1882 Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings Vo 1 014

1

MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY.
_____
Annual Meeting of the Proprietors, and
the Election of Trustees.
_____
The annual meeting of the proprietors of the
cemetery at Mount Auburn was held at Horti-
cultural Hall yesterday afternoon. The presi-
dent, Mr. Israel M. S. Spelman, called the meet-
ing to order, and the secretary, Mr. L. G. Farmer,
read the minutes of the last meeting, which were
approved. David R. Whitney and Richard M.
Hodges were elected trustees to serve until 1891,
the latter taking the place of Charles U. Cotting,
who declined a reelection, and Channing Clapp
was elected to serve until 1889, filling the place of
Alanson Bigelow, deceased. The reports of the
trustees, treasurer and superintendent were pre-
sented and adopted. The trustees in their re-
port say:—

The condition of the funds is satisfactory.
The permanent fund has increased by the ad-
dition of $7936.80 to the sum of $249,360.41. To
the repair fund has been added the sum of
$34,075.20, and it now amounts to $417,801.41.
The general fund, consisting of cash and bills
not yet collected, amounts to $34,479.40; giving
assurance of sufficient means for further
improvements which are contemplated.
Among minor matters it may be noted
that 62 new monuments have neen
erected, 57 iron fences and five hedges
removed and 2238 linear feet of gutters re-
paved. The hedges are gradually disappearing
from the cemetery. Only beautiful when in their
early vigor and at their prime, the severity of our
winters is gradually thinning them out and leav-
ing gaps in the ranks which can never be satis-
factorilly replaced. They serve, also, to obstruct
the open view of the grounds, and to keep lots so
surrounded cleanly and in order requires
constant inspection and supervision. The
greenhouses are now in good order and
furnish ample supplies for summer use in the
adornment of the grounds. Work for the devel-
opment of the cemetery has been successfully
prosecuted.

They also mention the death of Mr. Alan-
son Bigelow, and present a copy of the
resolutions of respect passed by them. The super-
intendent submitted the following statistics of
interments: Total number of interments as per
last report, 24,333; number of original interments
for the year ending December 31, 1884, 505; num-
ber of removals from other cemeteries, 40; total
number of interments for the year, 545; total
number of interments in cemetery, 24,878.
The treasurer's report shows the cash balance
from 1883 to be $19,114.88; cash received from
sale of lots and other sources during 1884,
$79,848.27; expenditures, $86,688.04; balance in
the hands of the treasurer, $12,275.11. Mr.
Charles F. Choate stated that the finance com-
mittee have experienced difficulty during the
past years in making investments for the repair
fund. On one occasion they were obliged to de-
cline a first-class mortgage in the city of Cam-
bridge, because not allowed by Article 8 of the
by-laws. To give them a larger discretion, it is
proposed to amend the third clause of the ar-
ticle, and notice of this intention, it will be seen,
is given in the call for the annual meeting. The
clause now reads: "All such sums shall collective-
ly constitute a separate fund, called the 'repair
fund', and shall be invested in some public stock
of this State, or of the national government, or
in the stock of some bank or banks in this State,
or in notes secured by a sufficient collateral
pledge of stocks in this State, or mortgage on
real estate in Boston." He moved to amend the
clause so that it will read: "All such sums shall
collectively constitute a separate fund, called
the 'repair fund,' and shall be invested in the
public debt of the United States, or in that of
the State of Massachusetts, or in the debt of any
of the counties, cities or towns of this State, or
in mortgages of real estate in any city in Massa-
chusetts, or in first mortgage bonds, or debenture
bonds of railroads not mortgaged, or any rail-
road company incorporated under the authority
of this Commonwealth, which has earned and
paid regular dividends for the two years next
preceding such investment." The amendment
was adopted.

On motion of Mr. Roger Wolcott, it was voted
"that the trustees consider the expediency of es-
tablishing at Mount Auburn a crematorium, or
of adopting any other method of taking care of
the dead so that sanitary law shall not be vio-
lated." And it was voted, "that the said trus-
tees shall report in print to the next annual
meeting of the proprietors, with notice that
such report is to be considered at said meeting."
Mr. Wolcott stated that he had made the mo-
tion at the request of one of the lot owners, a
gentleman well know in Boston for his benevo-
lence, public spirit and scientific research. He
should not have made the motion of his own ac-
cord, as he did not think the trustees should take
the initiative on a question like this. The meet-
ing then adjourned.

