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Show 'I ' BUEIAL OF THE DEAD OLD GRAVEYARDS A MENACE TO CITIES. Rapid Growth of Centers of Population Popula-tion Makes the Desecration of These Resting Places of the Dead Unavoidable London's Crowded Cemeteries. Almost every pago of tho reconls of London nnd Paris contains examples of tlio desecration of abandoned graveyards, and there Is hardly a city In tho Old World that has not disturbed disturb-ed at least one of theso resting places of their whilom inhabitants. Ir our towns of rapid growth, tho cemetery of to-day becomes tho heart of a metropolis tomorrow; tho demolition demoli-tion of graveyards In Now York and Boston has been a frequent occurrence occur-rence until It falls to attract attention. at-tention. When tho Colon cemetery of Ha-vann Ha-vann became overcrowded, tho Cubans Cu-bans found It necessary to clear It of skulls, nnd promiscuously shoveled them Into a common boneyard. It presented pre-sented an aspect so ghastly that Con. Wood concluded to cover tho pit and re-open It only for tho next overflow of skeletons, expected In about flvo yenrs. In certain cemeteries of London, Lon-don, corpses aro burled In standing postures becauso no room Is left to lay them down. Bodies of tho poor generally aro packed over each other In tiers, and tho trench Is kept open until filled. In tho poverty corner of Cnlvnry cemetery this has been tho customary treatment of tho remains of paupers. Newtown, whero Calvary Is situated, harbors eighty corpses to every living Inhabitant. Tho convenient conveni-ent villages of Corona, Elmhurst nnd Woodslde, ouco parts of Newtown, which now aro annexed to Now York, and constitute tho geographical center of tho enlarged city, might lncrcaso In population if. It wero not for tho proximity of vast nnd dreary charncl fields. A law relating to public health provided pro-vided forty years ago that no gravo be dug or opened south of Eighty-sixth Eighty-sixth street, and that no cemetery be opened In any part of tho city and county of New York. This law should bo enforced and applied not to Greater Great-er Now York alone, but to tho territory terri-tory within a radius of 100 miles around cvory populous town. Peoplo who Insist on their lnanlmato bodies remaining inviolato should havo them carried to u dlstanco whero they can neither inconvenienco nor tnjuro the living, who need tho room, and aro natural heirs of tho departed. Famous intcrmural cemeteries, like Mount Auburn (Boston), Greenwood (Now York), and Laurel Hill (Philadelphia), could bo transformed into admirab!o parks. MonumentB of architectural beauty might remain undisturbed. Others might bo replaced by trees with suitable tablets to mark tho spot of thoso upon whoso dust they grow. Tho Turks, loth to dlsccrato tho gravo of a Mussulman, havo adopted a similar custom, and thereby havqnindo the cemeteries of Constantinople Constan-tinople attractlvo to strangers. Louis WIndmullcr In Municipal Affairs. |
