would suffice. Again a specimen tree not called for on the original plan but permissible and necessary because of developments within the area would be suitable. Certain lots specified in the general plan might have the privilege of containing an urn filled with vines and flowers. Specific sections or parts of sections might contain limited space for the growing of flowers in beds, either to be planted by the lot owner or the cemetery. Excessive planting of gaudy flower beds as a general privilege however should be prohibited as they constitute only a selfish motive.

One lot owner vainly attempting to outdo the other in mere display, whereas in reality the little violet plant placed on the grave maybe a more worthy expression of sentiment than the most elaborate display of carpet bedding.

The most common expression of a lot owner's tribute is the headstone or marker. These should be restricted to a height not to exceed four inches about the ground level. Markers of this height do not appear as miniature monuments on the horizon when seen from the roadway and yet as we approach each stone it seems to rise up and show distinctly that it marks a grave as it should.
 
The family monument is perhaps the most difficult to control of all the memorials. Primarily these should be restricted to certain locations or lots specified on the general plan. This location should be for the most part well back from the road where the monument will have a background of trees and shrubs to give it a proper setting. The majority of the modern cemeteries have or are making such provisions in their most recent development but the difficulty of regulating or controlling the design and appropriateness of the memorial is still a delicate one and one which in many respects controls the entire atmosphere of the cemetery. With of course, many exceptions the prevailing idea of the public seems to be that a monument is principally a means of perpetuating a name in stone. This is the wrong conception of the true purpose of a real memorial, which should be a work of art on which the name has really little more significance than the name of an artist, penned inconspicuously on the canvas of a great painting. If we would restrict the size of the name on markers, I feel sure that the public would soon develop an appreciation for the real merits of the monument, namely, its artistic qualities purely as a work of art, a memorial not a name card.

In closing, I am suggesting three methods whereby we as Cemetery Superintendents and officials may best cooperate to improve and develop the character of our cemetery (1) Organization; (2) Cooperation; and (3) Education.

1. Organization of local clubs or associations with the objects of interesting the different civic authorities, park boards, and county officials, with the importance of cemeteries in relation to the boulevard system and park systems of the district, and the encouragement of street tree planting on the roads leading to the cemetery.

2. Cooperation with the American Society of Landscape Architects by the appointing of a committee to wait on a similar committee from that association with the purpose in view of arranging for yearly interchange of speakers at our various conventions, whereby we may learn more of the landscape possibilities in our cemeteries, and they may be more fully informed of specific problems of cemetery landscape.

3. Education by means of issuing pamphlets for distribution to the public; the encouragement of special courses of cemetery management, in the landscape departments of our colleges and a similar encouragement of memorial design in architectural institutions.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 38th Annual Convention
Portland, Maine
August 18, 19, 20 and 21, 1924

Less than a century ago, the first rural cemetery in America was established at Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is not a very long time, but sufficient to justify looking about to see if we are going in the right direction and if we are accomplishing results that are satisfactory. Since the establishment of Mount Auburn, nearly every city has acquired one or more rural cemeteries. These, as the name implies, have usually been located in the country at a little distance from the city, and have been distinguished from the old churchyards formerly used as burial places by having more space, more trees, shrubs and flowers and more of the charm of nature. Gradually, our cities have extended their boundaries until many of the cemeteries referred to have become surrounded with buildings and are often bordered with streets carrying a heavy traffic. Various questions might be asked regarding these cemeteries. (1st) Do they allow the disposal of the dead in a satisfactory manner? (2nd) Do they occupy land that should be used for industrial purposes? (3rd) Is the municipality justified in relieving these areas from taxation? (4th) Will they continue to serve their present purpose indefinitely? That is, will they continue as long as the cities to which they are tributary continue?

Cemeteries vary greatly in character. In some an effort is made to emphasize the charm of nature by planting and by developing attractive landscapes and introducing many naturalistic features such as lakes, wooded hillsides and running streams. In other cemeteries, although at first located in the outskirts of cities, the charms of nature have been neglected. The trees have been removed or have gradually died and the ground is occupied with some grass and a multitude of monuments and headstones so that the general appearance is not very different from a stonecutter's yard. In accordance with the ideas of most persons, a cemetery lot should have a measure of seclusion, should be attractive in appearance and have quiet surroundings. It should be a place frequented by birds. The beauty of foliage and flowers is usually considered essential. Some cemeteries supply lots having the' features named, and thus furnish a quiet, peaceful, beautiful place for the burial of the dead or for the ashes of those that are cremated. When we are thinking only of such resting places, the first question would be answered in the affirmative for they furnish attractive burial grounds. If however, the charm of Nature has been lost, a negative answer would have to be given to this question concerning the first requisite of a cemetery.

The answer to the second question regarding the need of cemetery land for industrial purposes will in time depend largely upon the success with which the character originally sought, that of natural beauty, hag been preserved. A cemetery to be permanently successful as a work of art and as a final resting place for the departed must also do something for the living. After the passing of a few generations, the burial place which is merely a stone yard will have no interest for those that are living, and if it could be replaced with beautiful and useful buildings that would serve future generations there would be a great gain. On the other hand, if a cemetery is really park-like and beautiful, it would be a real asset for the city in which it is located. This leads naturally to the consideration of the third question regarding taxes.  Cities pay large amounts for acquiring and maintaining parks. Taxation for this purpose is justifiable since the public parks probably give a return in health and pleasure greater, area for area, than is given by other parts of the city. A cemetery which is well endowed and park-like in character and which has become so filled with burials that no more are to be made may continue to serve the living in many of the ways which a park is of service. It, therefore, relieves the community of many of the taxes that they would otherwise be called upon to pay. Ideally, therefore, the history of the cemetery would be somewhat as follows:

First the land, preferably an area that is naturally attractive from its topography, will be secured. Then it will be made accessible by the construction of roads and paths, and its attractiveness will be increased by the planting of trees, shrubs and flowers and the introduction of other pleasing landscape features. After this it will serve as a burial place until all the land is appropriated. Its use in this manner may last from a few years to perhaps one or more centuries. After that it should continue to serve the living by giving them the pleasure that comes from looking at a group of wild crap apples, or thorp apples, from looking at a giant oak one or two hundred years old, from looking at ground covered with hepaticas and other wild flowers, from looking at maples all red and golden m the autumn, from looking at the fruits of barberries, viburnums, honeysuckles, mountain ash and roses, from listening to the songs of birds and watching their sprightly motions; in short, the pleasure that comes from the charm of nature.

The answer to the fourth question regarding the perpetuity of cemeteries may now be given as follows: If a cemetery is beautiful, if it serves as a safe place for trees, shrubs, flowers, ferns, mosses, turf and all the smaller plants that make an attractive ground covering, the whole arranged in a way to provide beautiful landscapes its perpetuity will be assured, will, in fact, be demanded by future generations. It will serve as a safe retreat not only for plants and birds but for people as well. Here will come those who get pleasure from the beauty of buds and blossoms, from open spaces surrounded by foliage, from trees made venerable by the growth of one or more centuries. Here will come those who seek quiet and seclusion, who seek relief from the noise and excitement of city streets. The fact that a cemetery is closed at night, that it is free from noisy games and picnics, and that its early purpose and use inspire a feeling of respect and solemnity, will add to its charm for certain persons. It becomes not only a secure resting place for the departed committed to its care, but a memorial park as well, a memorial of the most beautiful kind.

In this connection some quotations from our greatest authority in landscape matters will be of interest. In 1891, at the time of his greatest ability and most mature judgment. Frederick Law Olmstead, Sr., was asked by the trustees of Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit to advise them in a general way regarding its treatment. Some of his observations are well worth quoting here. Speaking of what may happen to a cemetery in the course of time, he said, "there is a liability that its turf will gradually 'run out' and not be restored, its trees fall to decay and their places left unoccupied, its roads and paths become grass-grown and gullied, and such a general character at length established for the place that public opinion will welcome any project that promises to put it to another use than that of an undisturbed resting place of the dead. This has been the history of many burial places in older towns, places containing the graves, tombs and monuments of many worthies of those towns, places which were at one time apparently much more secure from such a rate than Elmwood can be made by any laws or police provisions, or by any funds established for the purpose, except as these funds shall be used in some way for the lasting well being of the living. There are many such burial grounds that are most unattractive. Even if enclosed by strong walls, they have the character of waste places. Some have dilapidated fences, and, year after year, are resorted to only by vagabonds and dogs. If, as its trees and fences decay, Elmwood is not to have a similar fate it will be because of a regard that shall have been established for the place not in the minds of those now interested in it, nor in the minds of their children but in the minds of the people who have personally known nothing of its dead, and who will be no more interested in this particular collection of the dead than they are in many other such collections. It will be because, to many people of Detroit in the future, the place is found a grateful retreat from the town only because of such natural rural scenery as the Trustees have, long before, made provision to secure.

Regard for this soothing, natural scenery will be the deeper, with future visitors, because of the pathos and solemnity of the purpose which will be known to have led to its preservation, and because of the contrast between the sentiment which will thus be matured, and that which pertains to the purposes of rural grounds or parks originally intended to be used for the gay recreations of thoughtless multitudes.

*     *     *     *
Elmwood was probably chosen for a site for a cemetery because of the beauty of its natural scenery, and because of the feeling that it is decorous to deposit the remains of our beloved under the shadows, and within the seclusion of umbrageous trees and screening thickets; that is to say, in places that we call peaceful, and that invite to rest and contemplation. The more nearly Elmwood can now be restored to its original character in these respects, without causing the use which has been made of it to be lost sight of the more surely will the original sentiment associated with it be preserved and perpetuated and the more surely will it be allowed to remain a place of unbroken repose."

Then after giving general advice regarding roads, walks, grading and planting, he continued: "We should seek also to retain the natural low thickets as far as this would be practicable.

*     *     *     *
We would, for instance, nearly always retain such thickets where they occur near the borders of roads. * * * We should seek to prevent, by a partial screening, such a display of a multitude of monuments in all directions from the observer as would cause the destruction of that sylvan rurality which had in the first place suggested the suitability of the place for the repose of the dead and the rites of mourning. The term rural cemetery does not mean a place, the permanent interest of which lies in the exhibitions of monuments. When monuments occupy the eye more than all else in a burial ground, it has ceased to be of a rural character.”
 
Later, after speaking of his preference for indigenous trees and shrubs and of the aim of the management having been to keep a close shaven turf with "trees and shrubs, appearing upon it as decorative objects" he continues: "We were asked by some of the Trustees whether it would not be better to remodel certain parts of the surface of the ground in order to simplify the mowing process, and to avoid such niggling work necessary to the pursuit of the present policy of keeping. We shall advise such remodeling especially near the borders of the roads, for another reason but as to the purpose of keeping as much of the ground as practicable in shaven turf, we recommend that it be abandoned, and that the policy be now adopted of a general reduction of the turf area, substituting for turf, in many places, thickets or bushes; mainly, but not entirely, low bushes of sorts natural to the region, and mats of woody creepers and ground plants. Once established the expense of keeping these will be much less than that of keeping turf. There should be hardly any pruning, and the very little that may be required to check the excessive straggling of an occasional redundant shoot may be done in winter by any unskilled laborer that can be trusted to limit the use of his knife to that single purpose. All trees that are tailing, or not promising of continued growth, should be removed and where crowding is not to be apprehended, others planted with reference to future general sylvan effect.

*     *     *     *
The removal of all trees which are destroying others of greater value and of all trees that are growing decrepit, like many now on the ground, and the introduction of young trees that will gradually supply the place or those removed, should henceforth be a constant process in all the history of the Cemetery. If the Superintendent is qualified for his responsibility, it will be one of the most important duties of the Trustees to sustain and encourage him in such a course, under the attacks which the ignorance and superstition of the general public will, from time to time, bring upon him. The Superintendent should in every way be assured of his freedom to use the axe and should always have a few well-grown nursery trees of different native sorts ready for planting when he sees occasion, having constantly in view the reproduction and perpetuation, as similar to that originally found in the locality."
   
*     *     *     *
Again he writes, "What we would advise is that the Superintendent be required to make what progress he finds practicable every year in the direction we have been pointing out. First, perhaps in removing the absolutely bad trees that are destroying the value of others not yet absolutely bad; second, in grading down to an agreeable natural character the roadside banks, and restoring as much as possible the agreeable, undulating character of the original surface of the ground; third, in obliterating the useless walks. Not one of these walks, in our opinion, has a degree of use justifying its destructive effect on the rural aspect of the place and the addition which its expense makes to the cost of a suitable keeping of it. Fourth, in the introduction of thickets of native bushes that will soon take care of themselves; fifth, in the removal, as fast as private owners can be persuaded to consent, of all artificial objects not absolutely essential to the main purpose of the Cemetery, more especially useless stone steps and copings and iron fences."

*     *     *     *
"In our judgment, after the general line of policy which we suggested had been pursued a few years, the lot owners would find the results increasingly pleasing and would become gradually inclined to proceed farther in restoring a simpler and less fugitive and meretricious character of scenery than the Cemetery has at present. The further the Trustees shall be thus enabled to proceed in this direction, the greater will be the security acquired against the gradual lapse of the ground, after burials shall cease to be made in it into the sad condition in which most of the older burial grounds of the world are found. There is no reason why Elmwood should not thus come gradually to be a place of permanent value to the people of Detroit as a retreat from the streets and buildings and bustle of the town. It is necessary to this end that people should be able to pursue within it more or less sequestered walks, to sit under the shade of ancient trees, and to find such a degree of seclusion as would be provided by considerable patches of under-wood and by a covering of the ground that will not be as notably artificial as that which it is the present aim of the management to maintain.”

In following out a course of treatment in harmony with Mr. Olmstead's suggestions, it would be well in any cemetery to secure a woody growth or thicket along the boundaries and to have certain waste spaces revert to woods, at once the most interesting treatment and the one having the least expensive maintenance. It is often taken for granted that the only suitable ground cover is a well-kept lawn, but there are other covers more interesting and less expensive since after they are established, they will largely take care of themselves. The spreading juniper, the American yew and the low form of the Japanese yew myrtle (vinca minor), Pachysandra, or the Japanese Spurge, some of our wild roses, various vines and brambles, native herbaceous plants and in certain localities heather, are examples that come to mind but the list might be multiplied extensively.

In Graceland several owners nave requested the superintendent to have their lots covered with thickets and the ground underneath planted with wild flowers. With this treatment there will, at times, be a profusion of flowers, and at other times fruits interesting for their bright colors or peculiar shapes such a thicket would attract birds by furnishing food and ideal nesting places. It would moreover be an admirable protection for one's ashes. What greater honor could be shown a grave than to cover it with wild violets surmounted by a low spreading wild crab apple beautiful in appearance, fragrant with blossoms, and to which a wood-thrush might come each evening and perform a musical service by giving the sweetest of bird songs?

Think then of a cemetery as being first the solution of a problem-namely, to transform a portion of the earth's surface into an artistic composition suitable for a burial place for those we wish to honor. In this solution use would be made of all suitable existing growth, boulders, water and other topographical features. Artificial objects, roads, stonework, fences, etc., would be subordinated as far as possible.  Next, the cemetery would serve its purpose through a long series of years, the burials gradually increasing in number and then as gradually decreasing until they ceased altogether. Finally, it becomes a memorial park sacred to the forefathers and their families, in some cases for several generations, a retreat for plants and birds and for persons who delight in beauty and quiet retreat, and as such it should continue to serve future generations for many years, becoming continually more venerable and more cherished.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 37th Annual Convention
Harrisburg, PA
August 20, 21, 22 and 23, 1923

In discussing the subject assigned "The Importance of Landscape Engineering Work in Planning Cemeteries" it is not my pleasure to dwell upon the artistic side of the question. I shall not speak of the magnolia grandiflora whose myriad blossoms twinkle in their setting of green as star lights in a velvet sky, of an air redolent with the perfume of many blossoms, or resonant with the song of sweet-voiced birds. Nor, shall I attempt to carry you in word-built boats along the banks of crystal waters, where the wave lips are dimpled into kisses for the lilies on the shore. But rather, I shall dwell upon the subject of producing the beautiful, long, green foliage which your stockholders long to behold upon the date of the annual dividend-Landscape Engineering-with the purpose of producing a businesslike, clean cut paying proposition without frills or fancy work agreeable to the eye of the public.

