The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-06-27
Park and Cemetery Talk.

energetic and enterprising ladies have TAX
en- into their hands the matter OF devising
ways and means to raise money to pur-
chase q suitable site for park 1t will,
sooner or later, assume tangible shape,
and grounds will be secured for the pur-
pose. Pleasures should not usurP our
Young people, but they are not. and should
not, be satisfied to degenerate into mere
automatic machines. ITO know people,
says writer, "you must see them at play"
Practical success in life Is in great meas
ure dependent upon physical exercise,
hence the necessity for pleasurable, inno-
cent recreations, not only in business pur:.
suits, but also as a means OF intellectual
labor, and. coming in contact with the So
cial side of people is broadening-it is
educative. We would not advocate over
indulgence in social pleasures, for excess
in anything is Injurious. The old adage,
"all work and no play makes Jack dull
boy," contains vast amount of truth.
It is, therefore, wise and laudable UNDER
taking, and the projectors of the scheme to
provide pleasure.grounds for the city
should never be forgotten. The pleasures
of q cemetery and park, though different,
are ennobling and elevating, and their
visitors have for the moment hint OF the
beauty which may be perpetual IN their
lives. It always follows that in the pro-
gress and growth of every community,
more and more attention Is paid to "the
city of the dead" Even unciyilized ma
tions have respect for the memory of
those who have passed from among the
living. Anderson will certainly not for
get to honor her dead while the living
have been advanced in prosperity and hap
piness Silver Brook Cemetery, with its
rs acres, being composed of slopipg hills,
which gives ample opportunity for dis
play Of skill by landscape gardener, who
is responsible for the obliteration and
non. utilization of the beautiful artistic
plats designed by Mr.. Lander, at heavy
expense to the town, from which lots were
to be sold? The extensive walks and
drives opened out by him, which are not
effaced, should be refined and beautifully
kept, trees planted along tie driveway,
and rustic seats provided for visitors. Why
was it nobody's business to care when the
neat enclosure, costing $3.50, was appro.
priated piece by piece and carried OFT, and
the young water-oaks carried from there
by stealth and transplanted elsewhere A
cemetery should be. guarded with sacred
vigilance. There is consolation in the
thought that each grave is guarded by an
angel. Now, what about the little buff
house on the knoll, isolated, as it is, from
the Cemetery proper? Was 1t built for
monument of beneficence? We are In.
formed that several springs might be open
ed out at the base Of the eastern slope, and
that one of them would equal in volume
and purity of its waters the much.resorted-
to Keys' spring. Why is 1t nobody bus
mess to investigate the matter, and save
these springs from being contaminated by
burying above them? Pottels Field, or
Gods Acre, should be located and made
respectable in the Western division, and
the Factory Village should be provided
with cemetery where it would be nearer
and more congenial to the survivors, who
could visit untramele their dead and con-
form to the poetical custom of planting
flowers on their graves. "The love which
survives the tomb is one of the noblest at
tributes of the SOUL" consequently the
solicitude shown by all classes, even to a
peasant, for an honored and peaceful grave
should be admired and encouraged. We
hope the efficient and honored President
of the Factory will call attention to the
matter.
NV catechism, like Horace'a river, is
still flowing on. Why are rocks blasted In
the parallelogram is frequently asked. AS
vet [ have heard no solution of the prob.
lem. will, however, suggest that the un.
slightly hole in the brook be converted
into a lake. Mr.. Lander said the flow Of
water was sufficient for more than one.
Since writing the above I see the rock is
being carried eff, presumably to some 9TH
er locality to flag streets. Why Is this,
when lower McDuffie Street Is in danger
GUS condition ? My attention has been
called to the matter frequently by wagon
ers, Rock and work is badly needed to
nut the street in safe condition for trav.
elers, and above all the wagner. But
money, not justice, Is the ruling spirit In
Anderson. Shame, shame, shame! As
tree after tree was felled to the ground, the
touching and pathetic lines of the poet
commencing "Woodman, spare that tree"
would come to my memory. To say the
least of 1t, it was barbarous, ulcivilized,
objectionable. II is surprising that every
body does not know that trees and water
are park requisites. Jean Ingelow said,
"Over one-half of the world are FOOLS"
It is already suggested that trees be plant
ed there. Previous to the demolition the
Cemetery was poem in nature-pictu-
rescue, calm, restful, soothing-which in
q manner embalmed the dead in the mem-
cries of the living. Alas, how metamor-
phosed. A Cemetery Committee and q
Superintendent who thoroughly under
stands his business is much needed. Its
history should be written, and great care
taken to have the records absolutely per-
feet: q vowel index kept for the name Of
every person buried; with lot and date, so
that in few seconds, in after years, you
can know where every person is buried
printed rules and regulations furnished the
ot.owners might stimulate more general
interest in its development, and broad,
well.kept street opened out leading imme-
diately to the gate is of the utmost impor-
taIce.
Now that electricity Is fast becoming
great motive power, we wish great sue
cess for the Anderson Electrical Company,
and that ere long an electric street car lin Q
will run to the Cemetery daily, or oftener,
thus ahording an opportunity Of frequent
ly visiting the graves of loved ones, and
keeping them covered with fresh floral
tributes. I might give many extracts
from noted British and American writers
who delighted to allude to this elegant
and touching custom, which is more affect
ing than costly monuments of art. Wash
ington Irving, who was poetical in bis
prose, said:
."The sorrow for the dead is the only
sorrow from which we refuse to be di-
vorced. Every other wound we seek to
heal, every other af1liction to forget, but
this wound we consider 1t duty to keep
open-this affliction we cherish and brood
over in solitude. Who, even, when the
tomb is closing upon the remains Of her
he most loved when he feels his heart,
as it were, crushed in the closing of its
portal, would accept of consolation that
must be bought by forgetfulness No;
there is a voice from the tomb that is
sweeter than song. There is a remem-
brance OF the dead, to which we turn
even from the charms of the living. Oh,
the grave!-the grave! 1t buries every
error covers every defect; extinguish-
es every resentment, Then weave thy
chaplet of flowers, end strew the beauties
Of nature about the grave"
CHATTERBoX.