Advertiser. Feb. 3. '85

No. 2824. Mary D. Dunset vs. The Woodlawn
Cemetery.—The plaintiff in this action alleged
that she was the owner of grave No. 79 in the
cemetery belonging to the defendants in Everett,
that on January 10, 1882, the remains of her son
were taken to the cemetery for burial, but the
grave was found to be occupied by the body of a
person named Fisher. The plaintiff now sought
to recover damages for the negligence of the de-
fendants in permitting the grave to be occupied
by the remains of another person. The defend-
ants denied that the plaintiff was the owner of the
grave, and denied their liability. A formal verdict
was taken for the defendants. E. G. Walker for
the plaintiff, and H. E. Swazey and H. W. Fuller
for the defendants.

_____
CREMATION.

In a recent number of the Worcester Spy
there appeared an interesting and valuable
communication from Dr. J. O. Marble of
that city on the subject of cremation, con-
sidered especially with regard to the mis-
taken belief that his method of hastening
the return of the body to the dust is advo-
cated solely by persons without religious
beliefs or faith in the doctrine of the
resurrection. Dr. Marble had previously
favored cremation, his motive being that of
a sanitarian who recognizes the danger of
the present methods of interment, particu-
larly in periods when such diseases as
cholera or typhus fever are the causes of
increased mortality.

The chief value of his latest communication
lies, however, in its quotations from letters
received by him from others whose opinions
regarding cremation coincide with his own.
His correspondents are men of known
religious convictions, some of whom meet
by a blunt denial, or by a clear statement of
their own views, the charge that cremation
and reverent feeling regarding death are
antagonistic to each other. Prefacing his
letters by the preliminary statement that
among English cremationists are many
prominent members of the Church of
England, and that in Italy zealous Roman
Catholics advocate this form of disposition
of the body, he calls to mind the fact that in
this country the late Professor Gross of
Philadelphia was a churchman as well as an
early advocate of cremation; that the presi-
dent of the Cremation Society of Brooklyn
is a clergyman, and that the new crematory
at Lancaster, Penn., was dedicated by
religious services, in which two of the
local orthodox pastors united. The first
letter which he publishes is from the Rev.
Samuel May, who says:—

I certainly regard the reduction of the lifeless
body to its original elements, whether by fire or
by other chemical process, as a question of real
reform—as a step forward in civilization. In all
thickly settled communities it seems to me a
measure of needful sanitation and safety—one of
such present and pressing importance that a be-
ginning, both of discussion and practice, should
be made as soon as possible.... Whether in coffin
or in urn, the remains can be placed in the grave
or other mortuary structure there, and then as
now the memorial stone may be "still erected
nigh." People will not be slow to see which is
the surer way to guard those remains from viola-
tion, or give them the greater permanence.

He next quotes entire the following letter
from the Rev. John J. Power, rector of St.
Paul's Church, Worcester, who writes:—

The resolution of poor humanity into its origi-
nal dust, without passing through the interme-
diate state of putrefaction, whether this be pro-
cured by fire or quicklime or any other chemical,
seems to me wholly unobjectionable, and for
many reasons desirable, and sometimes even
necessary.

Another letter is from Professor Charles
O. Thompson, formerly the president of the
Worcester Technical School, now of the
Rose Polytechnic Institute of Terre Haute,
Ind., who writes:—

I am in favor of the practice, especially as it
can now be done by the Siemens process. The
whole question which you discuss so fairly seems
to me often influenced more by race traits and
personal caprice than by reason and sound judg-
ment. If there was ever a reasonable change
proposed in hoary customs it is the one you urge.

One of the strongest letters which Dr.
Marble presents is from one of whom he
says: "The eminent clergyman whom I in-
"vite next as a witness would probably be
"the very last man in this community to
"give countenance to any cause tainted with
"infidelity or disrespect of the dead." This
is the Rev. C. M. Lamson of Worcester, who
says:—

With me every sentiment is in favor of crema-
tion. The thought of decay in the earth shocks
me. These is no good way of disposing of the
bodies of dear ones in which we have felt the
soul of love, but cremation seems the least bad.