In the not too far distant future we must better correlate the work of the Landscape Artist and the Landscape Engineer, or recognize in them two utterly distinct professions, performing diversified missions in the field of cemetery development. The present translation of the two professions defined by nothing other than the great majority of their own works shows the two terms to be as widely indifferent as day is from night. With the Landscape Artist who plans for beauty alone, who creates a picture with the same spirit that his brother enjoys when he lays colors upon canvas, there is no criticism held, provided his work be done under conditions favorable to this type of treatment. When the appearance is paramount and means unlimited for the purpose, it is most assuredly the mission of this artist to allow his artistic sense every latitude and produce, to the best of his ability, a monument to his art.

In the planning of the cemetery, his artistic trend must, on the contrary, be constantly tempered by knowledge and experience in actual cemetery operation built on a foundation of engineering, training. There are limitations in the search for the artistic which must be recognized to a greater extent in cemetery building. These limitations are three-the cost or construction, the cost of operation and the cost of maintenance. Each step in cemetery planning must be weighed carefully in the balance, by all three standards, before a decision is reached. It must be remembered that construction cost is but the first cost, that certain short cuts which appear feasible to the cemetery designer and which on the spur of the moment are desirable, due to the pressure created by lack of time or finance, often sway the judgment to unwise decisions for which operation and maintenance must pay many times during the life of the cemetery.

Construction is the first step and a slippery one. During the construction period, the landscape engineer must be continually alert to reaching proper adjustments between the construction cost, the operating cost and the maintenance cost. For only during the construction period can the desired savings be affected at a minimum of expense.

Too frequently do we hear the boast that a new cemetery was placed on a sales basis in an incredibly short time and at unusually low costs. These figures are usually based on acres graded, rather than on yards of earth removed on lineal feet of roadway, completed without mention of sub grade conditions or specifications on material and method of placing. Drains also are often considered as outlets for storm water through the catch basins, although the drain laid to collect the soil water after a short study of strata and incline would produce dryer burial ground and a better labor condition at an initial cost quite favorable by comparison. First cost and speed in construction are desirable. Both must be given full weight, especially during a time when completion of burial ground means a return on a large expenditure, but never must the cost of operation and maintenance be forgotten. Thinking in the abstract, dreaming of effects and guessing at results will not bring the answer. Real study, plans based on actual conditions and available records of past cemetery operations are the only safe guides.

In modern practice the initial action in planning the cemetery is the topographical survey, usually worked out with care and precision. The second step, to which many of our modern cemeteries bear mute witness, is the location of roadways on the topographic map obtained, with an utter disregard for any of the information thereon. Perfect circles rapidly appear straight, broad avenues intersect contour lines with reckless abandon. All energies are bent on producing a fancy map, regardless of the mounting prices of steam shovel and scraper operation. Thousands of yards of earth are moved to fit this beautiful plat but seldom do pencil and paper make contact to determine the amount of earthwork involved in the choice of several routes.

In selection of roadways another vital element is frequently forgotten namely the trend of travel within the cemetery's limits. Ton miles mean money for road upkeep just as surely as they mean money for truck and auto upkeep. Cemetery employees must use these roadways for transportation their time and the wear and tear of cemetery equipment is an expense. The construction of long sections at right angles to each other prevents the continuation of radial drives and defeats direct travel. While roadways should, in the main, be curved, they should approach the radial plan from the cemetery entrance in the same scheme that modern city planning recognizes as good practice for main thoroughfares into the business section.

On every industrial project under consideration today, whether it be the maintenance of an automobile factory, the construction of a building or the operation of a cemetery we must consciously or unconsciously make provision for those intangible costs known as "Overhead and Contingency". The contractor adds a certain percent to his bid precedes it with these items and presents his figure for doing the work. The Cemetery Superintendent, wrestling with the cost of "Perpetual Care", lays aside his actuary tables unit costs and integral calculus and puts down a figure which he thinks will cover "the rest of it". "The rest of it" means our aforesaid items, persistent overhead and contingency. He knows his roadways, park spaces, drains, buildings, transportation and a dozen other items must be paid for from cemetery profits that directly they do not earn one cent. That is overhead. He knows that when he set that mausoleum under the big tree, some day someone must settle for the damage done when the tree blew down. He knows that when he bought the poorly designed catch basin grating, which will some day slip out of place and break an ankle, he set a trap for a damage suit. He knows that when the sharp turn was placed at the foot of the steep roadway grade he built a scenic setting for an auto accident. These are some of the constituents of "Contingency".

Neither of these items can be entirely eliminated. Every business must carry their cost; but the measure of that cost is usually the measure of the success of the business under association. The Cemetery Superintendent with his zealous care and careful observation cannot undo all these errors within reasonable cost or human ingenuity. The theories of the efficiency engineer can but in small measure assist in alleviating bed rock circumstance. The time to reduce the cost of Overhead and Contingency begins with a vengeance the day the cemetery is planned and dwindles away to nothing on the day the cemetery is abandoned forever.

In conclusion, let us ever keep in mind, when planning the cemetery, that it is a business proposition as well as a picture. That the grounds planned with an eye to operation and maintenance cost must in time, have the better financial condition to preserve appearance. From the moment that plans are begun, we must never forget that overhead is a factor in maintenance, whether the project be considered on the perpetual care basis or individual upkeep and that moneys spent on overhead are never visible.

The complete design of the cemetery cannot be left to the artist alone. While every element of cemetery construction must be considered from the standpoint of beauty and aesthetic value, the weight of construction, operation and maintenance must be found and recognized at the time of beginning.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 35th Annual Convention
Detroit, Michigan
September 13, 14 and 15, 1921

A pioneer in the development of the present day cemetery, Mr. A. W. Hobert, former superintendent of Lakewood, Minneapolis, at the time of his death a year ago last March left innumerable of those signs which mark the genius. For 31 years Mr. Hobert devoted his best energies to Lakewood and the esteem in which that cemetery is held today is due almost entirely to his efforts, his imagination and far-sighted methods of management.

Following in the footsteps of one who has been so unanimously successful is a task indeed. The indelible marks of Mr. Hobert's keen individuality are apparent to one who has watched the progress which Lakewood has made and I confess that I imagined myself a second Atlas, bearing the weight of the world on my shoulders when I took over the management of the cemetery last year. This feeling so strong during the first few weeks gradually changed into one of gratitude that I was given the opportunity to carry on the work of a man who, in my mind at least, bore the stamp of master.

To those who are unacquainted with the accomplishments of Mr. Hobert at Lakewood, it might be helpful to have outlined the cardinal features of his labors. Geniuses, I have noticed, always leave one feat or example that elevates them above the mass of ordinary struggling mortals. And so it was with Mr. Hobert and I believe the work which I am about to describe will prove the assertion.

When Mr. Hobert made his first appearance at Lakewood, the cemetery was little more than a woods, poorly landscaped and even more poorly managed. The tract comprised something more than 170 acres, but some portions of this were unsuitable for use. Mr. Hobert's first move was to put the institution on a paying basis, which was indeed no small task and thereafter he devoted himself to rebuilding that part of the cemetery which already had been laid out. His efforts even today are visible, for his skill in landscape gardening changed the appearance of the older portion of the tract from one of mediocrity to one of perfection.

Mr. Hobert, I believe, was one of the first superintendents to recognize the beauty of the lawn-plan and also one of the first to strenuously advocate this system of gardening. His first mission in the early days was one of education rather than achievement, and Lakewood now prides itself on having the greater portion of its land under the lawn plan. Mr. Hobert also insisted that good roads played no unimportant part in the proper development of a present-day's cemetery. As a result, Lakewood now has the highest form of Tarvia roads throughout-roads which I am certain cannot be surpassed any place in the country.

Probably the greatest single monument to Mr. Hobert's farsightedness in the matter of permanent improvements is the mortuary chapel which was completed in November, 1910. Lakewood, as you may know is as near a public institution as possible; that is, money-making is not its primary object. With this in mind, it is possible that Mr. Hobert had a freer rein than numerous superintendents in the country, but the chapel erected at an initial cost of $150,000 and which could not be duplicated for twice that amount today certainly justified that expense. Permanency, sanitation and beauty, the three architectural requisites, are embodied in the chapel. Permanency is found in the granite foundations and walls; sanitation in that each part of the interior can easily be kept clean and beauty in the exquisite mosaic mural decorations which cannot be surpassed on this side of the Atlantic.

The materials entering into the construction of the chapel were of the most imperishable nature. The walls are of reddish gray granite, the dome and roof of Gustavino tile with an outer covering of Spanish wall tile embedded in elastic cement. The interior is a most interesting and valuable example of the mosaic artists' work, the walls, ceiling and dome being designed and executed in Venetian mosaic, imported for the purpose and set by Italians of great ability. These decorations are set off by a harmonious combination of marbles in floor, wainscoting and stairs. A retiring room for ladies and a robing space for the minister are provided and a private chamber on the main floor allows the family of the deceased to remain as secluded as in a home and yet have within full view, the body and the officiating clergyman. The chapel proper is connected with the crematory by a hydraulic lift.

Another important achievement of Mr. Hobert was reclaiming 40 acres of swamp land in the Southwest corner of the tract, which until a few years before his death had remained practically useless. In reclaiming the land Mr. Hobert dug one portion lower than the surrounding land, threw the earth thus accumulated on the nearest adjoining portion of the cemetery and thus in one stroke added a lake to the other landscape charms of Lakewood and availed for practical usage a considerable portion of land.

I spent five years under the tutorship, if it might be called tutorship of Mr. Hobert, and my one ambition is to carry out the plans of development which he many times, previous to his death, outlined to me. At the same time, I hope to put into actuality some of my own ideas. In the past year I have constructed a thoroughly modern garage and stable, entirely removed from the cemetery, and I am now at work in wrecking the old greenhouses and replacing them in thoroughly modern fashion. I will have 75,000 square feet of glass in the new greenhouses.

Lakewood has natural advantages which I do not believe have been worked to their fullest extent, and in addition to following the policy of Mr. Hobert in a general way, I am making an honest endeavor to put the cemetery on a par with any now existing in the United States. The facilities for such an accomplishment are within my grasp, the directors of the institution are farsighted business men and with reasonably intelligent management, I am confident that the task which I have laid out for myself is not an impossible one.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 35th Annual Convention
Detroit, Michigan
September 13, 14 and 15, 1921

Developed in 1998 by the Government and Legal Affairs Task Force of the
International Cemetery and Funeral Association
 

BACKGROUND

The dedication of a new cemetery creates a permanent addition to the community. The extent of the design and planning, financing and long-term maintenance arrangements by those who own or control a cemetery, identified herein as the "cemetery authority," will determine whether the cemetery is ultimately an asset or detriment to the community. Regardless of whether a particular cemetery is operated as for profit or nonprofit, religious or non-sectarian, municipal or fraternal, each cemetery must literally be prepared to service what it sells forever.

The cemetery authority should meet minimum capitalization requirements and establish an endowment care trust fund to provide financial stability for the newly-created cemetery.

PRINCIPLES

1. The person intending to conduct business as a cemetery authority and establish a new cemetery should make application to the regulatory authority that has jurisdiction over cemeteries. The application process should include the following:
   
   1. Legal documents pertaining to the property and creation of the legal entity to conduct the business of a cemetery;
   2. Proof of deposits showing that the initial requirements for capitalization and the endowment care trust fund have been satisfied; and
   3. Documentation to demonstrate the ability to establish a new cemetery, financial stability, and prior business experience.
2. The site selected for the cemetery should be free and clear of financial encumbrances, conform with local zoning ordinances, and be formally dedicated for cemetery purposes. Interments should be restricted exclusively to human remains. A legal description of the property, including a map or plat of the site, subdivided into gardens or sections, should be filed with the appropriate entity.
    
3. Prior to commencing sales, the cemetery authority should be required to develop an area suitable for interment of human remains. The cemetery authority also should have made improvements to the property, that include an on-site office to conduct business and a road permitting access to the office and to all property for which the immediate sale of interment spaces is proposed.
    
4. A cemetery authority engaging in the sale of predeveloped interment spaces should have specified time periods from the date of the first sale for commencing and completing construction.
    
5. The initial amount contributed to the endowment care trust fund may be offset by withholding subsequent deposits from the sale of interment spaces until the initial deposit amount is recovered.
    
6. Permission to establish a new cemetery could be withheld by the regulatory authority if any director, officer, or manager affiliated with the cemetery authority has been convicted previously of fraudulent activities.
    
7. When the requisite documentation is provided to the regulatory authority, the regulatory authority should not unreasonably withhold permission for the establishment of a new cemetery.
    
8. The permission granted for establishing a new cemetery shall expire if basic operation of the cemetery does not begin within a specified time period.
    
9. Permission to establish a cemetery should not be transferable or assignable. A cemetery authority may only develop or operate the new cemetery at the location which is authorized under the application to the regulatory authority.

City planning, probably as you all know, is a term that has probably been used throughout the world for the last ten or fifteen years. It is not new because city planning started way back in the ages when men began to accumulate and live in small hamlets. As cities grew the difficulties of their growth were enhanced by transportation troubles living problems, housing troubles and so on consequently the last ten or fifteen years has seen much development in the idea of city planning, and it has become a subject of interest in this country particularly.

Ordinarily cities grow like the old cemeteries used to grow and we found that new additions had to be made and there were not proper facilities for carrying them out. Many of you know of superintendents who have found difficulty in acquiring enough and in making over the old cemetery to fit the new. I know we have had such difficulties in Detroit.

The city planning problem has very much the same atmosphere. Some cities fortunately have been laid out with the idea of accommodating future growth. The city of Washington, our national Capital, is a striking illustration of city planning from the beginning. As the city grew and became such an important factor in our national life, development was very easy because of the foresight of the city planners.

That was an important factor in making Washington a beautiful place to live in, and I say that advisedly because there are two types, practically speaking, of city planning; that is, city planning for a city like Washington and on the other hand, city planning for a manufacturing community such as Detroit. It is readily seen that one plan would not fit another consequently, the plans must be considered in advance for the type of town that is to be developed.

Cities are growing today faster than they ever were. The lack of proper facilities in the country and high wages in the city, have attracted a great element from the country districts to the city; we are consequently called in to exert every effort possible to make the city a decent place to live in.

Detroit has perhaps doubled in population in the last ten years. It is costing the city of Detroit today 50 or 60 millions of dollars to provide for this growth to provide sewers and water. We have over 150,000 people in the city or Detroit today who do net have sewers. The City Engineer is trying to expend a million dollars a month, and he cannot do it, he cannot get contractors to build sewers to take care of the growth which I have just mentioned. Consequently there is a demand for transportation, for the solution of transportation problems, and all that manner of thing which goes into the building of the city. I only want to call your attention to this because I think it is a very important, element perhaps net in the minds of you gentlemen, as superintendents, but your efforts in advising the cemetery associations, etc., who locate cemeteries, that they should be located with some study as to the growth of the future of the city, as well as with regard to traffic condition.
We have cemeteries in the city today which are located on heavy traffic streets, and it causes a great deal of inconvenience to the public and is a decided factor in money values.

We are trying to widen these streets, taking into account the atmosphere and location of the cemetery. For instance, on Van Dyke Avenue in this city, we are carrying on construction work, or rather we are widening that street to 106 feet, not entirely on account of the cemetery, but that will relieve the conditions that exist on Van Dyke Avenue today.

Woodward Avenue has been widened from the Six Mile road to the Eight Mile road and I might say in this connection that the builders and founders of Wood Lawn Cemetery located on Woodward Avenue, exhibited wonderful foresight because they made it possible for us to widen Woodward Avenue to 100 feet. They dedicated their portion to the city and Woodward Avenue is one of the big traffic streets, probably the most traveled street in America today. As I say, they provided for a future width of 100 feet when that cemetery was first laid out, and they are to be commended.

City planning problems have been carried on in the past generally by city planning commissions. Some of the city planning problems have not been adequately solved because there was no city planning commission as part of the city government. We are very fortunate in Detroit, because we had a city planning commission appointed in 1909 and in 1919 a new city planning commission was created consisting of nine members and by the city charter that commission is an integral part of the city government. I served on the old commission as one of the commissioners and since that old commission went out, I have been consultant of the new city commission as city planner.

City planning does not necessarily mean picturesque cities nor fanciful ideas; it means the practical solution of problems which confront us in providing for the future growth and in taking care of present conditions. We have been most fortunate in Detroit in that the council has been behind us in all respects. We have today probably one of the largest programs for street openings and widenings of any city in the world. We have a ten million dollar park and recreational bond issue which was voted in April 1919 and we have increased the park acreage in Detroit from 932 to 3,400 acres.

