The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-11-12

/ 0A0 u0v1uk no COIuQetltlQU AZ 0V1AV -
cemetery lots, and being unable TO sem
east or west for one. he 10 compelled 70 "a.
the price asked by heartless corporation
or be forced to bury his friends IN tn
pauper row, or in portion where II 10 moi
only about one-seventh 40 good as the ~
lot, or in short. in ground which the super
intendent says is but little better than
pauper ground.
A class" cemetery. if you please, whert
one is buried either as an aristocrat or
pauper. what is to make even the back lot
N that portion OF ground wholly uncon-
trolled by the city, worth i've and six timet
the price OF one controlled by the oity
only as the corporation treats that (ths
city's) portion with neglect, and places
Stigma upon it, first by the corporation gu
Perintendent telling people it 10 but little
DETER than pauper ground, and second. BY
neglecting to care for it and il 1t wishes,
bury Cinnamon upon it. The city contract
made by ordinanoe) merely says the
ground shall be kept in q suitable condi-
ton as to moisture for burial purposes, =
wnlcn IN substance is that tho graves shall
not fill with water.
Not blade of grass, or a flower, or a
called city portion, Notwithstanding that at
Wy let for family lots forty acres would
bring the corporation over 100000. And
where IL the bond or other positive assur-
anoes that even the holder Of 500 lot will
nave an open road leading to his lot, or that
water will be furnished him to irriRate with.
or that the whole tract (save his own LOTT
will not be made q hog pasture of? If you
are willing to trust the present incorporat-
ors to make good their promises, how do
tho purchasers know but what in ten days
from now an entire new set of men may
control it. and is it safe to take all this on
trust? -39
Further, with all competition shut Of,
could We not reasonably expect rise, yes,
boom, IN cemetery lots a. we'll as in Lenox
AZ 70 the statement made in substance by
Mr. Thornburgh that this was merely per-
sonal quarrel between Mr.. Richards and
myself, owing to the fact that Mr.. Richards
had gone into the marble business, deny
y; can bring plenty Of proof that have
always advocated that q cemetery should he
largely under the control Of the people
Furthermore Mr.. Richards going into the
marble business does not give me any more
competion than have had for
the last year and half, and it
strikes me that it is the under
taker who with good reason may feel nm
TO add an undertaking department. and
they vii! be fully equipped to .'do person
mp" In short order, first scare them TO death
BY telling them what it will soon cost to die
N Helena and get q decent funeral, then
stand ready to sell casket, a cemetery lot
ana monument.
In Minnesota it is the law that oeme-
terry corporation shall not make and retain
TO exceed ten PEI cent. on its investment, |
ana IN many OF the eastern states cemetery
corporations are created under and by
state laws, and hence controlled by state |
and certain per cent. of the |
income arising from the sale of lots ia re- |
quired to be placed in trust as a guarantee
of itR fulfllment OF promises to lot-holders, |
and the large cemeteries of Chicago are |
cited as examples of this rule; but here in
Helena we have no such law and the peo-
pie have no such assurances. and the only |
np." and made to ''give up" at the rate Of
over $2O, 600 an acre for place to bury his
dead, Or go in the paupers' row. II you can
do nothing within yourselves to correct this
disgrace, think you should at least pass a
resolution showing it to be the sense of your
sioners, who have proper cemetery grounds
already plated, should put the same on
sale again at the original price of $40
family lot. which at this price would net
The county over $4,000 for fifteen acres,
and secure to the people cheap lots in REL
spectacle cemetery.
Probably the next step by the corporation
% thwart the will of the people will be to
offer legal objections to the county commits
sioners putting their plated grounds on
sale.
Yours truly, A. K. PREscoTT.
The petition was laid on the table before
,eing read through. Alderman Thompson
aid Prescott was monO-mRniac on the
ubject and had almost bored the council
men to death. Alderman Richards said
here was an animus back of the petition
nd thought the waste basket the proper
,lace for it. Alderman Steele said If the
nan was mono maniac he needed kind
and thu nnpktor ohny11A ho
erred to the cemetery committee. Alder
nan Theme also thought it should be re-
erred. Alderman Connolly thought it
hould be referred to the Smithsonian in
titute. Mayor Bradford thought the mat
81 should be referred to committee and
his was done, when the council adjourned,
Man1s underyrear At eoducod 1,ricoz Aha Y |