1882 Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings Vo 1 031

18

his hand to his hat without raising it
from the head while saying the few
words that may be necessary. Certain-
ly, common sense dictates not to stand
uncovered in a cemetery or anywhere
else in a bleak wind."

Rev. Minot J. Savage of the Church of
the Unity, Unitarian, said: "In a climate
like ours, the custom of having services
at the grave is the straightest way to
other services at other graves. I have
always done all I could to do away with
the custom. I would have the funeral
service and the burial separate from each
other, the latter to be attended in pri-
vate, and only by friends. Or, rather,
if I could have my way, I would abolish
burial altogether, and establish crema-
tion in its place. The latter is quick,
clean, sweet, and healthful for the living.
The former, to one with a vivid imagina-
tion, is slow, foul, repulsive as a process,
and full of danger to the living."

Rev. George C. Lorimer of the Tre-
mont Temple Baptist Church said: "I
have no doubt injury often results from
undue exposure at funerals in inclement
weather. Reverence and respect to the
dead require no man to jeopardize his
health. And while I stand uncovered
myself at services in cemeteries, in un-
suitable weather, I always request others
to remain covered."

Rev. John Galbraith of the Highland
M. E. Church, Roxbury, said: "The
custom of standing with uncovered head
at funeral services, in cold weather, is
barbarous. It is a serious menace to
health. Frequently ministers are incapa-
citated for other services by heavy colds
contracted in this way. The custom
ought to be abolished. When services are
desired at the grave, let the friends as-
sure those participating that it will not
be considered a mark of disrespect to
the dead to keep the head covered. If
this could be done for a few times, and
especially by prominent families, it would
soon be universally followed."

Rev. E. Winchester Donald, rector of
Trinity Episcopal Church, said: "After of-
ficiating at funerals in the open air for
over 20 years, I am of the opinion that
standing by the grave with uncovered
head, in unseasonable weather, is decid-
edly dangerous to health, and, therefore,
is not a true mark of reverence for the
dead; but I am also of the opinion, that,
inasmuch as uncovering the head when
the body is lowered into the grave is an
instinctive and unconscious act, simply
proving it to be dangerous to health will
not necessarily cause the custom to dis-
appear."

Rev. W. E. Barton of the Shawmut
Church, Congregational, said:

"I do not believe that one funeral
should cause one or more others. In
inclement weather I shorten the service
at the grave, and, for the sake of exam-
ple, keep my own hat on, except during
the benediction, when for a moment only
hats may be removed. If there is snow
upon the ground, I sometimes ask the
friends to remain in the carriages, and
open the doors on the side next the
grave. This was done at the funeral of
Hon. Charles Carleton Coffin, and when
the snow is deep, as it was then, it is a
prudent thing to have done. I discourage
the sending of many carriages to the
grave, and believe in having the burial
attended only by the nearest friends. I
am a hearty advocate of funeral reform.
Heavy mourning and expensive funerals
are distasteful to me. I urge those who
can afford display at such timees to re-
frain from it, partly as evidence of their
own good taste, and partly for the sake
of those who because they can least af-
ford, are most certain to indulge in, the
folly of expensive funerals."

NEW MT. AUBURN CHAPEL.

The new chapel at Mt. Auburn ceme-
tery, now in process of erection, will be
one of the finest edifices of its kind in
the state, both in architecture and con-
struction, says the Cambridge Tribune.
The architect is Willard T. Sears, and
the contractor Robert J. Culbert, both of
Boston. The location of the new building
is at the left of the main entrance, with
a large space allowed for lawns between
the building and driveway. The entire
exterior finish is red sandstone. There
are two sections to the building, one for
the offices of the corporation and the
other for the chapel proper connected
by a wide passage. The chapel proper
will face directly on the main driveway,
and will be 100x52 feet in size, with a
handsome Gothic tower about 50 feet
high. The interior finish will be entirely
of a light mottled brick.

The other section will be one story
high, but conforming with the chapel in
height, and 60 feet square. It will com-
prise a large central hall, with ante-
rooms and lavatories, the superintend-
ent's office, trustees' room and business
office. The finish throughout will be of
hardwood, and the lavatories will be
fitted in the finest manner. The floors
will be fireproof and the basements as-
phalted. Stained glass will be used in
all the windows of the chapel, which are
large and deeply recessed.

The old chapel will be preserved for its
associations, but probably will not be
put to any practical use.

MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY REPORTS.

Financial Condition of the Corporation
Continues to Be Satisfactory–Some-
thing About the New Buildings.

In Horticultural Hall, Monday afternoon,
the sixty-fifth annual meeting of the pro-
prietors of Mount Auburn Cemetery was
held. Among the matters of business was
the reelection of David W. Cheever and
David R. Whitney as trustees for a term
of six years each.

The annual report submitted shows that
the financial condition of the corporation
continues to be satisfactory. The receipts
from the sale of lots and other sources have
been larger than those for the previous
year. The repaid fund, the income of which
is pledged for the perpetual care of lots, and
which cannot be used for any other purpose,
amounts to $897,413, having gained $43,441
during the past year. The permanent fund,
accumulating for the care of the cemetery
after all the lots are sold amounts to $364,-
461. The increase for the year was $11,159.
The general fund amounts to $141,415, hav-
ing gained above necessary expenditures on
the buildings now under construction $6106.