I have a map on the wall here which I hope you will be able to see. We have provided recreation facilities after having studied the matter from the standpoint of distribution of population and child density etc. We have located playgrounds play fields, parks, and outer boulevards, having those considerations in mind.

It might be interesting for you to know that playgrounds are differentiated from play fields, the former being small places for children to play in. We have a density of child population in Detroit in some locations, fortunately very few of 215 children to the acre.

I am now pointing to a district where 54 playgrounds have been ordered condemned and 11 of them have already been so condemned. We have planned thoroughfares, boulevards and our recreational system with the idea of connecting up the outer parkways boulevards and the parks all along this outer boulevard; which will be 46 miles encircling the city and tying up our most important parks.

Here is a plan of the city of Detroit showing in red the cemeteries. We city planners have in mind at all times the provision of open areas for light and air so that sane and suitable living conditions can be had. These cemeteries provide open wooded areas where light and air are available for the community. You will see by the map that we have provided park and recreational facilities of 225 acres; we have Belle Isle with 117 acres of recreational facilities; then we have Palmer Park on the north and an additional tract out in the River Rouge district. In studying the situation in connection with the location of cemeteries and city planning, you will notice that the north district of Detroit is well provided with cemeteries which take care of this whole district.

This map shows you a program of providing for the growth of Detroit in 1945 with a possible population of four and a half millions. Detroit has an acreage of 76.3 square miles. As I have said this map shows the growth of Detroit in 1945. I might say that the telephone companies and the electric light companies are planning on the heaviest growth in our northwest section, which is indicated en this map.

You will see that Detroit grows in fingers, stretching out in the manner indicated. Our greatest density of population is in this northwest district and you will notice that the only cemetery is out in Redford. This entire district here, as indicated on the map, is not provided with cemeteries. There is a chance for somebody to promote a new cemetery association.

I call your attention to this particularly because in city planning, the location of cemeteries must consider the location of thoroughfares. For instance, today, in this district here there is not a thoroughfare which is fit to use, consequently there must be provided in that district some day, a cemetery that will take care of that whole district.

Cemeteries should be located with regard to the future density of growth transportation facilities, etc. It is a very important factor in locating a cemetery or in remodeling your old cemetery to have proper setbacks to provide for the future widening of streets.

Today we are condemning pieces of properties from two different cemeteries for perhaps nearly a mile long on each cemetery. However it was fortunate, as I said a few minutes ago in the case of one cemetery, it was not necessary because the founders of that cemetery, Woodlawn, on Woodward Avenue, provided for the future, and had the proper set-backs for the future growth. That would seem to indicate that the study and thought should not be confined within the limits of the property which you buy. The means of egress and ingress to and from a cemetery are important considerations and should be planned with as much study and regard to the future growth as cities themselves. Today we have made plans for crossing one of the cemeteries on the east side. The cost of a bridge across that cemetery was practically prohibitive, but the necessity of crossing this cemetery in some manner arises because it blocks the way to the entire eastern section of the city. Heavy traffic must take a devious and roundabout way, whereas if that cemetery were not located where it is, it would be possible to save considerable time in making the journey from the down town section to the eastern end of the city.
Detroit was originally planned like Washington, the French engineer Monsieur LaFond, being responsible for our radial system. After we got a quarter or a mile away from the river, we seem to have lost the clue, because it practically ends at Grand Circus Park, with which you are all familiar, and five or six blocks east or west of Woodward.

I have before alluded to the fact that we have one cemetery in this city which, because of its location, makes necessary a roundabout route for motor and vehicular traffic going from one section of the city to the other. We are working with the Police Department in outlining certain streets for heavy traffic. There will be an ordinance passed and enforced requiring heavy traffic to confine itself to certain streets and this is absolutely necessary because last year our heaviest toll of deaths was caused by heavy moving vehicles. Over 74 percent of all the deaths occurring last year were caused by heavy moving vehicles. So we propose to restrict heavy moving traffic to certain streets, just the same as you find street cars only on certain streets. This leads me to say that wherever possible in the planning of cemeteries, they should be located a distance from these heavy traffic streets. I should think that cemeteries are a good deal like churches. They like to be en the highways and Woodward Avenue is a good illustration of that principle. We have a great number of churches located on Woodward Avenue, some of which are entirely surrounded by the fast growing business district. But, I think we are outgrowing that theory, and churches located on Woodward Avenue, are very glad to get away out into the residential sections where traffic conditions are not so unusual.

I think it is important in the location of future cemeteries to study traffic conditions, the thoroughfare systems of the city; and I do not mean by that that they should be located way off of heavy traffic streets, but they should be to a certain degree far enough removed for the reasons which I have heretofore indicated. That may be a thought worth considering.

Of course when the people who planned the cemeteries on Woodward Avenue laid them out, they had no idea that Detroit would reach the growth which it has; but I imagine they find it somewhat of a hardship, because Woodward avenue is the only street that reaches that section of the city at the present time.

We are very fortunate, however, in having a radial system of streets. Probably no other country in America was fortunate enough to have a radial system mapped out for it in the beginning, and the radial system is the quickest way of getting from the outside districts down town. The only thing which we lacked was a cross-town thoroughfare, and that we are providing for now.

City planning problems arise by usage. The Dix-High-Waterloo cross town thoroughfare, which we are working on today is twelve miles in length and will extend from one side of the city to the other. It is very important to get some street across there, and yet as you will see by the map, this cemetery cuts off practically all east and west streets and it is through that district that the highway of which I have just spoken will go. It throws all the burden of traffic on the streets north and south, because all this district in here must get to the down town section either north or south of that cemetery. If that cemetery had been laid out the narrow way, east and west, it would not have been handicapped as it is today.

We are confronted with some difficulty in getting around cemeteries located in that way and some cities have gone so far as to bridge ever or tunnel under, cemeteries located such as this one is. New York has done so, and some other cities are starting it. Under the law as it at present exists, it is impossible to condemn cemeteries with grades. In Michigan we can do so at the present time where there are no grades.

If you men, as superintendents and representatives, of cemeteries take into consideration the future growth of cities in planning cemeteries, you will be doing a great deal of good for posterity, and save a great deal of trouble caused by cemeteries illogically located.

From now on there is going to be much more study and thought given to the idea of city planning because cities all over the country are taking up the idea. Over 140 cities of over 50,000 in population in America today are considering re-planning their city either remodeling or rebuilding it by making new streets, new thoroughfares, etc.; consequently, the location not only from a profit standpoint, but from a utility standpoint, the proper location of cemeteries in a city planning proposition is of utmost importance to the future growth of that city.

I have in mind two or three cities which I have helped solve planning problems, where we have found cemeteries using large areas blocking and practically strangling the growth beyond that particular portion of the city. We recognize the necessity for cemeteries. Some day we will all need them, but their location should not be a haphazard thing; it should be a well studied plan, carried out in conjunction with the future growth of the city, and in conjunction with thoroughfares, consideration being given to the location of heavy traffic streets, railroads, etc.

Detroit has grown so fast that it has become a big problem to deal with traffic conditions. I need hardly tell you people that the use of the motor car on city streets has changed the whole condition of affairs. You men in your cemeteries know that the width of the road, and the question of drainage have become quite serious since the popular use of the automobile. We do not build roads for automobiles today as we used to.

The ideal city today is a city of 100,000 to 150,000 population. In planning that city from the beginning we endeavor to arrange for belts at intervals where provision is made for parks, recreation grounds, farming or garden belts, including cemeteries, green houses and nurseries.

Today, we are planning for the city of Detroit a zoning system which is one of the highest types of city planning. In that zoning system we are planning for belts such as I have mentioned as a protective measure. We have made provisions for the location of industrial belts where manufacturing can be carried on and all manner of nuisances, as we term them, can grow.

That might be termed the method of making cities grow in an orderly way. Canada has started such programs and has made progress along that line. Your good friend, Tom Adams from Ottawa has talked until he is black in the face trying to get cities to grow in this orderly way which I have referred to, making provision for large areas in which can be located agricultural belts for cemeteries, green houses, etc. as I have mentioned them. You can readily see what a vast difference such belts would make in the life of the community where light and air are provided. It becomes a very important factor, and we feel as city planners that the cemetery should be located from the standpoint of light and air circulation, etc. and also after very careful consideration of the question of traffic conditions. It would have been a very clever fellow indeed who could have predicted or estimated that Detroit would ever reach the size which it is today. But, it does not make any difference how large or how small the city is, the plan should be comprehensive enough to take in future additions. I doubt very much if the founder of the cemetery located at Redford way out Grand River (you cannot see it on this map) ever thought that the heavy growth would be in that direction. As I have before pointed out, you will notice that there is a large area in this district, where no provision whatever is made for cemeteries. We should have an agricultural belt in that district which would be included in the cemetery belt.

My profession is that of a landscape architect, nevertheless several times I have been called on to layout a cemetery. I have always "passed the buck". I think every man should stick to his own job, and I always thought there were enough cemetery superintendents to take care of it, and fortunately I had enough friends among the cemetery superintendents to take care of that work. But I know you men are not planning cemeteries simply to take care of the present situation. If you are, you are making a mistake. Cemeteries should be planned as open spaces, a place where people can go to enjoy the green grass, flowers, trees and nature's beauties.

I am not in favor of the "Evergreen" atmosphere. It makes me think too much of the old idea of the cemeteries; that atmosphere is passing today and you gentlemen are the ones who should make it pass a little more quickly. Not that we have in mind the idea of using cemeteries as a playground, but as a restful place. We have in Detroit, in some districts, children who have never seen a spear of grass; we have not one, but thousands of children who never get an opportunity to go to a park, a playground and not even to Belle Isle, just a short distance from the city.

You men in charge of the beautification of burial grounds can alleviate this condition to some extent by providing open air spaces where such children can enjoy God's free air and wondrous sunshine; where people can enjoy those things while they live, and you will take care of them when they are gone.

In closing I want to leave with you the thought that in city planning work, in the development of practical ideas, cemeteries play an important part. Their location should not be guessed at but should be a matter of thoughtful study having in mind the considerations and conditions which I have touched upon. I thank you.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 35th Annual Convention held at Detroit, Michigan
September 13, 14 and 15, 1921

No phase of human activity has stronger traditions than the burial of the dead. In all ages man has attempted to give expression to his belief in the immortality of the soul. Almost the only records we possess of many races are the tombs which they erected. It is to be hoped that our own present age will never come to be judged by the records it will leave of burial in its great cities.

Idealism in Cemetery Design.-The first principle in cemetery design is the creation of that unmistakable atmosphere which we associate with the burial of the dead. There is a modern tendency to avoid a funereal aspect in cemeteries as though a cemetery was after all something to be ashamed of which ought to be disgusted as something else. Cemetery design as a fine art seeks to give expression to the purpose for which the design is created. In other words, the cemetery must look like a cemetery, not like a public pleasure park or recreation ground. This can only be accomplished by a study of the traditions which, throughout innumerable centuries, have produced certain well marked associations which we recognize as the atmosphere surrounding burial. An obvious example to prove this point may be drawn from architecture. No architect or designer who is unacquainted with the traditions of ecclesiastical architecture can build a church which is going to look like a church. He may succeed in meeting all the schedule of requirements laid down for his guidance as to seating capacity, choir space and altar, but the result is likely to prove much more like a moving picture theatre or physics lecture hall than a church. The reason for this is that, as a result of thousands of years of religious faith definite associations in architecture have grown up which we instinctively connect with public worship. When we go to church we are disappointed if the outside of the building looks like a barn and the inside like the Strand theatre.

What are the associations which have grown up around the burial place for the dead? They are seclusion, repose, solemnity and mystery.

Seclusion.-The modern cemetery is seldom secluded. Too often the roar of traffic on the great thoroughfare, where it is usually located, is only too audible.

Repose. - Having finally succumbed in the whirlpool of modern business life, the soul is everlastingly denied that repose for which it has been craving and is left in contemplation of the traffic problem of our great cities.

Solemnity.-Solemnity is accomplished by means of masses of granite balancing upon one corner.

Mystery.-There is nothing mysterious about our cemeteries. They constitute a permanent monument to the vanity, cynicism and materialism of our age.

In the United States reaction against the indecencies of the modern civic cemetery with its harvest of dragons’ teeth and its glorification of atrocities has led to extremes in which the whole purpose of the cemetery must be disguised as though death itself were the crime and complete obliteration of its evidence of the object.

Some years ago I received a call to visit a small cemetery and make suggestions for re-planning on more modern lines. What I found was a cemetery which approached more nearly to my ideal in cemetery planning than any modern burial ground which I have ever seen in any country. I felt instinctively upon entering that I was in the presence of the work of a student of great intellect and vivid imagination. My clients informed me that the cemetery was originally designed by a much traveled Jesuit father, since deceased. The rectangular site, of perhaps 30 acres, occupied the whole of a high tableland from which all views of the surrounding town were completely shut off by a double belt of Scotch and Austrian Pine, forty feet high. The plan simplicity itself took the form of a great cross which cut the property into four quarters. The lines of the cross were marked by straight wide alleys of level grass with a well designed monument at the crossing. Bounding the alleys on either side was a tall cedar hedge, in front of which were spaced out pyramidal cedars 25 feet high. The four blocks were subdivided into lots with simple head stones and served by a road way passing through each. Those fortunate enough to be buried here enjoy an atmosphere of seclusion repose, solemnity and mystery.

Requirements of the Modern Civic Cemetery.-The site: While twenty-five years is an extremely long period in the life of cities, it is an extremely short period in the life of a cemetery, if one may use the word life in connection with a burial ground. During the past twenty-five years the principles of transportation in our cities have undergone a complete revolution resulting in the spread of population over vast areas which would have been impossible under previous methods. A site chosen twenty-five years ago on account of its seclusion may now be the centre of the utmost congestion. The time has not yet arrived when definite limits will be set to the growth of cities although signs are evident that such action will eventually have to be taken.

The search for a site for a cemetery, therefore, will be guided by geographical and topographical conditions more than by judgment as to future civic development. A site partially or even entirely surrounded by water, for instance, will promise seclusion for an unlimited period. In mountainous and hilly districts sites can often be found which will insure seclusion for the cemetery on every side but one.

Accessibility.-In order to be accessible the cemetery need not necessarily be located on a great thoroughfare or any road which seems likely to develop, as such. A good road open to traffic at all times of the year is a necessity, but the possibility of an entrance some few hundred yards away from the thoroughfare rather than immediately upon it, is no disadvantage. Street car service within short walking distance of the cemetery should be provided or the probability of the provision at a later date considered. From two to four miles from the district which the cemetery is expected to serve is not too great a distance.

Seclusion.-Seclusion is by far the most important feature in my opinion when choosing a site. Natural topographical features, such as the crest of a hill or an expanse of water, are more to be relied upon than belts of trees either existing or proposed. Few of our native trees thrive well in the densely populated districts of our cities and it is doubtful if any trees can be counted upon to provide seclusion of such permanence as is demanded by a cemetery.

Aspect.-A site sloping toward the southeast and heavily protected toward the west, northwest and north is the ideal which should be sought. There are days in spring and fall when attendance at a funeral is sufficient to strain the affection of the most trusted friend. As our cold weather comes almost invariably from the north to the .west, protection from that quarter is essential. I have seen properties only a few hundred yards apart where the transformation from bleak winter into glorious summer is accomplished solely by means of a plantation of evergreens on the northwest. The convenience and comfort of the public, the associations surrounding a resting place for the dead and the operations connected with a cemetery in winter time demand adequate shelter from strong cold winds.

Natural and Topographical Features.-A hilly or undulating site is usually more attractive than a level site. Level sites are inclined to become extremely monotonous unless great skill is used in the layout and planning. It is most important that the whole of the Property should not be seen at one time as quite apart from the unsightliness of a forest of monuments, a piece of property invariably gives the impression. of much smaller size when the whole of it is seen at once than when broken up into a number of spaces varying in interest with well screened boundary lines. A property may be broken up in two ways, either by topographical irregularities or by masses of planting existing or proposed. While a site should not necessarily be condemned on account of being level a sharply undulating property will us usually possess greater possibilities for interest and beauty than one devoid of natural features. Existing trees on a property are of course a priceless asset, but much would depend on their character and disposition. If the property is likely to be fairly well preserved from city smoke for a long period a growth of cedars would be invaluable. Cedars, owing to their character and shape, will help more than any other native tree to produce the atmosphere of mystery which should be the keynote of a cemetery. Being evergreen they will also maintain the character at all times of the year. White pine and Norway spruce, although evergreens, are not to be counted upon to any great extent. The former invariably dies out upon the approach of the city while the latter is a short lived tree at the best of times and becomes extremely ragged and unsightly when old. A heavy growth of deciduous timber over the whole of the property may be rather a disadvantage than otherwise. While theoretically, the exact amount of clearing desired ought to be possible it is usually found in practice that great difficulty is experienced in having trees removed and the result may be less satisfactory than building up plantations where needed upon a bare site. In city cemeteries natural streams of water are an asset if obtainable, but can seldom be counted upon for very long, as the development of the city will usually eventually cut off the supply.