For myself I should prefer going into the air and
trees refined by fire—this seems clean—to lying in
the earth, a source of poison to the waters that
have a right to a pure passage in the ground.

In still another letter the point is urged
that, if the belief in material resurrection
stands in the way of cremation, those who
raise this argument are compelled to explain
why it is more difficult in the hour of resur-
rection to reunite atoms scattered by fire,
than those disseminated by the horrible
processes which follow common earth
burial.

The letters to Dr. Marble are from persons
clearly having no immediate connection
with each other. Presumably, they are
mainly strangers to each other. This fact
is of use in estimating the extent of the in-
telligent approbation of cremation. Other
broader canvasses of public opinion would
probably show similar results. The antag-
onism against the new method is rather
based on personal peculiarities than founded
on religious belief or principles of any kind.
Probably the great majority of men, cer-
tainly of women, regard cremation with
horror. But were cremation the uniform
practice, hallowed by centuries of pious
rites, and were interment, without embalm-
ing, proposed as a "reform," the disgust
which the accompanying thoughts would
excite would at once overwhelm the sug-
gestion. The strongest argument, however,
against the present form of burial is the
sanitary one. In times of pestilence crema-
tion might be made compulsory, in the dis-
cretion of the health authorities.

Advertiser Jan. 85

A decision was given in the bill in equity
brought by Caroline F. Wyman against Mary E.
Howe and another, to obtain the permission of
the court to remove the body of John Wyman,
late of Cambridge, from the cemetery in Arling-
ton to Mount Auburn. The plaintiff is the widow
of the deceased, and the defendants are children
by a former marriage. The deceased was buried
in the cemetery at Arlington, in which he owned
a lot, but the plaintiff alleged that the burial was
intended to be temporary in that cemetery, her
husband having expressed a wish to be buried in
Mount Auburn, and having a short time before
his death, visited Mount Auburn with a view to
purchase a lot. There was a hearing in the case
a few days since and the court has now ordered
the bill dismissed. The defendants are, how-
ever, to give a proper conveyance to the plaintiff
of a right of burial to herself in the Arlington
lot by the side of her husband and of her child
near her, and the plaintiff is to have the right to
erect a suitable monument or headstone and may
visit and take suitable care of the grave of her
husband. G. F. Piper appeared for the plaintiff,
and E. H. Jose for the defendants.

A judge of the supreme court of New York
has given a decision in a case respecting the
jurisdiction of cemetery authorities. He is
of opinion, not only that the trustees can
prescribe reasonable regulations for the con-
struction of monuments and tombstones, but
that the authorities of the cemetery may re-
quire the construction to be done under the
supervision of one of their agents. They
cannot, however, force the owners of lots to
have the work done by persons in the em-
ploy of the cemetery, nor by men whom the
trustees may indicate. The inspection of
the erection of memorial stones cannot ex-
tend to an interference beyond the point of
securing an agreement with the rules of the
cemetery.

Advertiser Sept. 26. '82.

The Cremation Idea in Worcester.

(SPECIAL DESPATCH TO THE ADVERTISER.)
WORCESTER, MASS., April 10.--The agitation in
favor of cremation, which has been in progress
here for several weeks, resulted tonight in the
organization of the Worcester Cremation Soci-
ety, open to all residents of Worcester County,
of either sex. As soon as the bill now before the
legislature for the incorporation of cremation
societies becomes a law, the local society will
reorganize under it. A temporary constitution
was adopted tonight, and these officers elected:
President, J. Evarts Greene; vice-presidents, E.
L. Davis, Stephen Salisbury, Dr. L. H. Gage;
secretary, Dr. J. O. Marble; treasurer, Philip W.
Moen; directors, F. P. Goulding, E. H. Russell,
Rev. C. M. Lamson, S. S. Green, Waldo Lincoln,
Dr. W. B. Chamberlain, F. H. Dewey, jr., Dr.
Merrick Bemis and Dr. Emerson Warner.

