Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1891-10-01


graves will then be unknown to all but
Mr.. Howard. To overcome this diff
Guilty he has had turned a number of
wood pins, which, when painted, will
endure for years. These pins he will
set at the head of every grave. 1t is a
good plan and one which can be carried
out none too soon.
The simplicity of the monumental
architecture adds to the appearance of
the grounds. All the monuments and
stones are simple in design, and give a
chaste appearance to the whole scene.
No enormous sums have been paid for
the monument above some grave; only
moderate expenditure is the rule. SEN
sible is he who follows such an ideal.
The love and remembrance of friends
which prompts lavish expenditure in Or
nate monuments is, indeed, a testimony to
strangers, but visitors are impressed Just
the same in this yard as they are in
others when tens of thousands of dollars
have been lavished on the erection and
decoration of one stone. Bellows Falls
has adopted the sensible course and the
const quence is it has proved one of the
factors which makes Oak Hill cemetery
one of the most attractive in Vermont.
The commissioners have never believed
in allowing forest to grow in the ceme-
terry. Very few shade trees are. there
fore, found. Ornamental shrubs and
flowers abound, hut for the most part,
the dependence for a neat and tasteful
appearance is upon the regularity of the
plating, the evenness of grading and
the cultivation of an even carpet of
grass, kept mown and always free from
dead or decaying masses of leaves or
other accumulated debris. The success
of this method can readily be attested by
comparing its appearance with that of
other cemeteries in which trees, bushes
and grass are allowed to grow wild and
unattended. 1t is no wonder that visit
ors are loud in their praises and no won
der that people who can want dead
friends buried there. Not only the gen.
eral aspect of the yard is calm, but the
constant travel near, and the numerous
visitors to the yard combine to make one
feel that the friend is not alone, but, in
addition, is well cared for. 1t is the
modern idea of burial, and, in all re-
spects, the best one. The feeling that
friend buried is gone from one forever is
unnatural and wrong and should not be
allowed to enter the mind. Rather feel
that one can visit the friend every day,
if so disposed, and that such visits are
understood and appreciated the same as
when the friend was present in the flesh.
The improvements which are constant
" being made are but movements toward
the contamination of a defiuite plan
which was marked out from the first.
Each year the graded limits of the yard
are extended, walks and drives are length
ened and improved and unsightly spots
transformed into bits of beauty. This
season terraces have been graded on the
northeast corner of the yard toward the
road, making pleasing contrast with
the former unsightly slope. Other i'm
portant changes have also been effected
which have added much to the general
appearance of the whole. The plan now
of selling family lot for $40 and charg-
ing $40 for grading has the effect of max
ing all uniform, whereas, the grading
formerly was left to each individual pur-
chaser, causing more or less uneven ap-
pearances as the taste of the owner
might dictate. Some lots are now curbed
with cut granite, but most are simply
sodded, and the general following of the
original plan has resulted in uniformity
throughout.
- oak Hill cemetery is a place for Bel
lows Falls to be proud of. 1t is fitting
tribute to the loved ones who have dis
appeared from view. The affections if
not the civilization of people can be
correctly gagged by their disposal of
their dead That proposition being true
this village can point with pride to the
beautiful spot where those who have
fallen asleep are to repose. No other
spot has more interest for residents of
the village and in no other place is the
cultivated taste of the people of the
town more clearly displayed. When
standing within the beautiful place one
thinks with Longfellow that:
"There is no death,
What seems so is transition;
This life of mortal breath
Is but a prelude of the life elysian
Whose portal we call DEATH