Soil and Drainage.-Every cemetery superintendent will agree upon the importance of soil and drainage when choosing a site for the cemetery. Owing to the depth at which graves have to be dug the water table must be kept down below six feet from the surface at all times of the year. The depth at which drainage operations have to be executed. may be an item of very great expense if large areas have to be dealt with. A deep, well drained sandy loam is the ideal soil for cemetery sites. Heavy clay should be avoided. Rock close to the surface would of course condemn any site.

The Layout.-Having chosen the site the next problem is its development. The scheme of development will be based upon certain information which must be on hand before a start can be made. An accurate topographical survey must be prepared of the whole with contours varying from one to five foot intervals according to the extent of the property and the differences in elevation to be encountered. Full information should be provided as to boundaries, location and character as well as the nature of the property beyond them. All trees and shrubs should be located their caliper spread and variety being marked clearly upon the plan. Armed with this information the designer may sit down and think out his problem.

When designing for any utilitarian purpose certain arbitrary limits and requirements are always laid down for the guidance of the designer. The designer of a dinner fork, for instance, knows that he is required to invent some type of instrument to be used for transferring pieces of roast beef from the plate to the mouth by means of the hand as a carrying medium. His first business is not to conceive something beautiful, but to sit down and discover the limits and requirements within which his design must take form. His summing up of the situation will probably be somewhat as follows: In the first place, he finds that his instrument must be suitable for picking up off the plate easily and gracefully a piece of meat. In the second place, he sets limits to the size of the piece of meat with which he has to deal. Thirdly, his instrument must be easily grasped in the fingers. Then again the meat must not be so firmly grasped by the instrument that it cannot be easily removed in the mouth. He knows that the fork must be easy to clean. It must be strong enough for the purpose but not so unnecessarily strong as to be clumsy. In solving all these problems he has already made long strides toward introducing an object of beauty, an object which expresses the purpose for which it is intended.

In exactly the same way the cemetery designer will sit down and think out the utilitarian purposes which his design is intended to serve and the limits within which this problem is to be solved. The requirements in this case are as follows:
1. The provision of suitable sites for graves, keeping in mind economy of land.
2. The provision of access to those graves.
3. The creation of a setting, or atmosphere, for the graves in keeping with the traditions of burial.

Instead of commencing by locating individual graves, he will turn his attention first of all to the question of access to the property as a whole. This involves the question of an entrance or entrances. In this connection the general direction of traffic to and from the centre of population which the cemetery is expected to serve will be considered. In a general way, the most convenient spot on the boundary of the property will be chosen but the right choice of an entrance is most important. In addition to being convenient for people approaching the cemetery, the entrance should also provide possibilities of concentration from and distribution to the various parts of the cemetery. Assuming that the cemetery does not front upon the main thoroughfare the entrance should be so placed, if possible, as to be visible from the thoroughfare, so possibly at the end of a connecting street. In order to make it more imposing the entrance should be at a slight elevation.

Having located the entrance, the distribution of roadways and the location of definite areas to be set aside for graves will be considered in conjunction with the cemetery office and chapel. For two reasons the bottoms of alleys are unsuited for graves. In the first place, they are apt to be wet, no matter how well drained artificially, and in the second place, the bottom of a valley filled with monuments is much more likely to destroy the restfulness of the cemetery than high ground similarly treated where the monument can be partially screened. In a general way, it may be said that the roadways should be kept to the graves on the high land. Distances between roadways are determined largely by the distance the pall bearers may be expected to carry. As this distance should not exceed two hundred feet it follows that the property should be intersected by roadways not more than 400 feet apart in cases where the intervening space is given over to graves. Traffic distribution must be carefully studied. It is quite obvious that circulation of traffic is preferable to blind alleys provided with turning spaces, although some of these latter will be inevitable on certain properties where the grades do not permit of circulation.

In a general way, three widths of roadways will be used in cemeteries. The one-way road of nine feet; the two-way road of eighteen feet and the three-way road of twenty-four feet. The one-way road, circulating and returning, may be expected to serve an area of from 15 to 20 acres. The two-way road will serve one or more of such areas. Three-way road will be used near the entrance and central parts of large cemeteries where much concentration of traffic is to be expected. Time will not permit us to deal further with the details of roadway layout and construction.

Focal Points and Controlling Features.-Something more is required of the cemetery designer than an engineering solution of a roadway scheme at the best grades and curves. The plan must represent something more than an aimless maze of curving roads. Focal points and controlling features are absolutely essential to the well thought-out plan, even in the smallest cemetery. The symbolism of burial demands a certain degree of formality, dignity and stateliness and although it is only seldom desirable to have formality embrace the whole of the design some areas must always be given a formal setting. Architectural features of merit; such as chapel, office and larger private monuments, which ought to enrich all cemeteries, form an admirable opportunity for the designer to provide controlling sites in his plan for just such features. In larger cemeteries one central distributing point, formal in treatment, comprising the chapel and some monuments, will form a controlling feature of the plan. A number of secondary focal points should also be provided at various points in the plan. A roadway may, for instance, be diverted to the right or left at the approach to a steep grade forming an admirable site for one of the larger monuments.

Graves and Monuments.-Until complete control is obtained by the designer over the monuments permitted, the ideal cemetery will never take form. Fifty years ago some simplicity and restfulness in the village church yard and cemetery were possible. This was, partly due to the fact that in most cases the funds available did not permit of anything more than simple headstones and partly to the fact that the traditions of burial were held in greater respect.

Some cemeteries in the United States have succeeded in the control of monuments almost to the point of abolition. Abolition, although infinitely better than individual license, is not the ideal. Monuments can and should be beautiful. They should be an aid to the designer instead of a hindrance and a priceless asset to the dignity and beauty of the cemetery. What is needed is control, both of lots and of monuments, by the cemetery designer. He it is who ought to decide the character of the memorial which is to be permitted on each grave. They will vary from flat stones level with the turf to the simple head stones or sarcophagus, while special lots will be set aside for larger monuments.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Convention held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
September 7, 8, 9 and 10, 1920

Cemetery, from a Greek word meaning to sleep-literally, a sleeping place, was the name originally applied to the Roman underground burying places or catacombs. The early Christians also used the term for the places set apart for their dead and we learn from the fathers of the church that here, in the dawn of Christianity, were held the assemblies of the Christians.

These places were not connected with churches, interment in churchyards being unknown until later times. The term cemetery has, therefore, been appropriately applied in modern days to the burial grounds which have been substituted for the overcrowded churchyards.

Among the most picturesque cemeteries of the world are those of the Turks and it is possibly from them that the first idea of the cemetery, as we know it today with its shade trees and walks, was obtained.

In the Turkish burying grounds a cypress is usually planted beside each grave and so the cemetery becomes, in time, almost a forest where, by day, the doves are on the wing or perching on the trees. Here, too, are always to be seen Turkish women, pale shadows, praying beside the narrow graves. In Armenian cemeteries the tombstones depict the manner of the death of whoever is buried below, and on these extremely weird monuments one may see representations of men being decapitated or hanging on the gallows.

Of the cemeteries still in use in Southern Europe the catacombs of Sicily are the most curious. There is one near Palermo where in the subterranean corridors some 2,000 corpses are ranged in niches in the wall. The chief cemetery of France is the famous Pere la Chaise, in Paris. It obtains its name from the celebrated Confessor of Louis XIV to whom as rector of the Jesuits of Paris, it once belonged. It has an area of 200 acres and here are monuments to the great dead of modern France - soldiers, poets, painters and scientists. On two occasions this cemetery and the heights nearby have been the scene of battle. In 1814 the Russians stormed the heights during the attack on Paris. In 1871 the Communists made their last stand among the tombs of Pere la Chaise and there 900 of them fell. In 1874, as a consequence of the crowded state of the cemeteries of Paris, a great new burying place, two square miles in extent, was laid out some 16 miles north of the city with which it is connected by railway. In France every city and town is required by law to provide a burial ground beyond its barriers, properly laid out and situated if possible on rising ground.

In England from 1840 to 1855 attention was repeatedly called by the press and in Parliament to the condition of the London churchyards. The vaults under the floors of the churches and the small spaces of open ground surrounding them were literally crammed with coffins and were in consequence a direct menace to health. In all the other large towns the evil was prevalent in a greater or less degree, but in London, on account of the vast population and the consequent mortality, it was more forcibly brought to public attention. After several measures of partial relief the churchyards were closed by Act of Parliament in 1855 and the cemeteries, which now occupy large areas, became the burying places of London.

Several had already been established by private enterprise, Kensal Green, for example, dates from 1832, but the Act of 1855 marks the date of the general development of cemeteries in Great Britain.

Many of the churchyards of rural England are places of quiet and solemn beauty, of contemplative peace; in one such God's Acre was written Grey's majestic Elegy.

Beneath those rugged elms that yew tree's shade
Where heaves the turf in many a moldering heap
Each in his narrow cell forever laid
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep

Wolfe, the mighty soldier who scaled the heights of Abraham, found inspiration and solace in this poem. You will recollect that as he began his great adventure to storm the frowning cliffs he quietly recited the lines:

The boast of heraldy the pomp of power
And all that beauty all that wealth e'er gave
Awaits alike the inevitable hour
The paths of glory lead but to the grave

In June last I visited several of these English churchyards. Among others, one at Coniston in the Lake District, a churchyard of soft rains and sunshine, of green grass and white flowers, with the grey old church standing sentinel over all, and nearby the quiet sunlit waters of Coniston Lake. Here among the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleeps one of the mighty dead-John Ruskin, the apostle of beauty. Here, too, as all over England, are the pathetic graves of boys who died in England of wounds or of exposure or sickness contracted on foreign service.

The moral of Ruskin's teaching that a living art requires truth, nature, purity and earnestness has now become the axiom of all aesthetic work and judgment. If we all in our respective works would but abide by his teaching a fairer and more beautiful world would be at hand.

On this continent the cemeteries have developed in two ways, from the old time forlorn burying ground with its shapeless, ill-kept roads, grassless mounds and jumble of badly designed monuments, these latter often of slate, first to the beauty spots of today, such as may be found in many Canadian cities and towns; secondly, to the carefully tended, but artificial and monotonous cemeteries, on that ground of vegetation and cheerless to behold. Our aim should be to make our cemeteries in Canada places meet for the dead dowered with all the beauty art and thought can give.

To turn now to the question of the location of the cemetery, we can be guided in this by certain general considerations. A cemetery not laid out as a park is naturally considered a detriment to a residential district. A recent case in Toronto illustrates that even tombstones on a lawn may be seriously objected to and I will read the report of it from the Ottawa Citizen of August 8th:

"Tombstones are all right in the right place, but next door to a doctor they have their drawbacks.” This was the substance of a judgment issued this afternoon by Magistrate Ellis in refusing to fine Joseph Steiner, charged with offering tombstones for sale in a restricted area.
The city solicitor's department produced a photograph showing at least six tombstones on the front lawn of Steiner's home, but so many people thought that someone was buried there that he put up more stones. A doctor and a next-door neighbor to the defendant told the court that the tombstones had caused a tremendous amount of trouble and expense to the district.
“It has brought an onerous state of affairs upon the professional men of the district” stated the neighbor.
“We have to sleep with one eye upon this, gentlemen and it is a serious handicap to professional life. It is no pleasant reminder for people of sixty or seventy years of age to see this group of stones on the front lawn.”

Magistrate Ellis ordered the stones removed.

A cemetery site should be selected sufficiently far from the city to free it from this reproach, at the same time it must be easily reached by good roads and by systems of transport. We must consider the site in its general relation to the city and especially to the more thickly populated parts and take note also of the trend of growth of the cities population. A cemetery should be an improvement to a district, it should not occupy land that by the presence of railway facilities is likely to develop into an industrial or warehouse district nor should it abut on a water front if the latter is in the line of commercial development. This would be an economic waste from an industrial point of view as well as the wrong place for a cemetery.

The extent of ground required by a cemetery may seriously complicate the future street system of a city. I understand that the Hamilton Cemetery, although beautifully situated, occupies a strategic position on the narrow neck of land which provides the high level access to the city from the north. It is much to be desired that in choosing a new location for the extension of the cemetery area in Hamilton, consideration will be given to the desirability of fitting it in as part of the comprehensive plan of the city. The cemetery must be planned to interfere as little as possible with existing thoroughfares or with those that may later be required. Gently rolling land should, if possible, be selected. This is mowed easily; drained and naturally affords better opportunities for artistic treatment than flat land. The soil should be suitable for plant growth, be well drained and easily excavated.

All these points are elementary so far as the members of this Association are concerned. It is nevertheless true that they are frequently lost sight of where sites are purchased. Less important local considerations are allowed to prevail in the selection of land for the public purposes. When the site has been selected the first need is for a correct topographical plan showing all the natural features, the grades and the existing trees. The more accurate and complete this plan is the better will our work of planning be. In the plans for new developments in our cities in the plans for parks the "gridiron" system has been discarded. The same is true of the newer cemeteries. Here we have pleasantly curving roads following the contours of the ground, these roads being no wider than is necessary for traffic.

As in a park there will be main roads and secondary roads. They should all, however, be designed in the nature of private drives and not as public thoroughfares. Part of the cemetery should be laid out as a permanent lawn not used for burial purposes, a wide sweeping lawn shaded by trees and with perennial flowers and vines; the whole effect indeed of the cemetery should be park-like and to this end unceasing care is necessary. At the entrance and for a limited distance a formal treatment may be adopted, but beyond this the sylvan atmosphere should predominate.

This short paper would not be complete without a reference to monuments. Now, it is a question if ornate monuments have not frequently been erected because it was the custom. If in parts of the cemetery the tribute to the dead consisted of a small tablet of stone or bronze beautifully designed and laid almost flush with the grave would this not be better than the jumble of monuments we so often see and would not the whole appearance of the cemetery be thereby improved. In parts of the cemetery where headstones may be desired there might be a certain formality to give them scale and to provide an adequate setting. The monuments to public men also offer an opportunity for a somewhat formal treatment.

In the old churchyards, unused as burying places, for a century or more the headstones have harmonized with nature's background. The proximity of the church saves them from complete inconsequence and lends to them, indeed, something of its graciousness and charm. Our cemeteries, however, generally lack buildings of any size; to correct this could we not build a wide cloistered court, adding thereby dignity to the too often isolated chapel? On the walls of this court inscriptions and tablets could be placed. Might not such a cloister, filled with flowers be a worthy remembrance of those soldiers of the neighborhood who fell in battle that our lives and walks and quiet ways should be unmolested?

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Convention held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
September 7, 8, 9 and 10, 1920

The sad lessons learned through making serious and expensive blunders are generally impressed on one's mind so forcibly as to never be forgotten. While the educational value of knowledge so gained is frequently great, the cost is excessive.

It has seemed to the writer that perhaps notes of a few of the many blunders which he has made, or of the results of which he has had knowledge during some seventeen years of cemetery work, might be of interest and of possible value to the younger men in this association.

Perhaps the greatest, the most inexcusable and the most criminal blunder which a cemetery manager can make is in overlooking any possible chance for errors or omissions in the records d lots and graves and the data regarding interments. No interment should be allowed in any cemetery until a complete and perfect system of recording has been provided for and the proper books, indexes and plats are in the superintendent's office. The most perfect system possible, however, will not secure perfect results without continuous, careful work by the superintendent. The plat system is the foundation of all good work in cemetery recording, but the results from this system may be sadly lacking in accuracy if the lot corners are not permanently marked, if the measurements are inaccurate, or the platting is carelessly done. It should be an invariable rule that each record shall be made complete while the matter is in hand and not be left to a later and more convenient time. It is an equally important rule, that as frequently as once each week, every entry relating to lots or interments made since the last checking, every distance and measurement and every plat of a grave should be carefully checked and verified to the most minute detail. Clerical errors occur with the most careful and constant and careful checking is the price to be paid for accuracy. In this connection will properly come a reference to duplicate records. This is the age of carbon copies. It is a matter of slight trouble and expense to duplicate by impression paper the consecutive record of interments, and if the copy is kept in a different location from the original, the superintendent and his lot owners will have abundant cause for thankfulness in case of the accidental destruction of one set of records.

