The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-12-20
A REAL CITY OF THE DEAD.
NEWT0WN AND ITS TWEvTY.TwO 0C-
CUpIlcD CEMETERLE&

II Ha. oriy $4,000 Live InAaS,taats. but ,
million and Hair Bodies are In -,
Grsves-How the Dead Pay fSr Repairs ..
the Rosss-A Knotty Financial frosiera
The old-fashioned Long Island village o
Newtown enjoys the gruesome distinction o
having within its corporate limits more deat
persons than any other town or city OF It's siz,
in the world. There is q current saying n
Newtown that. walk where you may through
the town. you can never be at any time more
than five minutes from cemetery. There are
2S.000 acres Of land in Newtown. about 1000
Of which. or seven per cent OF the total. are
for cemeteries. BY the latest census New
town has a population OF nearly $4,000. and
It Ia estimated that there are nearly ono hun
drcd dead to every living person in the town.
The estimated assessment value Of the ceme-
terry lands is not far from half million dollars.
The principal cemeteries are nine In mum
Der. ranging in size from 40 to 400 acres
in addition are thirteen other cemeteries and
church burying grounds. containing each from
half an acre to twenty acres. Exactly how
many dead are inferred in these grounds is
not known. Records have not been carefully
kept or have been lost or are otherwise mac
cessible. Until within the last few years the
managers OF the large cemeteries have been
very reticent in regard to the inter-
ments. But careful investigation and
estimate made six years ago BY Q
member OF the Newtown Board Of
Health resulted in these figures: Calvary,
4S5.OO0: Lutheran. 175.OOO; Cypress Hills,
100000; the Evergroens. $4,000. and Mount
olvet 5000. making total Of $4,000 inter-
mcnts In the five principal cemeteries. There
were then sixteen other cemeteries. and 1t was
estimated that up to Jan. 1. 1888 there was a
grand total Of about .25O.OO0. In other words.
the little town OF Newtown. with It's territory
OF 23'i square miles. then contained more
dead bodies than there were living persons in
the city of New York in 1891. 2Oe. 2ee-or
more than double the number of the
population then OF Brooklyn. The addi-
tional interments since have not been
quite sufficient to maintain that pro-
portion according to the census Of 1890
But evon now the dead Of Newtown number
100000. or almost as many as the<livingtof
New York. and only q little less than twice the
population OF Brooklyn.
There Is a funereal air about the everyday
life Of Newtown. Whether you approach the
village from Long Island City. from East New
York. or from ono Of the East River ferries,
You are at once confronted by 1.-THE trappings
and habilimonts OF woe" In all of the main
thoroughfares leading thither from New
York and Brooklyn day after day are
funeral professions. 1t not unusual for fifty
funerals to go over the Thirty-fourth street
ferry TO Long Island City in day. and other
routes present similar spectacles. The street
cars are labelled with their cemetery designa-
tions. and the dummy engines are named after
the dead. rs Gen. Grant. and Gen. Garfield
Sign boards in the stations and on the streets
direct you to the cemeteries. and cars run nj
most exclusively for the accommodation of
cemetery visitors There are granite and mar
bio yards with their stocks of monuments and
Crayestones ~ the score and florists who
You have the singular spectacle Of a commu-
to Considerable extent all other interests. 'eS
1t is possible to make the round 81 nearly all |
The hs II strsst Fs
electric car will take you from Long Island |
CITY to GsSHsg + Sahs
Is In two sections. the old part on Laurel Hill. |
or. 90 further PIT. Atogether there are about
IN 1913 and estimated that three.eSart ass
81 million dead haye been buried therein.
been Il. well laid out. and are neatly kept. There
Is little that is attractive. however. Tho
f Into pay G Gfdses hu ,h has
Trinity IS Wholly ABSENT Ev eGShMs f has
every possible inch Of ground for interments.
s,tst are no LAWNS lawns; no flower beds. and no
srsnf s sn az MeGGor ne o. any kind and the
lngly taken from tho burial area.
,, nozon large t2mRs are conspicuous. par
.! o ,DI9nohIe. and few monuments. like those
Of Of Vicar General Quinn and the Rev. c, +. Pay
however there is nothing t" notice in the ' Wav
q mortuary art. SO closely. do the dead lie
nat the aspect Of the grounds is like forest
lense undergrowfh Of white hea dstoncs. The
Ehostly monotony OF tile granite-yard indus
,pprs The monuments a are mostly sIy slan
te columns many OF them with polished faces.
ND generally sprmounted by,marble statues
Leaving old Calvary. the Electric cars will
an fs aM pieas
INT farming ,rnIn cPIn ny into sleery Maspeth vii
6t Ffm Il the p %o sSSa;
ninety acres that was set apart for burial pur-
, ,o In 1850. and i contains now about 1000
The grounds have been only partly laid out,
M are ~ E%oSrly mnntained The greater part
'ir OF neglect over tho whole place. '''' ."
Only u short distance from Mount Olivet is
ne Lutheran Cemetery; in fact ut Que point
mart. The Lutheran is the largest cemetery
q Newtown.slt Eas established in 1852. and
bout 50Goo integ@ents with nea afyf f5 SSe6
dded every year. The Lutheran seems TO be
lmost rs crowded rs Ca! wary. and it is equally
devoid Of pttraetiye features II decorative
implicitly churacterizes everything. The
hapel Is plain; square. old-flshioned
ear the most common ornamcntutlon on |
and hendstones being, an urn
aif-covered with drapery. Hundreds OF
raves are set In u kind OF low marble box,
nd as many others are surrounded with Dor
ers OF open ironwork. painted gray or white |
n many OF the family plots arc iron settees
nd chairs with suggestion OF festivity that |
omports strangely with their surroundings,
In the neighborhood Of Calvary are several
otels and refresh ment places that depend
.rgely on funeral custom for, their support.
eral parties and 1t Is not unusal to see y |
core or more Of coaches under the horse sheds |
lille the drivers and the .,nourners are re-
'eshing themselves. But 1t has been left for |
40 Lutheran to take the lead In that respect ,
he cemetery and its adjuncts monopolize the
'caIty The Offices. Of the institution. the
,arble yards and florists shops; and the street
ar stations make considerable settle
oxen or more large hotels. The places
public resort are close tO tho cemetery ON ,
nnces. one OF tho largest being Practically on
"A. IN l