The new buildings consist of a chapel and
an office structure connected with it, the
demands of the present time making the
need of these additional accommodations
imperative. Complaint had long been made
of the old chapel as furnishing insufficient
accommodations for funeral services. It
had no cellar, and was heated imperfectly
and with difficulty; it lacked a robing room
and other necessary accommodations, and
a disagreeable echo interfered with the
voice of the officiating minister and made
choir singing impracticable.

The new buildings now in process of con-
struction are just within the gates of the
Mt. Auburn entrance. The entrance to the
office building is on Garden avenue. The main
chapel fronts on Central avenue. The main
entrance to the chapel is through a cov-
ered porch. The extreme length of the
building from the front of this porch to the
rear wall of the chancel is 116 feet, and the
extreme width across the transept 54 feet.
The office building has a frontage of 55
feet and a depth of 65 feet, and is connect-
ed with the chapel by a cloister, which also
extends along the north wall of the chapel.
The English perpendicular style of archi-
tecture as exemplified in many of the Eng-
lish parish churches built during the early
part of the fifteenth century has been
adopted, and the chapel has been planned
to meet the requirements of all religious
denominations.

Besides the work done in excavating the
cellars and preparing the ground for the
new buildings, improvements and repairs in
other parts of the cemetery have been con-
tinued. To increase the water facilities, six
new driven wells have been sunk and all
the old wells rebored. To improve the
water distribution fully thirty tons of eight
and four-inch pipe and about one thou-
sand feet of two-inch pipe have been laid.
The wellhouse, which formerly stood on the
site of the new building, has been removed
to the south gate, and there, surrounded
by shrubbery and covered with vines, will
serve as a pleasant resting place for vis-
itors who enter the cemetery from that
side. The improvements added to other de-
partments include the construction of
shelter tents, which the superintendent
supplies at a slight additional charge, to
protect the mourners at the services from
the cold, hot rays of the sun or possible
shower. The tent has an iron framework
about twenty feet square, and is covered
with canvas.

The treasurer's report shows the total
receipts from all sources during the year
to have been $189,791, which, together with
the balance from the previous year, brings
the amount to $239,007. The expenditures
amounted to $214,439.

The burial record contained in the super-
intendent's report shows that 546 interments
were made during the year. Of that num-
ber, 510 were original interments and 36
were removals from other cemeteries. The
total number of interments in the cemetery
is 31,407.

Transcript. Feb. 2. '96.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

FROM VIVISECTION TO MURDER.

To the Editor of the Transcript:
One autumn day, a few years ago, while
visiting Mt. Auburn cemetery, I had a some-
what singular experience. On one of the
principal avenues I was approached for in-
formation by a party of strangers. By
steps which it is not important to record,
our conversauib finally touched the name
of Webster, the eminent physician, the
graduate of Harvard College and professor
at the Medical School, whose execution for
the atrocious murder of a brother physician
is a matter of history. "I wonder," said
one of the party, "where the murderer was
buried?" The question was put to an old
gentleman standing near; and without a
moment's hesitancy, he pointed out the
tomb, distant hardly a hundred feet from
where we were standing. Upon further in-
quiry, it seemed that we had addressed one
of the oldest residents of Cambridge, and
probably one of the very few now living
who had personal acquaintance with Web-
ster before he was led into crime. Some-
one referred to the possibility that Web-
ster's story might have been true; that in-
stead of murder, it might have been man-
slaughter; but the old gentleman scoffed at
the idea. "It was murder," he said, "and
nothing else. Any man who could deliber-
ately nail a dog to a board, and then cut
him up alive-as Webseter was accustomed
to do-would not hesitate to kill his enemy,
if he had him in his power and thought he
might do it without risk." It struck me
at the time as a curious illustration of the
popular notion of "cause and effect."
T.
Nov. 2.

Increase in Cremations Probable
New York, Dec. 10-If the negotiations
which are now pending between the
United States Cremation Company (lim-
ited) of this city and the Union Cemetery
Company of Brooklyn are satisfactorily
concluded, a larger number of bodies will
be cremated than ever before in this coun-
try. The old Union Cemetery has been
sold for building lots, and the cemetery
company has employed contract Farrell
of that city to remove the bodies and re-
inter them in Cedar Grove Cemetery. The
United States Cremation Company of
62 East Houston street has made a propo-
sition to the trustees of Union Cemetery
looking to the cremation of the bodies
instead of their reinterment. Nearly
30,000 interments have been made in Union
Cemetery, and some of the graves have
been filled many years.

Father May Say Where Child Should Be
Buried
A verdict of $25 damages for the plaintiff
has been awarded by Judge Luce at Wal-
tham in the case of Patrick M. Gormley of
Waltham vs. Charles A. Raymond of
Watertown. The plaintiff's child died last
June and Raymond, who is an undertaker,
was called. The father and mother have
been living apart and the latter made ar-
rangements to have the child buried at
Watertown. Mr. Gormley wished to have
the child buried at Waltham, but the un-
dertaken said that he would have to show
his legal right to interfere. On the day of
the funeral Mr. Gormley arrived with the
necessary papers too late, and he then
brought suit for $500 damages. Judge Luce
gave the verdict on the grounds that the
father had a perfect right to say where the
body of his child should be buried.

Dec. 22. '97.