Perhaps the next most important point is the preparation of full and well considered plans for the entire cemetery before the first shovel full of dirt is handled. Here it pays to make haste slowly and to expend money freely. Every dollar carefully expended and many apparently wasted in this way will in later years be returned many fold in the saving of expense of development and maintenance, besides the added beauty and harmony of all the parts. There are too many patchwork quilt cemeteries in the land now. Let us not help to make any more of them.

Just a word upon a tender subject long years of careful work by an intelligent man in a cemetery will teach him much; good reading will help greatly; attendance at these conventions and visits to the leading cemeteries all over the country will do more for him; but he will still be in the primary class as compared with the men who make the laying out of cemeteries a profession, and have a large number of successful works of this kind to their credit. We should let no small feeling of fear or petty jealousy restrain us, but when work of this kind is to hand, call for demand, if necessary the advice and assistance of the best man who can be had.

In the new cemetery, lack of funds may prevent good work in the laying out, grading and planting of the first sections, a desire to secure lot buyers and interments may lead to a laxity in the enforcement of rules and regulations, consequently, in nearly all cemeteries, the earlier sections are the most unsightly, while as funds accumulate and the cemetery becomes more popular, the general work, as well as individual lot improvements are better. The early work has been done, and the first sales made near the entrance and every visitor forever after is compelled to pass through the most unsightly part of the grounds. By all means let us begin at the back instead of the front, or at least reserve from sale a large tract around the entrance and extending well into the grounds.

All rules must be general in their application and must be uniformly enforced otherwise they are void if contested. A firm and impartial enforcement of the rules may save much future trouble. A mistake in point was one where the allowing of a lot owner to cut down a small and unimportant tree, came near making it impossible to prevent another lot owner from cutting down a two foot oak and carting it home for firewood.

A neglect to keep careful plats of every sewer and water pipe, with all levels, connections and junction points; and sizes and. materials of which they are constructed, is a mistake no matter how unimportant or temporary the work may be.

Marks for the base lines of all surveys should be made permanent, if possible, and bearings taken and recorded, so that they may be replaced if destroyed or tampered with.

The superintendent who has not at his disposal a transit level and rod and is not reasonably familiar with their use is to be pitied. It is not a serious task for an intelligent man to post himself so as to be able to do all necessary surveying and platting for his cemetery and his work will generally be much more accurate and satisfactory than that of the ordinary surveyor. Not long ago, the writer, in visiting a large cemetery, noticed that a cloth tape-line was in use and on asking why they did not use a steel one was told that they were too expensive. This reminds one of the old story of the carpenter seen walking rapidly down the street with his hands widespread and arms extended at full length above his head. Upon being questioned by a friend who met him he said, "Don't bother me-got the measure of a door-going to make a frame." Those cloth tape measurements and the carpenter’s “measure of a door” are each a little open to suspicion.

The writer does not claim to have exhausted the subject of mistakes or even to have made a beginning on the mistakes he himself has made, but there is one that he proposes not to make, which is to read a long paper before this association. It will also be noted that he has not quoted any poetry.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the16th Annual Convention
Held at Boston, MA
August 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1902

From the time when people began to form general graveyards or burial places until the last century was well on its way, but little change or improvement in the management of such places was made; the dead were buried; the rich in the churches and the poor in the ground immediately surrounding. In the new world, either from the determination to break away from the ritualistic observances of the Fatherland or from force of circumstances, the idea of forming cemeteries either public or private was generally adopted.

If we escape for a few days or a few weeks it may be from the rush and turmoil of business and take the opportunity of visiting an old country or village church yard, we will find that within the area of a few acres are gathered the remains of all who have lived and died in that village for near upon 1,000 years. Could we have seen it several centuries ago, upon an ordinary day, we would have seen it in much the same condition as we would see it at the present day. Could we have seen it upon a feast day, we might have seen the sacred precincts occupied by the necromancer and the mountebank and crowded by the holiday makers. The ancient grave yards were invariably the property of the parish; and under control of the church. While the names of the more wealthy inhabitants were perpetuated by means of monuments and mural tablets; the graves of the common people received but scant attention. Sexton succeeded sexton; in course of time grave mounds became leveled; time is a wonderful leveler; the same ground was used over and over again and often in opening of new graves, the remains of previous occupants were exhumed. Both in the rural and urban districts until the last few years a total lack of sentiment prevailed with regard to the handling of these unfortunate remains; they were carelessly exposed to public gaze and freely handled, by the curious. In short, the general aspect of burial grounds on both sides the Atlantic was one of neglect.

The following extract from colonial times on Buzzard Bay will give us an idea of cemetery management in the days of the New England colonies. "The Rev. Rowland Cotton had the privilege of pasturing his horse in Sandwich burial ground on condition that he fenced it around." This privilege, says the narrator, is not to be considered as an indication of poverty for a burial ground was in colonial times a favorite browsing ground for the minister's horse. A Plymouth town meeting in the year 1788, requested the Rev. Chandler Robbins not to keep more horses in burial hill cemetery than was absolutely necessary, owing to the damage done to gravestones.

I think you will agree with me that cemetery reform, as cemetery reform is generally understood, is still in its infancy. While there are in the country a number of cemeteries beautifully arranged and in excellent order, we need not look far back in history nor far away in distance, to find numerous cemeteries in a state of extreme disorder and neglect. We need not travel far from Boston to find cemeteries to which even at this late day, the word desecrated would be far more applicable than would than the word consecrated.

There did exist, less than six years ago, upon the highway between Fall River and Newport, just over the line, as we Massachusetts people say, an old family burial ground which at that time was doing service as a poultry yard. About ten years ago, the president of a .local improvement association, when describing the condition of things, expressed his surprise that the snouts of the hogs, and the hoofs of the cows had not turned up the bones of the last surviving pilgrim of the Mayflower. I am happy to say that the grave of said pilgrim is now under the control of the improvement association, and I hope the time is not far distant when an appropriate monument will mark the spot. These are not the only cases where the graves of the sturdy pioneers of this progressive nation are treated in a manner sacrilegious.

When we compare the state of the crowded, uncared for cemeteries of our fathers with that of the latest production of the landscape artist, and contemplate the rapidity of the transition from the one to the other, we are inclined to reiterate the remark made by a member of this association, I think it was at Cleveland, “that there may be a danger of us riding our hobby too far or too fast.” And here I would say, that if in the course of my paper, I have made use of remarks made by my predecessors, I beg to assure the author thereof that it is only because the lessons they teach us are too useful to allow of an opportunity to impress them upon our minds being lost.

In cemetery improvement, as in everything else the American undertakes, he must move rapidly and go pretty well to the extreme. Without making any attempt to review the history of cemetery improvement, we may take note of a few facts; a few landmarks; which more nearly concern the superintendent of the present day. We cannot charge to the account of the superintendent all of the extremes we encounter in cemeteries; it is a great pity, for he has to stand almost everything.

No matter how highly or how lightly our departed friends have been esteemed by us, no matter what conscience may say of duty towards them done or undone during life, we are prompted to embellish their last resting place in a manner not only incompatible with our means, but also in a manner totally out of order with the surroundings, and to the detriment of the general appearance of the immediate neighborhood. The days of go-as-you-please in things permanent are passed; in things of less importance, floral decorations, elaborate funerals, etc., fashions will ebb and flow. What was intended as a day for memorial services, and for the decoration of the graves of deceased soldiers, has developed into a day for the most elaborate and extravagant decoration of the cemetery generally. It is well where these adornments do not assume a more permanent character. There is a custom at present prevailing of planting an iron emblem upon the grave of every deceased comrade, brother, or associate. I find the grave of one man decorated with the S. of the G. A. R., the U. S. N. of the naval association, and the shield of the veteran association. It is possible for a man to have in addition, the honor of having been policeman, fireman, Odd Fellow and other things too numerous to mention. Happy is the man who aspires to so many honors, but woe to the superintendent who has charge of his grave. The superintendent is often severely tried by the accumulation of superfluous flower holders. I once counted upon one small lot thirteen pieces of table ware and discarded ornaments, which had been placed there from time to time by loving hands for the purpose of holding flowers. Time and frost deal kindly with us in regard to these things; more kindly than with the iron emblems just spoken of.

Perhaps the easiest part of my paper is that in which I have endeavored to point out the ideas, the wary ideas of course, of those outside the pale of the brotherhood. Among so many hundreds of lot holders, gardeners, and monument makers as we have to deal with, it would be strange if we did not find a number of persons more or less capricious. And I venture to say, that neither the profession nor the experience of a cemetery superintendent is a guarantee, that he is entirely without caprice; and we might with profit apply to ourselves the words of the Scotch poet, "Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us." The ideas of a lot holder affect one lot; the ideas of the superintendent affect the cemetery and we hope influence a community. It is therefore a serious matter when the caprices of a cemetery are concentrated in the superintendent.

In forming a new cemetery or in reforming or improving an old one, by in one case keeping out all superfluous granite, or other inappropriate ornamentation, and in the other case, wherever practicable, securing the removal of these blots and maintaining a uniform grade, the superintendent does well, if in his enthusiasm he does not forget that the first essentials of a cemetery are not those of a park but pertain to the suitable disposition of the dead.

It is indisputably necessary in the interests of the public, that even in the time of our bereavement, in the extremity of our sorrow, the impassive hand of authority make itself evident. And the lot holder must realize that he is a member of a corporate body; and that he has laid his loved ones where many others have also laid theirs, and that the appropriate planting, along with the general treatment of the surroundings insisted upon by the cemetery authorities, contribute to the serene and peaceful aspect of the graves of his loved ones, and that he in turn must yield to the necessities of the situation. The promiscuous planting and adornment of individual lots must be kindly, but firmly, ruled out. This is a rule in which lot holders readily acquiesce; but when this is followed by other rules, by virtue of which all bounds or other marks indicative of personal or family possession are obliterated, mounds leveled or prohibited, the erection of headstones and monuments prohibited unless the style and quality of them meet with the approval of the cemetery authorities, and of other rules of similarly restricting character, until the whole atmosphere of the cemetery is permeated by a feeling of restriction, we are in danger of fanning into flame the spark of rebellion which may at this time be dormant in the minds of the lot holders. When a person has as he considers and sometimes expresses it, bought and paid for a piece of land, he has a sense of ownership; which does not so easily accommodate itself to the views of the superintendent and officials; a sense of individuality which does not readily give place to that of membership in the community. I have known people to be greatly shocked upon visiting the grave of a friend and finding the mound removed. The mound may be of little use and an impediment at the time of mowing, but the removal or the prohibition of it sometimes gives a pang to the heart of a sorrowing friend. We do not want to see our work tarnish for want of polish or of push, yet we may not ignore the fact that in making his improvements, and in developing his ideas, the superintendent is working in the interests of the community. As the law regards it, when a person is buried he is buried for all time. The cemetery superintendent, above all men works for posterity and should always be upon his guard lest professional zeal run counter to public interests. "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step."

In the elaboration of the lawn plan lies perhaps the chief danger of our having too much of a good thing; cut we must remember in this as in all other reforms and improvements, that so far as the pendulum of the clock swings one way, just so far as it will swing the other and the further to the extreme we push our changes and improvements, the more severe will be the reaction when it comes, which it certainly will.

The Pilgrim Fathers with the vast continent before them were more economical in the use of land for burial purposes, than we are in the laying out of our burial parks. Such free use of the land, which by law and sentiment belongs to the people, will lead to the opposite extreme and the more land we waste in the elaboration of our hobby, the earlier will be our overthrow. Though we are able at the present time to grow food for our vast population we must not lose sight of the fact that where at the present time there spreads the beautiful cemetery connected with the populous city, half a century ago the Indian and the buffalo roamed at will. There is no reason to suppose that the next half century will move more slowly than the one that is past. The time, therefore, is not far distant when the builder, the producer and the consumer will give the first twist to the necks of our pet schemes. In conclusion, if we would see our work survive us, let us proceed in our improvements with due care.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the16th Annual Convention
Held at Boston, MA
August 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1902

The modern cemetery! What does it mean? It means everything pos¬sible to lighten the grief of those who are called upon to part with some dear one. How is this brought about? It is brought about by keeping the grounds neat and attractive, clean avenues, well kept lawns and lots, trees and shrubs, in variety, flower beds here and there, and a superintendent who is in touch with everyone, easy to approach, sympathetic in nature, courteous at all times. Let these conditions be brought about, and we have what a modern cemetery should be.

When the dead has been laid to rest in its bed of mother earth, and the greensward has been replaced, and tender hands have arranged the flowers on nature's carpet, and the friends depart, they feel as if the modern cemetery had robbed death of half its horrors.

Compare the graveyards of the past with the cemeteries of today and mark the progress. An extract from American Gardening says: The tendency of the times is to make the cemetery a park, rather than a marble yard. Ghosts have vanished with old fashioned headstones, with skull and cross bones and poetic epitaphs.

Today, our cemeteries are called gardens of the dead, and the work is still going on in the direction of beautifying grounds that are now beautiful. And for this reason, our Association was formed. Those who have attended our conventions have certainly been benefited. Whatever one's occupa¬tion, he will never make a success unless he loves his work. The superinten¬dent should understand the construction of avenues and lawns should know the name and nature of trees, shrubs and flowers and not be obliged to ask any man in his employ. He can only learn this by practice and study. Books and papers are always in his reach, touching upon every subject of interest to him. We read of some experiment tried, or some idea advanced, just what we wanted to know, and we at once avail ourselves of the courtesy of our un¬known friend. The catalogues issued by leading seeds-men are full of valu¬able information. The mouthpiece of our Association, the PARK AND CEME¬TERY, has enlightened us on many a subject and has done much toward educating the superintendent in the better discharge of his duties. It is still in its infancy. Long may it live and flourish, and continue to instruct us and those who may follow in our work.

Let me read an extract from Downing's Essays, and see what a master mind said nearly fifty years ago. "One of the most remarkable illustrations of the popular taste, in this country, is to be found in the rise and progress of our rural cemeteries. Twenty years ago, nothing better than a common graveyard, filled with high grass and a chance sprinkling of weeds and this¬tles, was to be found in the Union. If there were one or two exceptions like the burial ground at New Haven, where a few willow trees broke the mon¬otony of the scene, they existed only to prove the rule more completely. Eighteen years ago, in 1831, Mount Auburn, about six miles from Poston, was made a rural cemetery. It was then a charming natural site, finely varied in surface, containing about 80 acres of land, and admirably clothed by groups and masses of native forest trees. It was tastefully laid out, monu¬ments were built, and the whole highly embellished. No sooner was atten¬tion generally roused to the charms of this first American cemetery than the idea took the public mind by storm. Travelers made pilgrimages to the Athens of New England, solely to see the realization of their long cherished dream of a resting place for the dead, at once sacred from profanation, dear to the memory, and captivating to the imagination." He then speaks of the leading cemeteries of New York and Philadelphia, and says the great attract¬ion of these cemeteries to the mass of the community, is not in the fact that they are burial places or solemn places of meditation for the friends of the deceased, or striking exhibitions of monumental sculpture, though all these have their influence. The true secret of the attraction lies in the natural beauty of the sites and in the tasteful and harmonious embellishments of these sites by art. It awakens at once the feelings of human sympathy and the love of natural beauty, implanted in every heart. He then says in the absence of great public gardens, such as we must surely some day have in America, our rural cemeteries are doing a great deal to enlarge and educate the popular taste in rural embellishments. They are for the most part laid out with admirable taste. They contain the greatest variety of trees and shrubs to be found in the country and several of them are kept in a manner seldom equaled in private grounds.

Since these lines were written, rapid strides have been made. Parks have sprung up all over our country, and no doubt many a hint was obtained from our cemeteries. The lawn mowers were not invented and of course lots did not present so smooth an appearance as now. THE MODERN CEMETERY, a few years ago, said more monuments are not necessary, but may be admissible under the lawn plan. Head and foot stones, however, should be abandoned and not allowed under any conditions. They are the multitude of closely huddled stone piles that obliterate and destroy the beauty of any landscape, natural or artificial. Only by concerted efforts, and by a display of good taste under the guidance of one controlling plan, can proper effects be se¬cured and the cemetery given unity in an endless variety, and yet be in harmony with its distinct purpose of burial.

