Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-01-17
HOW WOMEN PROVIDED AN ILLINOIS
TOWN WITH ONE.

Associat1on to Hold and Operate
Burying Ground Formed by Wide
Awake Club Members.
In an Illinois town of 5000 popula-
ton, where civic interest is not so ag-
gressive as in larger communities, it
has devolved upon the women to pro
vide suitable place for the burial of
the dead. says the Chicago Tribune.
This task, Il novel one when it is con.
sidered that housewives are the sole
movers in the enterprise, was under
taken short time ago by the Woman's
club of Watseka, the county seat of
Iroquois county. Having secured the
donation of twe"tg -four acres of land
lying outside the town, they have be
come the owners of a cemetery now
well along in the first stages of devel
opment. With funds secured by sub
scription they have cleared away acres
of underbrush and tanglewood and
have begun the laying out of roads and
the installation Of a water plant.
by Illinoissstandards. but it has been Of
slow growth because Of the lack of any
manufacturing enterprise to give en-
ployment to its inhabitants. 1t is in an
agricultural district on northern edge
of the corn country, and its wealth
lest citizens are retired farmers who
moved into town. after they had
saved enough money to carry them we'll
to the end of their days.
Nearly all of them derive their in
come from farm lands in the neighbor-
hood and none is called wealthy except
because OF his property of this nature
The younger generation, such as re-
main at home, are engaged for the most
part in purely local activities and have
but slight opportunity of amassing
riches. Under such conditions civic in
terest lags. The retired farmer has his
home and is satisfied. The descendants
of other farmers, the few who remain
at home and do odd jobs, are financial
~ restricted.
It remains for local pride to show
itself in the fair sex, all Of them with
homes and families to care for but
willing to make an effort to prevent
the town from lapsing into decadence
A library was needed and they housed
few books in Il rented hall and laid
the foundation for structure that
now stands close second to the court
house for excellence. They were band
ed together to reach this end and from
their association grew a woman's club.
a natural sequence. Prosperous and
active, it now numbers more than a
hundred members. True, it includes
the bridge whist club. subject of
much gossip, and the spinster who does
not believe in the Sunday newspapers,
but there is no friction, for it's aim is
the ..betterment of the community"
Another Improvement, accomplished
after the men folks" had failed re-
peatedly in the same. plan, was the
transformation of an unsightly dump
Ing ground and hitching stand near the
center of the town into a little park.
This was attempted only after the club
had successfully maintained summer
schools, one of manual training for the
boys and one of domestic science for
the girls.
About this time it became apparent
that one of the greatest needs of the
community was a first class cemetery.
The old "burying ground had been
filed, and new tract, owned by
Frank p. Martin and w. A. Coney, had,
been opened in small lots. 1t was
entirely unimproved All of the ground
unoccupied by graves, something over
twenty acres, was tangle of under
growth. There were no roads through
1t, and all efforts to secure water had
failed.
With this piece of worrsome prop
erty on their hands the owners had
not the time to devote to it's care, and
Mr.. Martin jestingly remarked one day
that il the organization would take it
off his hands they were welcome to it.
He thought no more of it, and deal
almost had been completed whereby
one-half of the tract was to be sold
when committee Of the club inter
posed with an objection that they were
considering the acceptance of Mr.. Mar
tins offer. He declared that his prom
Use was still good, but Mr. Coney de
clared that he saw no reason for CIV
ing away some $1,5O0 without any re-
turns.
A mysterious pressure was brought
to bear upon him, the sale was re
scinded. the Woman's Club Cemetery
association was Incorporated, and the
property was placed in its name. The
labor of loosening the purse strings of
the leading citizens" was a hard one.
but the total Of $4,000 was reached In
two weeks.
The organization of the cemetery as
ISOLATION is based upon committee
work, there being committee for each
branch of the cemetery development.
Its officers are as follows: President.