San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-08-18
A PRACTICAL CHANGE.
FROM PICTURESQUE TO BEAU
TIFUL.
A Good Suggestion-Modern Gene
teries-Burial Parlors-Fash-
iOnable Shrouds.


in the earnestness and sincerity of
his profession, has studied them to
the extent that he judges a city by its
cemeteries, the living by the tombs Of
the dead, is undoubtedly the man
who is qualified to speak upon sub
jects concerning his profession. Such
man has recently hung out his
single in the Alamo city and in trO-
duced in his establishment several of
the new tangled convenienees of pro-
gressive northern towns.
The reporter set out In
quest of the above individual,
and found HIM sitting In the open air
battling with the sultry weather.
Like many other members of his sim
gular profession, Mr.. Hennessy has
seen numerous sights and knows how
| to string out his experiences in one
| con tinuous, interesting tale.
"You have been around and have
seen q great deal of our American
cemeteries; which do you consider
| the finest?"
"Of those that 1 have seen, the one
in Cincinnati, "Ferndale," L believe
they call it, is undoubtedly the finest.
The manner in which it is laid out;
| it's simplicity, its beauty is something
superb. The burial ground at SPRING
| field, O., called Fern Cliff" is also
| an elegant one. Some people consider
| Greenwood, of New York, as the
finest cemetery in the country, but 1
have never seen it. Over in San
Francisco I inspected one of the old
mission cemeteries and there you will
| find all of the romance and pictur-
sequences that you can possibly
crowd in q few small burial lots.
Here and there you can notice some
of the ancient wooden fences so de-
cayed that they would have fallen
| to the ground and crumb1ed away
| long since, if it were not for the heavy
| netting of wild roses and vines that
actually uphold them. In this burial
ground is the grave and monument of
Leopold de Bruin, some great Belgian
knight; near it is the monument of
one of California's governors, and
right in between these two distin-
guished remains is the newly dug
grave of some little poor girl, over
which is erected plain wooden board
mortal of little Annie Murray, aged
H." The decayed wooden fences and
the old overgrown sandstone mOnu-
ments give it altogether picturesque
appearance"
No doubt that is the fate in store
| for our cemeteries with their numerous
wooden fences and figures"
mo doubt of it. Inotice that every
| l.. -, h
a separate graveyard here. 1t would
be a good idea to make all the various
burial grounds inCo one, allowing
each of the sects or lodges a certain
plot within the cemetery. A few
good drives in the enclosure would be
all that is necessary, there is no need
of the numerous broad walks around
the graves. That ground could be well
utilized and large portion of land
that is now laying useless, could be
! put to good service. Then the need
less fences. They are of no earthly
use. If everybody were to keep his
part of the road clean, and his lot in
constant trim, which incurs no great
expense, 1t would be different. How
ever, it is an established fact that we
forget the dead SOON and then the
place goes to ruin. 1t need not nee
essarily be through negligence, for it
often happens that all the relatives
of the dead will move away and the
grave receives no further atten ton.
For these reasons it is best to lay out
a cemetery IN lots with little stones
to determine the corners. The grave
might be raised, or on level with
the ground, but its ornament should
be nothing beyond a nice heavy sod.
This is the most practical kind of a
burial ground.
Nearly all modern cemeteries OF
any Importance are owned by stock
companies, known as cemetery asso-
Citations. In many places these
companies can not declare divi-
dends of but a small portion
of the profits, the balance being
set aside by law to identifying the
grounds. The cemetery is usually
laid out to represent some beautiful
landscape, and has one fine convent
ent drive, the balance being buria
lots with covering of fine green sod
the useless fences and was teftll walk.
being done away with. Thus tn,
modern grave-yards are simple, bu
beautiful, rather than picturesque
, This curtails the liberty of buryin!
how and where we please, out liberty
, must know it's bounds. A necessary
, adjunct TO every graveyard, an(
: something this city is in dire need OF
? is public vault. There are a few
l private ones in town, but we need
public one, where bodies can be KEEP
r for weeks or months, pending ship
I ment or BURIAL