I will add to this by saying that no fence nor structure of any kind should be allowed to enclose a lot, or corner post allowed above the grass. I am pleased to say that fences are constantly being removed as soon as the consent of the owner can be obtained. I understand in some cemeteries, the consent of the owner is not asked. In my own case, I get the consent of the owner and in some cases, it has been reluctantly given, feeling that it would be regretted; but I have found only one case where it was regretted; but on the other hand, they have wondered why they did not have it done before. I have taken down four this year, and have only twenty-eight more left in the cemetery, and am in hopes, inside of three years, that not a fence will be left. There are only ten lots enclosed by stone curbings in the ceme¬tery, and one of those will be taken away before long. The graves on our public or free lots are marked by numbers on the end of a marble block set level with the grass. No other stones are allowed. Thus we are gradually working towards the lawn plan and gradually working towards the perpetual care system. Some cemeteries sell under both, perpetual care or not. I sell nothing only under perpetual care. Any cemetery that sells lots today without the perpetual care system, will at some day regret it.

A carpet of green is the beauty of the cemetery and let us remember that we cannot have that unless we start right, and I will not enter into the details of making a lawn, because you all know. The kind of grass seed used may vary with the locality. But one thing is certain-anything that is worth doing is worth doing well.

How beautiful the trees! Weirs cut-leaf maple with its foliage touch¬ing the grass; the cut-leaf birch with its white branches in lovely contrast with the foliage; the purple and other varieties of maples, the purple beech, and the giant oak with its outstretched branches that have defied the elements for generations. The many varieties of evergreens, and many va¬rieties of our native trees that I will not mention, all contribute to make our cemeteries what they are.

Again, I will quote Downing. He says: "An American may be allowed honest pride, in the beauty and profusion of fine forest trees, natives of our western hemisphere. North America is the land of oaks, pines and magno¬lias, to say nothing of the lesser genera; and the parks and the gardens of all Europe owe their choicest sylvan treasures to our native woods and hills."

Let us not forget the flowers that do so much to beautify our cemeteries. Some have discouraged growing them to such an extent as they are grown in many cemeteries. To my mind, their many colors help to bring out the beauty of the grass, and make the lawn more beautiful. Who does not love them? They are welcome on every occasion, at the scene of festivity and the house of mourning. We watch them flourish under the hand of cultiva¬tion. We see them by the wayside, and in the fields, and up among the hills and mountains, cultivated only by the hand of nature, and we love them everywhere. They seem to carry with them something unexplainable, a sort of Divine inspiration. As I see people wending their way to the grave of some dear one, with a bouquet culled from among the treasures of the garden, I think what else would answer in the place of those flowers, and I answer myself by saying-nothing. They seem to be a message to the de¬parted one, and as far as we know, they may be in some way. Let us do all we can to encourage their growth, and not think for a moment that they de¬tract from the beauty of the lawn. I do not advise making a flowerbed on the grave, preferring the grass and level at that.

I have always felt impressed that Sundays should be more generally ob¬served in our cemeteries. I do not see why a superintendent should be called upon to sell lots on that day. The plea is made by the people that they do not have the time on a week day. The office of the dealer in real estate is closed, and this plea is not made to them. Much other cemetery business is put off till Sunday by lot owners because they know the cemetery is open for business. Why make burials on that day, when the cemetery is full of visitors? To see strangers almost mingling with mourners around the grave, is to my mind, a scene not in keeping with what should be one of great solemnity. If for no other reason, a burial should not be made on Sun¬day.

In some cemeteries connected with our large cities, if it is necessary to make burials on Sunday, by reason of the large number of bodies brought in, means should be taken to prevent a public exhibition.

In the cemetery that is in my charge, from one to five bodies are brought in on Sunday, and they are placed in the receiving tomb, and arrangements are then made with whoever of the family that wish to be present at the burial, which is generally on Monday and not later than Tuesday. My assistant or myself', is present at every burial.

I have no application to sell lots on Sunday. My office is closed and the curtains down. A sign in the window informs visitors that the superin¬tendent and his assistants are prohibited from performing any labor on the Sabbath Day, and is signed by the Secretary of the Board of Commissioners. An officer is on duty to answer all questions. Observing the Sabbath, I think, is as much an improvement to hold up the standard of the modern cemetery as the many improvements that have been made in other direc¬tions.

In conversation with people, and hearing their expressions, I am firmly convinced that our cemeteries, in the manner they are kept, do much in the direction of education towards a higher standard of thought, and it is certainly pleasing, to know that when the inevitable comes, our mortal re¬mains will go back to dust in such beautiful grounds. A common interest is centered in our cemeteries. The young and the old walk hand in hand through the grounds. We see one standing in silent prayer by the grave of maybe a mother, who has fulfilled her mission, leaving a legacy rich with good teachings ere she journeyed to that Great Beyond. We look about the cemetery, and we see others standing by graves, and in their imagination, they have gone to that Great Beyond, and have seen father, mother, brother or sister. Could they walk out of the grounds feeling other than better by their visit?

Let us, therefore, strive to help our Association, and we will, by so doing, help ourselves, and see more readily where we can make improvements, never forgetting that this is an age of progress, and we must ever be on the alert. By so doing, we will make our grounds more attractive, and will be rewarded by the appreciation of a generous public.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 10th Annual Convention
Held at St. Louis, MO
September 15, 16 and 17, 1896

It has been my good fortune the past five years to have had the opportunity of assisting in the almost complete overhauling and modernization of a large and well established cemetery. Inglewood Park was founded in 1905 by a small group of businessmen, including my father, George Letteau, who was president until his death last year. The only surviving member of this group of founders is our present president, Charles B. Hopper, who for fifty years has been acclaimed as one of the outstanding real estate men and developers in the Southern Cali¬fornia area. My experience working with Mr. Hopper during recent months in modernizing and improving Inglewood Park Cemetery has been the most valuable training of my life.

Inglewood Park comprises three hundred acres and now is very centrally located, surrounded with heavy population, and bounded by major highway arteries; yet in 1905 it was considered incredibly far out in the country, with a horse-drawn street car being its only saving feature. In those days the street car company built a special flat car that was used to transport the casket, and many times the entire funeral procession would proceed from the funeral parlor to the cemetery by street car. During the first year we had thirty-two interments, but forty-five years has wrought a great change and now we handle between five and six thousand interments each year. On certain days we have had as many as sixty-five interments in the park. To date there have been in the neigh¬borhood of one hundred forty-five thousand interments, and our endowment care trust fund is now slightly over two million four hundred thousand dollars. We wish that the fund was much larger and hope in a few years there will be many mote millions of dollars in it, but even so it has increased quite a bit during the last forty-five years.

For the first twenty-five years of its growth, Inglewood Park underwent many changes and was constantly being developed and improved. In 1910 the first community mausoleum in the state of California was constructed there. This building, comprising twenty-five hundred crypts, has, of course, been sold out for many years, and our newer Mausoleum of the Golden West now contains twelve thousand crypts and is planned to eventually comprise at least fifty thousand crypts. I doubt whether I will be alive when we have fifty thousand crypts there, but we have ample room and fully drawn plans for that size.

Nevertheless, despite this early growth and development, there was little done in the way of modernization from 1930 to 1945. The cemetery looked exactly the same throughout this period, only each year all of the buildings were getting older, and our facilities becoming more and more outmoded. Practices were followed and rules enforced, not because they were the best, but just because we had always had them and followed them in the past. It was obvious to all of us that even though the company was prosperous and well regarded this policy of doing almost nothing new would have to be terminated and the ceme¬tery given a thorough overhauling. This job has, in large part, been allotted to me, and it has been a great privilege as well as a fascinating and invaluable experience. We have made mistakes, some of them costly, but we feel proud of what has been accomplished in so short a time. We know there is much more to do, and our Board of Directors is determined to continually push this modern¬ization program until our goal has been accomplished.

During the past few months we have prepared a series of colored slides which illustrate far better than mere words the progress we have made in this program. My assistant, George Thomsen, who has taken most of these pictures that you are going to see, will now project them for you and I will add a few informative comments.

(Showing slides) The first view shows our remodeled entrance, which was one of the first changes we made. We feel it particularly vital to have our main entrance both attractive and easily noticed. Originally, we had a wrought iron sign but eventually it became darkened and very difficult to read. A few years ago two beautiful fountains were donated to the cemetery by the widow of one of the original founders and these were constructed on either side of the entrance. About three years ago we replaced the wrought iron sign with a large electric sign that is easily readable day and night. Recently we have operated our fountains at night as well as in the daytime and have installed colored lights to focus upon the streams of water. Thus we feel we have transformed a dark space along the highway into almost a fairyland scene through the evening hours. During the year we constantly strive to see that our flower beds around our entrance are as beautiful and imposing as possible. It has been a great satisfaction to receive appreciative comments about them from visitors, for we then feel that our goal of creating a favorable first impression is being achieved. These beds can be easily viewed by all traffic passing by, even though many of the cars may not enter the cemetery, and therefore we feel they act as a very helpful advertisement. Each Christmas we place a large decorated and lighted Christmas tree in the very center of our entrance and this has created so much public interest that many people in the neighborhood have come especially to see it and the local papers have often contained pictures of it.

Until this March we operated a downtown business office. The next series of pictures will show how, for a very moderate cost, we have transformed our superintendent's former office and home in the park into a complete and modern administration building. This step of centralizing all departments under one building within the cemetery grounds has, without a doubt, been one of the most beneficial that we have taken. It has reduced our costs and enabled us to serve both the general public and the funeral directors utilizing Inglewood Park in a more efficient and satisfactory manner. In our new administration building we have constructed two modern consultation rooms which we feel help us in our sales very, very much. These rooms are large enough so that an entire family of eight or ten can comfortably be seated in them. We have furnished them in the manner of a sitting room or lounge rather than an office and have tried with our furniture and decorations to make them as pleasant and relaxing for the families using them as possible. They are bright arid cheerful and con¬stantly have fresh flowers on the tables. There is nothing in either room in the way of urns, miniature vaults, or anything that would tend to depress the families while they are sitting in them. Our only mistake was in not constructing more and I am sure that we will have to remedy this in the near future.

At the present time we are in the process of remodeling Grace Chapel, which was originally constructed in 1918. This chapel seats up to two hundred and fifty people and is a replica of an old and well known building in England. Unfortunately, there are many steps leading up to the main floor of the chapel, which has constantly provided difficulties for older people and made it extremely, unpleasant to bring in large and heavy caskets. At the present time we are completely remodeling Grace Chapel and are considering lowering the main floor to ground level. We are adding much needed features, such as a minister's room and a flower receiving room. Ultimately we hope to have Grace Chapel contain all modern features and improvements but still look exactly the same from the outside, for its exterior appearance has come to be regarded with much sentiment and attachment by our lot owners.

A little over a year ago we constructed a new and much smaller chapel which we have designated as the Chapel of the Chimes. One of the features we have found to be most appreciated in it is a family garden where the immediate members of the family may gather and visit together before and after the service in privacy and seclusion. We have no curtains or drapes in the Chapel of the Chimes and allow bright sunlight to come in at all times. The fact that it is bright and cheerful and decorated in beautiful pastel shades of green and pink has been very well received by those using it. We have endeavored in every way possible to avoid having anything dark or gloomy in the entire building.

The following series of slides illustrate our new Crematorium, which we believe to be the finest that has ever been constructed. The retort room itself has green terrazzo floors and aluminum painted concrete walls. We try to keep this room at all times as clean and immaculate as an engine room in a battleship or an operating room in a hospital. The general public may visit the retort room at any time, and every day many visitors pass through it even while all four retorts are operating. We feel that we are helping to sell cremation by allowing the general public to thoroughly understand what cremation is all about and to see how clean and sanitary the entire process is in our Crematorium. Some people like it and some do not, but in any event we feel that we have taken all of the mystery and unpleasantness out of it. One interesting feature about our retorts is that they have two methods of operation-natural gas or fuel oil. We felt that there might be times during a war or in a severe winter when natural gas would not be available and therefore we constructed a stand-by method of operation. Normally, we use natural gas, even though it is slightly more expensive, because of the fact that it is much cleaner. However, in the matter of a few seconds, any retort can be converted to fuel oil.

The only views which I am going to show of our Mausoleum of the Golden West are of a new feature which I feel is one of our greatest improvements. It is a new type of display crypt with a plate glass front, concealed fluorescent lights and modern appearing drapes inside of the plate glass. The crypt itself is painted a pastel shade and carpeted in a contrasting color. Our original display crypts were just like those that are now to be seen in most mausoleums through¬out the country. They were dark and foreboding in appearance and people could reach inside and touch the cold and often unpainted concrete with their hands. We have endeavored to make our new display crypt look just as bright and attractive as possible, and the effect on the public has been truly astonishing. It has not only assisted us in selling crypts in all parts of the building, but, strangely enough, has created a great demand for crypts adjacent to it and directly facing it. People seem to want to own crypts close by because of the fact that it is bright and colorful and lighted at all times.

Our most recent step in modernization has been to construct a completely new corporation yard consisting of a large machine shop, warehouse, paint shop, and a complete concrete vault and sectional box plant outside of the cemetery proper. It is directly across the street from one corner of our park and on some property that could never be zoned for cemetery use. This move has served a dual purpose of giving us several acres of land already dedicated for interments to sell in one of the older and completely sold out sections of the park, and at the same time removed what we have always felt to be a major eyesore.

In recent years we have tried in every way possible to bring color into the cemetery. We feel there is far too much green and we have attempted to add color to it in the way of flower beds, flowering trees and water lilies. One of our most beautiful trees, which is shown in the concluding slides, is the flowering Eucalyptus. They bloom for several months and I wish we had many more of them in the cemetery. They come in several different intense and vivid shades of red and orange.

I want to thank you all very much for your courtesy and attention. It has been a great pleasure for me to come to Milwaukee and have a small part in this fine convention. I appreciate your allowing me to appear on the, program the first time I have attended an NCA meeting, Thank you very much!

From the publication:
“1950-1951 Cemetery Yearbook”
NCA 21st Annual Meeting
Hotel Schroeder, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
October 18, 19, 20 and 21, 1950

Philadelphians are quite proud of their tradition that it takes three generations to make a true Philadelphian, while one may become a New Yorker over night.

The same principle applies to old line Cemeteries. You cannot transform them into a Modern Cemetery by simply waving a wand and declaring that in the New Addition no upright monuments will be allowed. Edgar Guest, one of my fellow Detroiters, wrote quite a poem, entitled: "It takes a heap of living to make a house a home." In this poem he described the joys, the tribulations and heartaches that make our fireside a sacred, comforting place. It takes a lot of planning, a lot of inspiration, a lot of perspiration, a lot of capitalization to transform a City of the Dead into a Burial Estate designed for the living as well as for the dead.

Forest Hills Cemetery was established in the Northeast corner of Philadelphia 42 years ago. During its span of existence it has passed through the hands of many owners, individuals, corporations, syndicates and selling organizations. Each of the owners and each of the selling organizations had different ideas in the building and selling of cemetery property. Fortunately for the Forest Hills of today none of these ill ¬conceived ideas are irreparable. Fortunate too, are we in the fact that we have not inherited a tombstone thicket, for all during the years care and discretion has been exercised in the type and style of the monuments erected therein. Our greatest heritage is the wonderful, natural beauty of Forest Hills, for you can travel the country over, and nowhere will you find a burial ground with more beautiful rolling hills or wooded areas. That natural beauty, with the possibilities of enhancing it with manmade beauty, is the reason why I am now in Philadelphia. Nowhere have I seen greater possibilities for a sales engineer to work hand in hand with landscaping engineers to create a modern cemetery that will rank with the country's finest, when these improvements are carried out.

The subject assigned to me has been a difficult one to prepare. If I were speaking to you on a matter of sales theory, I could speak freely and earnestly. However, I must speak to you in the light of my actual experience, and relate the work that I performed day after day during the five months I have been engaged in this new endeavor. Naturally in such a short space of time, miracles cannot be wrought, and I am going to handle this talk as if it were addressed to each of you as an individual, and not to an audience of hundreds of cemetery experts gathered from all over the North American Continent. I am going to picture you as if you were individually seated at my desk in Philadelphia and that you and I, are swapping our common experiences in the operation of our sales departments and of our cemeteries. I have done this in the past with many of you here, and you and I have sat across our respective desks in many States in this country. When you and I talked to each other indi¬vidually, it did not sound like braggadocio, but from our conversation we each gathered points of information to help us in our future endeavors.