Advertiser April 11, 85

The committee on mercantile affairs re-
ported this bill, incorporating the New Eng-
land Cremation Society:—

Section 1. John Storer Cobb, Nathan Apple-
ton, Emily J. F. Newhall, Charles A Holt,
Frederick S. Cabot, Sidney P. Brown, Frederick
Frothingham, Lois R. Frothingham, Lyman
S. Hapgood, John D. Wells and John
Ritchie, their associates and successors,
are hereby made a corporation by the name of
"The New England Cremation Society," for the
purpose of providing the necessary appliances
and facilities for carrying cremation into opera-
tion and therewith to cremate the bodies
of the dead, with all the powers and
privileges, and subject to all duties
restrictions and liabilities set forth in the gen-
eral laws which are now, or hereafter may be,
enforced, applicable to like corporations, except
as is herein otherwise expressly provided.

Sect. 2. The capital stock of said corpora-
tion shall be $25,000, divided into shares
of a par value of $10 each, and may
be increased to $50,000, by vote of the stockhold-
ers; one-half of said capital stock shall be sub-
scribed and 50 percentum of such subscriptions
paid in before said corporation shall begin
business.

Sect. 3. Said corporation may acquire by gift,
devise or purchase, and hold in fee-simple, so
much real estate in the Commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts, and may also hold so much personal
property as may be necessary for carrying out
the objects connected with and appropriate to
the purposes of said corporation.

Sect. 4. The affairs of said corporation shall be
managed by a council of 11 members, who shall
be elected each year by ballot by the stockhold-
ers at the annual meeting, and shall hold office
until their successors are chosen, and shall im-
mediately after their election organize by elect-
ing from their own number a president, three
vice-presidents, a secretary and a treasurer, and
the incorporators named in section 1 of this
act shall constitute the council of said corpora-
tion for the first year of its existence.

Sect. 5. This act shall take effect upon its pas-
sage.

A few years ago cremation, in spite of the
example of ancient nations, was looked
upon to a large extent as an unholy prac-
tice; but a change of sentiment of late has
made itself manifest in the growing number
of cremation societies and crematoriums.
Here in Massachusetts the idea has already
taken root, and in Davenport, Ia., a com-
pany, with a capital stock of $25,000, has
been organized. The advantages of crema-
tion have been often preached; yet, so
fondly does humanity cling to tradition, es-
pecially where its dead are concerned, that
it is likely to be many years before a cus-
tom repellant to what seems now a natural
instinct is practised generally. Perhaps
that time will never come, but it is not im-
probable that comparatively soon the cus-
tom will be much more general than now.

—City cemeteries do not seem particularly de-
sirable for public gardens, but they are better
than nothing. The Metropolitan Public Garden
Association have obtained a free lease of the
East London Cemetery, covering five and a half
acres, which they propose to lay out for pleasure
purpose, at an estimated expense of £1200.

Advertiser

....They have succeeded in obtaining chloride
of ammonia from the chimney of a Japanese cre-
mation furnace. The economical Japanese do not
intend to have anything wasted.

No. 2122. Maria D. Lodge vs. The Boston
Catholic Cemtery.—The plaintiff purchased a
lot in Calvary Cemetery, which is managed by
the defendant. She buried her husband there in
1881. Afterwards in July, 1883, she discovered
that his grave had been opened and the body of
a child buried over that of her husband. She
now sought to recover damages in the sum of
$1000 for injury she has received by reason of the
negligence of the defendant. It was claimed by
the defendant that they made a mistake, which
was rectified as soon as possible after discovery
and it denied its liability. The jury returned a
verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of
$200.

Suffolk Superior— Apr. 7. 1885.

PROGRESS OF THE CREMATION IDEA.

Seventy persons have signed the constitution
of the Worcester Cremation Society, and become
members of the society. Including those who
have signed the preliminary documents, pledg-
ing them to approval of the practice of crema-
tion, but have not yet become members of the
society, the whole number whose support is
openly given to this movement is about one hun-
dred. Among them are persons of both sexes
and of various occupations and conditions of
life.—[Worcester Spy.

Apr. 28. '85