In the experiences I am to relate to you, you will find no startling innovations, no cure-all solutions to our many problems. During the past 10 years in which I have been engaged in this fascinating work of manu¬facturing and merchandising modern cemetery property, I have, come across many sales ideas. A lot of these ideas were very, very bad - a few of them were good. The only way in which I, have ever been able to separate the wheat from the chaff, was to take all of these ideas apart, piece by piece, to see whether or not they were feasible. This cannot be done by sitting behind a mahogany desk - it must be done in the field, face to face with the prospect or the lot owner, or, if you please, your Board of Directors ... In these 10 years, therefore, I learned which ideas have worked, and which should be discarded. In my present connection I have tried to use these ideas that clicked, not experimenting again with the ideas which had failed to produce results. So draw up your chair a little bit closer to my desk and light a fresh cigarette, while I proceed to go into my story.

Fifteen years ago a new Memorial Park area was opened at Forest Hills, that is to say, it was called the Memorial Park area. The restrictions of the cemetery forbade the erection of upright monuments in that area ¬also forbade the installation of bronze memorials in the same area, allowing only stone or granite memorials, of any size or description, just so they were installed flush with the ground. The first step I took was to have our Board of Directors amend the By-laws of the cemetery, so that bronze memorials, installed flush with the ground, would be permitted in any section of the cemetery - monumental, as well as non-monumental. Our new letter heads describe it as Forest Hills Cemetery and Memorial Park. In other words, we immediately brought to the attention of the public that we have a complete line of Cemetery lots. The Ford dealer is fortunate in the fact that he has a complete line of automobiles, appealing to all pocket-books and all tastes - the Lincoln, the Zephyr, the Mercury, and three models of Fords. So it is with us - if a man wants a $10,000.00 monumental burial estate, we can take care of him. We do not have to spend time in selling him on a new idea and losing the sale if we are unsuccessful in selling that new idea. We have property that appeals to the great middle class, and also to the low income class, although we do not have any single graves for sale. Our plans call for the completion of a separate entrance to the Memorial Park area, so that one may enter there direct from the Main Highway without driving through the Monumental Sections.

We do not have an unlimited amount of money at our disposal with which to make some very necessary rehabilitations and improvements, so my immediate job was to make those improvements, not only where they were most needed, but also where they would show up to the best effect to let our large family of lot owners know that new life had come to their dormant, sleeping cemetery. During the past 10 years there had been no sales force whatsoever at Forest Hills, and although the interment business continued on a good even keel, increasing lack of funds had been felt from year to year, and naturally many jobs had been allowed to remain undone through the need of money with which to carry out those necessary repairs.

The first Sunday after my arrival, which incidentally was Easter Sunday, the visitors to the cemetery were surprised to see a beautiful pair of white swans gliding gracefully over our lake. They not only stopped a long time to admire these swans, but they remarked to themselves and to me that something new was happening here. That one expenditure of $45.00 for this pair of swans brought an amazing touch of life to a place in which no life had existed before. Several stretches of road were repaired at once, and the lot owners, as well as the prospects could get a graphic idea of how all of the roads throughout the cemetery would look when our improvement program is completed. The purchase of a funeral chapel tent drew many immediate favorable comments from funeral parties, and from funeral Directors themselves. Lower cost in Cemetery maintenance was secured immediately through the purchase and use of a 75" Power Mower, for the cutting of the lawns in the Memorial Park area, instead of by the 30-inch mowers which had been used previously. Another innovation which appealed to our lot owners and prospects alike was the free flower bed, with a beautiful enamel sign containing the inscription "These flowers are free for use on graves."

The first time I set out by myself to drive to the cemetery I had one deuce of a job finding it. I did not want to have to stop to ask for directions, but I was forced to do so. At the cemetery I had difficulty in distinguishing where certain sections were located, even though I had the map of the grounds before me. It was not long before a beautiful gold leaf raised letter entrance sign was erected at Forest Hills. Small metal signs were placed on each side of our burial sections, these signs bearing the name of that particular section. Small arrow directional signs were placed at all important road intersections leading to our cemetery.

The cemetery administration building looked worse than a Country Store at Simkins Corner. It was dingy and shabby, inside and out. I had often heard of the miracle a few coats of paint could create, and I saw this happen before my very eyes. The interior of the office with this light paint, with its bright linoleum on the floors and the Venetian blinds on the windows, has become a place of which we are all proud instead of apologetic as heretofore. The shining whiteness of the exterior has brought our cemetery forcibly to the attention of the motorist who use the highway, and the railroad passengers of the New York line of the Reading Railway, which passes before our Administration Building door.

For a great many years, the only City office of the Cemetery was a small bookkeeping office in the center of town. I immediately moved our Executive office to a modern daylight, office building located 4 miles north of the City Hall, but 4, miles nearer to our cemetery. We are now located at a main transfer point of many trolley and bus lines, as well as the Broad Street Subway line. This makes it much easier for our lot owners to drop into the office personally to make their monthly payments. It makes it more accessible for our salesmen also, as m this location they have unlimited parking facilities on wide streets, and the office is closer to their fields of operations.

I have just mentioned here about our salesmen. That is one big job I had to do, and still have to do for that matter. Not having had a sales force here for ten years I had to start from scratch, building up sales material and getting sales pictures for our kits, which in itself was no easy thing to do, as the winter continued late in Philadelphia this year, and I had to wait until the trees began to have at least a sign of foliage upon them.

I did not wait until this sales material had been completed to start hiring salesmen. In fact, I ran an Ad for salesmen even before my new office had been redecorated completely. This first Ad brought in so many applicants, that I was forced to buy and install the salesroom furniture within 24 hours, as I had to start conducting a sales school immediately. Twenty men answered that advertisement in a City which I had been told by several that the cemetery business had been exploited to death, and that salesmen would run from the sight of a cemetery Ad. I had been told moreover, that it would be impossible to hire any new men if they were not given an advance or drawing account. That these two statements were fallacies is proven by the fact that out of the 20 men who answered this Cemetery Ad, 15 became salesmen for us. Not a one of these men has ever been given a cent in advances or, drawing accounts. Some of you may be interested in knowing just how this Ad read. In our City, the Philadelphia Inquirer insists that the nature of employment and manner of remuneration therefore must be specifically mentioned in the Ad. I quote for you this advertisement:

SALESMEN OVER 35:
GRAY HAIRS ARE AN ASSET HERE.

Analyze these advantages enjoyed exclusively by our new Sales Force!

(1) We furnish BONA-FIDE LEADS. No canvassing necessary.
(2) Prestige of 42 years continuous service to Philadelphians, thousands of owners.
(3) Superior quality and beauty.
(4) Prices today but a fraction of value. You will sell on rising market.
(5) Extensive improvement program just starting.
(6) Over one million Philadelphians do not own. They should buy NOW, before need arises.
(7) Experience not required. You will be given intelligent training and cooperation in 1940 cemetery merchandising.
(8) Unlimited earnings thru generous commissions and advancement possibilities for lifetime career.
(9) No dull seasons. No samples to carry. No credit turn-downs.
(10) Sales force just starting. Get in on ground floor.

Your appearance, personality, and character must be in keeping with the dignity of our proposition. Apply Monday only to:

FOREST HILLS CEMETERY
Beury Building
3701 N. Broad Street

I think the reason that it has been an easy matter for us to hire good men on a straight commission basis, is the fact that our proposition creates enthusiasm in their minds and in their efforts. It has always been said that “Anticipation is greater than realization” and we are fortunate that we are just at the start of our improvement program instead of having to sell a cemetery that is completely finished. Enthusiasm is always a vital factor in selling any commodity, and it is especially true of Cemetery Property, where you can draw such a splendid word picture of the beauty that is there and the beauty that is to come, the romance and sentiment of a cemetery that is designed for the living.

Here is a true story of what happened to one of our salesmen, in the first week of our sales force's existence: An 89 year old Aunt of his died and he was at a local funeral establishment waiting for the funeral serv¬ices to start. In his conversation with the funeral director he told him, in great detail, of his new connection at Forest Hills, and just what Forest Hills was going to do in the way of improvements. He evidently did a good job in selling this funeral director on Forest Hills. There were only ¬two cars besides the hearse and as the funeral procession got under way, our salesman noted the fact that it passed by the highway where it should have turned off, to go to the cemetery where the interment services were to be held. Instead, the procession continued right out to Forest Hills, and pulled up beside an open grave there which had been made ready for another interment service. It was then, and only .then, that the funeral director realized that his mind had been filled so full of Forest Hills, that he had driven there instead of to the other cemetery. It was fortunate for his reputation that the funeral party consisted only of the immediate family of the Forest Hills salesman.

On the books of the company are the names of over 5000 lot owners, representing over 4000 burials. During the period of years which had elapsed since these owners had purchased, many had moved away; in many cases the complete families had died out. During all those years I do not think they ever received a general mailing from the company on any subject whatsoever. Naturally, I wanted to acquaint them with the detailed plans which we were to carry out for their benefit, as well as to let them know about the new management. With this idea in mind, I engaged Homer Rodeheaver to come to Philadelphia to conduct a Lot Owners Meeting on May 25, in one of our large down town auditoriums. I sent a general mailing out to these 5000 names announcing the Homer Rodeheaver Meeting, and over half of these letters were returned to us as undeliverable. This mailing, however, was the means of our securing many new addresses for our records. I used the Post office plan, Form No. 3547, which applies to multi-mailing of 3rd class mail matter. The envelope which was mailed on 1½¢ postage bore this inscription: "Return postage guaranteed: Postmaster: If addressee has moved and new ad¬dress is known, notify sender on Form 3547, postage for which is guaranteed." By this method the Postmaster returned to us a post card containing the new address. On the 2500 or so letters which were re¬turned as undeliverable, we continued our checking further thru the funeral directors, asking them to advise the present address of survivors if it were known to them. In this way we received the correct address of many of these families. Unfortunately, we still have many names on our books which we cannot locate, and I am praying and hoping that some day. In the future, a new City Directory will be issued in Philadel¬phia. None has been issued in the last 5 years, and so far, no one has any definite idea if one will ever be issued again. We of course have used the telephone directory to trace the phone subscribers.

The Homer Rodeheaver Meeting attracted over 600 lot owners on a rainy Saturday evening which was the only date on which I could book Homer. It created genuine enthusiasm. Quite a few Funeral Directors were also present that evening, as they too had been sent an invitation for this meeting. The lot owners were told that night of our plans for improvements and rehabilitation, and they were also told that they were expected to help in the sale of lots, as the more lots that were sold would mean more improvements would be made. It was pointed out to them that three - parties would benefit from every lot that was sold to their friends and relatives:

First: The lot owners themselves would greatly benefit, as the value of their lots would increase according to the additional money spent in the cemetery with the additional beauty and desirability thus created.

Second: The cemetery would benefit as their own unsold property would greatly increase in value, due to these improvements.

Third: Their friends or relatives would benefit by an immediate purchase as they would be in position to buy at ground floor prices, as these prices would continue to advance, as the improvements proceeded from time to time.

Our salesmen are following up the families representing the 4000 burials at the Park by means of the Historical Record, with which most of you are familiar. On every one of these calls the salesman is supposed to conduct a miniature Homer Rodeheaver Meeting, pointing out the many improvements from which they will benefit as lot owners, and also calling to their attention the other parties who will benefit from additional sales to their friends and relatives. Such a method is followed in our contacts with visitors to the cemetery, and also to those who attend interment services. It is quite interesting to note the results obtained by the various types of salesmen in following up these Historical Records. Some of them become ideal census takers. They turn in a complete Historical Record of the deceased in flawless handwriting, with every question fully answered thereon. Some of them in listing the surviving relatives of the deceased are too timid or negligent to ask as to whether or not those surviving relatives own cemetery property themselves. Other salesmen by their sympathetic listening, by their enthusiastic presentation of our plans for beautification, are very successful in securing the wholehearted cooperation of our owners and their actual physical aid in helping them to sell property to the Uncle Johns and Brother Harrys listed by them on these records.

I will not go into great detail about the beautiful Memorial Day program we had at Forest Hills. It is interesting to state, however, that in spite of great difficulties, this program turned out to be a great success. It was the first of May before I had an opportunity to even think or make plans for such a service here. No such service had ever been held at Forest Hills. In fact, there was not even a flag staff of any description, I started contacting the various veterans’ Posts adjacent to our cemetery, and I found that for years each post had been going to certain specified cemeteries in their area to hold their Memorial Day services. Everywhere I went I was greeted with the information that it was too late for their posts to change any plans; therefore, after starting at the bottom I decided to continue at the top. I introduced myself to the District Commander of the American Legion of our District and received an invitation from him to attend the monthly meeting of the Commanders of the 23 posts of that district; which was held the first week in May. At that Meeting I told these Commanders my story briefly, that I would like to have a Memorial Flag Staff dedicated on Memorial Day, and while I realized that their Posts could not attend this dedicatory service, that I would at least like to have their colors represented by volunteer delegates from each Post.

The next week I presented a similar invitation at the Monthly District Meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The result was that our first Memorial Day service had a good turnout from the 23 posts of the Legion, and the 16 Posts of the V.F.W., with many of the Commanders them¬selves attending. They were so inspired and pleased by the beauty of the site where we erected the Memorial Flag Staff, that it was decided then and there that Forest Hills would be the official cemetery for the entire District Memorial Day Joint services in the future. All of the Metropolitan and Community Newspapers gave publicity to this service, the first time in many years that the name of Forest Hills had been mentioned by any Newspaper other than in the obituary columns.

Due to the late spring it took a long time for me to secure suitable films in color, of the beauties of the Cemetery, Late in May we began our Moving Picture Travelogue Lectures in the Churches and Lodges, and as the fall season now opens we are booked extensively for the showings. As I have spoken to you before from this platform on Movie Lectures, you know how sold I am on them as an aid to sales, so it will not be necessary to go into this phase of sales promotion here. If you are not familiar with these Moving Picture Lectures I suggest that after the meeting you pay Roy Hatten $5.00 for a copy of the 1937 year book containing this information.

We have not as yet installed our amplified music but expect to do so in the near future. I perhaps should not mention this fact here at this meeting, as I imagine after this talk I will be besieged by the musical exhibitors at this convention. I, however, do state definitely here that while we have not as yet decided on what musical installation we will make, that you can bet it will be thru one of our exhibitors. The Chapel Tent and the Power Lawn Mower, which I mentioned earlier in this talk, were bought from exhibitors at our previous conventions, and I make it a strict rule to favor our exhibitors wherever and whenever possible. Again, I will not go into detail as to how we will secure prospects through our Sacred Concerts. The 1938 year book covers this subject thoroughly. And again, you may get a copy of that book from Roy for another five dollar bill. Perhaps after all, Roy's offer of $15.00 for a complete set of year books will be your best bet.

After our mailing list had been brought to date, we found that there were over 1000 unmarked graves. Thru Bill Williams' cooperation we immediately got out a letter to these 1000 families, advising them that bronze memorials could be installed anywhere in the cemetery, and giving them a sales talk on the use of bronze. Our salesmen in their daily calls with the Historical Records have the privilege of selling Bronze Memorials for which they receive a commission of 10%. While our salesmen are not Memorial salesmen, it does give them an opportunity to pick up' a little expense money through this incidental selling. These families will be systematically followed up, also, by future letters. Quite a few profit¬able orders have already been received for Bronze Memorials, but we have not scratched the surface as yet. In my previous connection at Michigan Memorial Park, it was quite a simple matter to sell bronze memorials, as they either I had to install bronze or nothing at all. Here we are competing with every monument and memorial dealer in the City, and we have to overcome a lot of prejudice that has already been built up in our lot owners' minds. We find that the more bronze memorials we install the easier it is for us to sell additional ones, so I feel that the hardest part of this particular job is already over. I do not want to go on record as favoring the installation of bronze against that of granite. I do want to go on record, however, in saying that by selling bronze we receive a selling profit ourselves, and do not have to be content with only an installation charge. Figure for yourselves a potential average profit of $25.00 each on 1000 unmarked graves and you will see that that total amounts to $25,000.00 possible profit for the cemetery. Multiply that by 400 burials a year and that will give you an additional future profit of $10,000.00 per year.

In this short space of time allotted to me, I could give you only a few of the highlights instituted since last spring. Inasmuch as there is not in this whole audience a possibility of selling one lot in Forest Hills, I am not going to attempt to tell you about the future plans we have in mind for our own particular cemetery. I do hope that if any of you pass through Philadelphia, or any way near Philadelphia, on your way home from this convention, or at any time in the future, that you will drop in my office, and we will then continue the discussion which you and I have had this morning. I know that you will be impressed with the beauty of Forest Hills when I show it to you then. I do not advise you to have any of your salesmen stop by to see it, as they might do what I did last March - move to Philadelphia and become a living part of the beauty that is Forest Hills.

From the publication:
“1940-1941 Cemetery Handbook & Buyers’ Guide”
ACOA 11th Annual Convention & Exposition
Hotel Statler, Buffalo, New York
September 8-11, 194

Since the earliest history of man, the mystery we know as death has been an event in the life of the individual held in reverence and awe. Even in the most savage tribes of which we have knowledge, the burial of the dead has been surrounded by many customs peculiar to the particular belief or religion of the tribe. From time immemorial, therefore, the cemetery has been a community institution of the utmost importance.

It is interesting to examine briefly the history of burial practices, not¬ing the various changes which took place out of which has evolved our modern cemetery of today. In fact, it is necessary that such an examina¬tion be made if we are to judge the modern cemetery and its relation to the public as a community institution.

During the known history of mankind, there have been three great epochs or periods of burial practices prior to our modern times, and we may now consider ourselves to be in the fourth period.

The first epoch was the era before the invention of writing - the era of hieroglyphics. The chief source of information regarding this period has come from excavations and from the colossal structures still standing as monuments of those times. The masses of the people were ignorant and dominated by the despotic rule of the priests and kings. Millions upon millions of man-hours of labor were spent in building the great temples, palaces and tombs of that day. Examples of this era are the pyramids at Memphis and the sepulchers’ at Thebes, with their tunnels boring deep into the bowels of the mountain through solid rock, in some instances for as much as two miles.

In the second epoch, the world had advanced in intelligence, and was that period after the invention of writing but before the art of printing was discovered. The tombs of this period were far less magnificent than those of the first era, but the priests and kings still maintained their sway over the minds of the people. In this age it was customary to burn the relics of the dead and to deposit the ashes in urns. This period dated from the beginning of Greek culture to the fall of the Roman Empire.

The third epoch was that of Christianity, where knowledge and cul¬tivation had spread among the common people through the equalizing influence of the new religion. It was then also that the people began to feel the influence of tender sentiments connected with the dead, which are most observable in highly civilized people. In this period, the highest honor that could be paid the individual was to accord him burial within the church; and, since there was not room for all within the church, the churchyard cemetery was born. In this age, great expense was still lavished on the tombs of kings, princes and nobles, but in a less marked degree.

The fourth epoch is that in which we are now living, is that of the rural or park like cemetery and is comparatively recent date. It has been developed more fully in the United States than anywhere else. More stress has been placed on attaining quiet restfulness in the cemetery, as expressed by the beauties of nature and art. The masses of the people have become vastly more educated, and in our own country the traditional barrier between rich and poor, between highborn and common people, has been largely erased. It is this fact, perhaps more than any other, which has made possible public acceptance of non-monument cemeteries. It is also this fact that convinces us that the non-monument cemetery fills a public need, and is here to stay. How far the trend toward the non¬-monumental idea will go is a very controversial question. Only the pass¬age of time will provide us with the answer. Sufficient for our purpose at this time is to state only that the public demands should be served, whether monument or non-monument, and particularly in those communities of a size to need but one cemetery, a combination of monument and non-¬monument sections would seem most desirable.

We have thus briefly traced the evolution of burial practices, out of which has come our modern cemeteries of today. We have seen the pyra¬mids of the Pharaohs transformed into the well designed monument or marker of today through the great leveling agency of education. More recently, we have watched the development of the idea that the cemetery should serve not only a utilitarian purpose as a depository for the mortal remains of the deceased, but that the cemetery should serve the living as well as the dead; that it should not be a cold; dank, dreary, forbidding place, but a place of light, of beauty, of warmth and sunshine which will teach us Nature's lessons and strengthen our faith in a life beyond the grave.

What then are some of the factors which determine whether or not our cemetery is functioning as a community institution of the highest order?

PHYSICAL FORM AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CEMETERY

We shall consider first the cemetery itself - its physical form and administration. Of first importance is the matter of proper planning. St. Gaudens, the famous sculptor said, "There is nothing that needs proper supervision and planning more than the modern cemetery, for there is nothing that suffers more from vulgarity, ignorance and pretentiousness on the one side, and grasping unscrupulousness on the other". We are all familiar with and know instances of cemeteries which find themselves hemmed in on every side by undesirable - that is, undesirable from the cemetery viewpoint - industrial development; cemeteries that are in the way of necessary street widening or other public improvement. Fortunate¬ly, an abundance of good highways and the automobile have permitted cemeteries to locate far from the centers of dense population, thus mini¬mizing the dangers of future encroachment. When planning the new cemetery or new sections in an established cemetery, too often the local architect or engineer is given the job - to keep the work at home is the excuse - when he has no qualifications whatever for the task, although he probably is perfectly competent in his own line of work. To transform farm and woodlands into a beautiful cemetery, to take every advantage of the topography of the chosen site, demands skill, creative ability and resourcefulness of the first order. This is an age of specialization and many able architects who specialize in cemetery design are now available. So why not employ specialists for the task of planning our cemetery?
Our cemetery should be a beauty spot. The beauties of nature, of art and architecture exert tremendous power in easing sorrow. Let us make our cemetery a profusion of beauty, where the families and friends of deceased loved ones will come again and again to assuage their grief in the healing powers of nature and art.

The importance of good landscaping in the creation of lasting beauty cannot be overemphasized, and unless cost of maintenance and replace¬ment are no governing factors, the landscaping materials should consist in the main of native trees and shrubs. The development of points of interest is essential, and may take the form of statuary, art glass, dis¬tinctive architecture, rock gardens, sunken gardens, formal gardens, lakes, ponds, pools, streams, fountains, specialization in particular species of flowering shrubs or particular varieties of flowers. Quiet nooks screened by shrubbery for rest and meditation are always appreciated by the ceme¬tery visitor. That these points of interest need not be elaborate or expen¬sive to be effective was most forcefully brought home to me this summer in my own cemetery.

We have a mirror pool in front of our mausoleum. Each spring we have been stocking this pool with large size gold fish which we obtain for a nominal sum from commercial fishermen who net them in Lake Erie. This year, for some unknown reason, the fish we placed in the pool were diseased and all died within a few days, and were not replaced. During the summer we have had dozens of inquiries as to why there are no fish in the pool. You may be sure that hereafter there will always be fish in the pool. Many of the old established cemeteries have some of the points of interest mentioned, or lend themselves admirably to the establishment of several without excessive expense; and of course the removal of grave mounds, curbing, lot fences and the widening of drives where possible will do much to further beautify the established cemetery.

Proper rules and regulations should be adopted by our modern ceme¬tery and after adoption, strictly enforced. While enforcement of the rules is no easy task for cemetery employees, tactfulness and patience will win in the end. We should also not forget that the passage of time and chang¬ing conditions will require periodic changes in our rules and regulations; that out of date rules may sometimes be worse than no rules.

The proper upkeep of our modern cemetery is due to the Perpetual Care Fund and the perpetual care system is the result of putting our cemetery on a paying basis. A modern accounting system and a complete set of records is a necessity if we are to be provided with up to date infor¬mation as to which of our operations show profits and which show losses. A readily accessible, accurate list of lot owners and of interments should be revised daily. In this connection, the historical record of interments is being used by more and more progressive cemeteries. In generations to come, such a record will be of priceless value to the community that has it available. For the long established cemetery, the difficulties encountered in reconstructing authentic lists of lot owners and interments are obviously great, but truly remarkable results have been achieved by those cemeteries willing to give time and honest effort to the task.

PERPETUAL CARE

Perhaps no phase of cemetery operation has been so much abused as has the Perpetual Care Fund. Only a small percentage of the cemeteries in this country claim to have a care fund; and only a very small percent¬age of those who claim to have such a fund, really do have one. Many have had one; many have one, with but few or no assets in it. Some mort¬gages went sour; some bonds defaulted; the secretary - a trusted local banker - speculated, lost the fund and was not bonded; the principal of the fund was used for operations; in anyone of a hundred different ways the fund has been dissipated. The need for a permanent care fund is apparent. Proper maintenance of our cemetery must eventually depend upon the income from it. So let us establish an honest-to-goodness Per¬petual Care Fund. Let us set up an irrevocable trust; let responsibility for its management be divided between the cemetery trustees, a corporate trustee and representatives chosen by the lot owners. Let us set up accurate accounting methods and send a monthly check to the trustee of the fund. For if we do not do these things of our own volition, sometime, in the not too far distant future, someone outside the cemetery business is going to force us to do so. Much has been said during the past few years about outside interests trying to tell us how to run the cemetery business. Most assuredly, outside interests will run our cemetery for us if we do not ourselves operate it for the public benefit. So let us have a real Perpetual Care Fund, and see that it is administered in strict accordance with the best trust practice.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Our modern cemetery's relationships with the public are many and varied. Of primary importance in public relations are the employees of our cemetery. To the visitor within our gates, the employee is our repre¬sentative, and our cemetery is judged by its employees. It naturally follows that our employees should be quiet, intelligent, tactful and understanding.

It may seem superfluous to mention that a complete, well kept grave service is necessary to our modern cemetery. The need for complete, neat grave-side equipment and clean, attentive employees is essential. Music during the interment service is coming to be an accepted, integral part of the service. In my own experience with music covering more than four years use, there has been only one instance when it was requested that music not be used for the committal service. And in this lone instance, the lady who was responsible afterward told me she was sorry it had not been used. The truth of the matter, she explained to me, was that prior to the burial of her loved one, she had never heard music at a committal service and thought it would intensify her sorrow. But after she had heard the chimes and organ during a burial service, her mind had been changed completely. The service of' the cemetery to the family of the deceased should not end with the burial, but should be a continuing service. Those cemeteries following the practice of making personal follow-up calls to the family after each interment have been well rewarded by increased good will, by the establishing of closer relations with the family, as well as showing increased sales directly attributable to such calls.

The relations of our cemetery with the public must be upon the high¬est plane. The profit motive must be entirely subordinated to the obliga¬tion our cemetery owes to the community. The management must have the interests of the public at heart if our cemetery is to be a community institution in the truest sense. It would seem that the description of St. Gaudens’ concerning the suffering of cemeteries from "vulgarity, ignor¬ance and pretentiousness on the one side, and grasping unscrupulousness on the other", would fit many who have been in the cemetery business in the past few years. Our profession has no place for the unscrupulous pro¬moter who flits from place to place, and whose only interest is in the amount of money he can make. Happily, the number of such unethical promoters is rapidly decreasing, and his total extinction is not far distant.

Our public relations through the medium of ethical advertising can be most beneficial, both to our cemetery and to the community. Everyone is agreed that before need buying of cemetery lots is advantageous to both seller and purchaser. Consistent, persistent advertising has done much ¬will do much more - to increase before need sales.

The quality of our service will depend much on the degree of our co-operation with allied services, such as the funeral directors, the vault manufacturers, the florists and the memorial craftsmen. If we work in complete harmony with these allied interests, our service to the public is bound to be improved.

And finally, our relationship with our competitors should be friendly and cooperative. Let us not permit competitive methods of the cut-throat variety to be the cause of our rendering the public an inferior service.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The development of special features and services is a proper function of our modern cemetery. Easter Sunrise Services, Memorial Day, Mother's Day, Armistice Day and Christmas Day services have been highly success¬ful when properly handled. In my own experience, I can say without hesitation or qualification that the Easter Sunrise Service has been the finest thing my cemetery has ever attempted. It has created immeasurable good will for the cemetery, and given us publicity which is literally priceless; although I wish to emphasize that the favorable publicity has been a by-product of the Sunrise Service, and was in no sense our motive when inaugurating it. The taint of commercialism will utterly destroy the value of any special day service, for the public as well as for the cemetery. Many cemeteries are veritable Edens for the student of nature and bird life. Such study we can encourage by labeling trees and shrubs with the common and botanical names, and by the erection of bird houses and feeding racks. Flower shows and exhibits are always successful and highly appreciated by the public. Amateur photographic contests will encourage an, enjoy¬able hobby and will furnish our cemetery with many valuable pictures.

CONCLUSION

If you asked a dozen people what a certain cemetery in their com¬munity meant to them, the chances are you would get a dozen different answers. To some it would mean a hallowed place where loved ones lie sleeping, to others a place where the annual Memorial Day Services are held each year. To some it would mean a quiet place for the study of nature, and to still others it would bring to mind a riot of brilliant fall colors.

But back of all these should lie the concept of our cemetery as a good citizen of our community, with a good citizen's responsibility and attitude, and that concept should be for our cemetery a matter of fundamental policy. In short, we should seek through all our activities to be good citizens of the community - and of the country - in which we live, for it is upon the progress of the whole people and all their communities that the future welfare of each of us depends, association, corporation and individual citizen alike.

In this necessarily cursory discourse on the cemetery as a community institution, there has been time to present only a bare outline of what our modern cemetery should be, but it is hoped that there has been created in each of us an incentive for all of us to work out in our own cemetery for the benefit of our community, the thought of Robert Browning when he said,

"The common problem, - yours, mine, every ones'¬
Is not to fancy what were fair in life
Provided it could be; but, finding first
What may be then find how to make it fair
Up to our dreams"

From the publication:
“1940-1941 Cemetery Handbook & Buyers’ Guide”
ACOA 11th Annual Convention & Exposition
Hotel Statler, Buffalo, New York
September 8-11, 1940

In giving my views on the subject, "Why is it more difficult to operate a successful cemetery in a small community than in a large one", I beg you to pay close attention to the other gentlemen on this program. My view is based strictly on my personal experiences gathered from selling, operating, and in developing four cemeteries in the middle west not in city populations from 10,000 to 40,000, and may not necessarily be the same view as you will hear from the other men.

First, obviously because of limited population, cemetery developments and beautification cannot be built on a massive scale at huge expense like large city cemeteries.

Second, advantages of each development to be made must be studied as to the best selling points and the best place for certain developments to be explained in a sales sequence.

Third, enthusiasm must be built around small development improve¬ments making each outstanding where in reality the same small develop¬ment would be minor in a large city cemetery.

Fourth, man power advantages are naturally limited because of small population.

Fifth, few rich people who purchase live within the limited selling territory, thereby eliminating prestige sales.

I believe these are the most serious problems confronting the owners of small city cemeteries, all of which can be overcome.

The one big problem which has confronted most of us, and undoubt¬edly the hardest problem, was President Roosevelt's free giving of money to city owned cemeteries for developments. After 7 years I trust we will whip this free money problem with a WILL, and lock it out of our pro¬gram with a KEY.

Cemetery developments cannot be built on a massive scale like large city cemeteries. This reason is clear to a cemetery official who investigates his business and attends state and national conventions. A large city with potential prospects for years to come can build, for example, a large tower costing between five and twenty thousand dollars exclusive of music. To use music in a small city, it becomes essential to build a modern inex¬pensive tower to serve the purpose and still be a high selling point for the salesmen. In a small Michigan city a very attractive tower was built of split fieldstone at a cost of only $510; a music installation amounted to $950; beautification with various shrubs and flowers cost $120; making a total expenditure of all improvements only $1,580. With this minor cost for music, tower, and gardens, the owners were able to sell 25 thousand dollars worth of lots in a 17 week sales campaign. After the short but brief campaign of 17 weeks was ended, there still remained sufficient lots in the particular section set aside for the tower to bring them in 15 thousand dollars in future sales. This brief campaign ended about four years ago, and since that date this particular city has had about 80 imme¬diate need purchases a year and 74 out of the 80 purchases each year have been made in the Memorial section.

I gave you this example merely to show developments cannot cost too much in comparison to the large city developments. With study and care the less expensive developments will serve to build powerful sales helps for a sales campaign.

The developments selected for campaign purposes should be made a study, not only from the point of cost, but also the story to be built into the sales talk plus extra attention as to where it should be used in sequence in the sales talk. Before deciding on some particular improve¬ment to be used as a power point in a sales' campaign, I would suggest the officials consult various directors in their state association or the secretary of our National Association in regards to style, expense, and story to be used on this particular development. Members of your state association are only too pleased to assist you in any matter pertaining to improving the present day cemeteries. Officials who have never operated a sales campaign will more than be repaid by consulting some of the men who have had sales campaigns and by becoming a member of a state and the National Association.

ENTHUSIASM must be built around the non-expensive but all impor¬tant development features to be built. Even with a nominal cost for a tower and music, as mentioned, beauty can be added by securing the assis¬tance of a horticulturist or landscape gardener to assist you in the beautification of this particular development with shrubs and flowers, thereby making a small city cemetery one of the city's leading beauty spots