1885 Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings Vo 2 040

29

CEMETERY QUESTION
Watertown Enterprise March 26, 190[9?]
—
Feature of Adjourned Town Meeting===Voted
Not to Accept $12,000 Offer.
—
The article relative to the request
of Mt. Auburn Cemetery Corporation
for a permit to use the Stone estate,
East Watertown, for burial purposes,
was the feature of the adjourned
town meeting last Monday evening.
There were many who had opinions
on the matter, who did not hesitate
to express them, and after argu-
ments on both sides were concluded,
the town voted decisively that the
corporation should pay to the town a
sum of $20,000 for the privilege, and
further consent to the passage of
legislation permitting the town to ac-
quire sufficient land to widen Mt. Au-
burn street at the bridge.

When Hon. James H. Vahey arose
to make the report of the committee
appointed to investigate the matter,
all ears were pricked up and listened
to Mr. Vahey relate the opinions of
himself. Mr. Charles Brigham and
Mr. G. Frederick Robinson (the latter
[t?]wo also members of the committee).
The committee, he stated, had sev-
eral conferences with some of the
trustees and counsels of the cemetery
corporation. The committee asked
for a larger sum than the $12,000 al-
ready offered, arguing that the town
had not been treated fairly by the
corporation when Mt. Auburn street
was widened. The corporation repre-
sentatives agreed that the town
should have the privilege of acquir-
ing the necessary land to complete
the widening of the street, but at the
last conference held Friday afternoon,
flatly refused to pay a cent more to
the town than the $12,000.

The committee, Mr. Vahey said,
unanimously believed that the town
should not grant the privilege at the
price offered. The price to be paid
the Stone heirs by the corporation
for the estate is $35,000, which is at
the rate of about six cents a foot.
The cemetery corporation, Mr. Vahey
stated, is getting on an average, $2.75
a foot for lots, which means, consider-
ing that one-third of the Stone estate
is devoted to paths and other uses,
making it unsalable, that the corpora-
tion would be getting approximately
55 times as much for the land as they
are paying. The committee believed
the price of $35,000 for the land was
a just price, but thought the corpora-
tion could well afford to pay a higher
price than $12,000 to the town.

Selectman Walter C. Stone follow-
ed Mr. Vahey, and stated frankly that
he was interested in the sale, as he
was one of the Stone heirs. He
stated, however, that further than
that he believed that town should
grant the privilege. He said that the
selectmen had spent a lot of time
considering the matter and consulting
the cemetery authorities and had
succeeded in raising them for $7,500
to $12,000, which amount, he thought
was as high as they would pay. He
was sorry, he siad, that the special
committee did not see it in this light,
but he felt that their report showing
that the corporation had refused to
pay more than the $12,000 was a com-
pliment to the judgment of the select-
men. Mr. Stone pleaded that the town
needed the $12,000 this year, it mean-
ing that the tax rate thereby would

be about a dollar less. Even the fi-
nance committee, he said, in their
printed report had counted on the
receipt of this sum. Mr. Stone sug-
gested that a compromise be made,
and the town offer the privilege for
$15,000.

Mr. Charles M. Abbott opposed the
granting of the permit even at the
price of $20,000. He believed that
the town should receive a much larger
sum. He pictured the possibility of
the estate, if not taken by the ceme-
tery, becoming a second Whiting
Park, or Otisville, bringing high tax-
able property to the town.

Mr. J. Winthrop Stone, another of
the Stone heirs, and who now rents
the land which the cemetery people
propose to buy, spoke in favor of
granting the permit. Referring to
idea that this piece of property might
some day be valuable residential
property, he stated that it is situated
almost between two cemeteries and
that the land was not fit for farming.
"If God Almighty intended this land
for anything," he said, "it was for a
grave yard." As to the cemetery be-
ing forced to purchase the land soon-
er or later, he claimed that at the
present rate of burial, partly because
of the number of cremations, the cor-
poration have enough land to last
them sixteen years.

Mr. Charles F. Fitz believed that
the town had already too many
grave yards and that this permit
should not be granted at any price.

Mr. John E. Abbott differed from
his son, and favored the $15,000 sug-
gestion, believing that the sum was
a fair price.

Mr. Charles Brigham spoke in de-
fence of the report of the committee
and rather criticised some of the
speakers for not confining themselves
to the serious side of the matter.

Mr. Vahey again spoke and this
time particularly emphasize the de-
fiant attitude taken by one of the
trustees at the last meeting. He end-
ed by amending the motion made by
Mr. Stone, changing the motion to
read $20,000 instead of $15,000 and
adding the clause relative to the wid-
ening of Mt. Auburn street. The
question was then put to the voters
and carried.

Selectman Charles A. York report-
ed for the committee on the purchase
of the new truck and told the meet-
ing that the machine had been placed
in commission.

Article 12, the drainage question,
was indefinitely postponed and article
13 on the acceptance of Adams street
was stricken from the warrant.

Under article 14, $2200 was appro-
priated for the building of Fayette
street for a public highway.

The proposal of the selectmen to
sell all the unused land at the town
farm caused a great deal of argument.
Chairman Cunniff spoke in favor of
it and Herbert Coolidge, John G.
Hegberg, G. Frederick Robinson, C.
M. Abbott, James Madden, Chester
Sprague, Walter C. Stone and Frank
H. Barnes took part in the debate.
The whole matter was finally indefi-
nitely postponed.

[?]

THE WESTMINSTER ABBEY
OF AMERICA ATTRACTS ITS
HUNDREDS OF VISITORS
Jan. 18—1903 Boston Sunday Journal
MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY is
characterized by Edward G.
Sanger, formerly of Cam-
bridge, as the Westminster Ab-
bey of America.

He writes as follows:

"In every land there is some spot
where its great men lie buried, and
toward which they took in life with
satisfaction as their resting place.
Not that great men are not entombed
elsewhere, but that this central spot is
justly regarded as the one famous place
where is gathered the noblest dust of
the honored dead.

"In England, Westminster Abbey is
the Mecca toward which the world
makes its pilgrimage, especially among
English-speaking peoples. There sleep
is stately marble grandeur, English
Kings and warriors; and there its
great poets and statesmen, they who
have truly made England great. As
one has rightly said, "They honor their
burial place more than they are hon-
ored by it,' but so long as Great Brit-
ain maintains its supremacy in the east-
ern world, so long will Westminster Ab-
bey be the proudest spot for monu-
ments to its heroes and benefactors.

"On this side of the water, no single
building compares with Westminster
Abbey, but in the great cemeteries of
America are gathered the dust of her
great men. The most famous of these
is Mount Auburn, in the city of Cam-
bridge and State of Massachusetts. The
city itself is one of the most historic
in the land. Here at the very begin-
ning was laid the foundation of Har-
vard College, which still lifts its head
above all her sister universities, justly
holding the first rank among American
institutions of learning. Here Washing-
ton, under the elm tree still standing,
took command of ther American army.
Here Longfellow and Lowell lived, and
here Oliver Wendell Holmes was born.

"On the borders of this city, about four
miles from Boston, lies Mount Auburn.
Like Jerusalem of old, beautiful for
situation, and though retired from the
hum of business, yet easily accessible.
It does not seem like a cemetery, but
rather like a garden, so admirable is its
plan and so perfect its keeping. The
ground is undulating, its highest point
crowned with a beautiful granite tower.

"Here sleep more of America's illus-
trious men and women than are to be
found in any other single enclosure.
Notable among these are Edward Ever-
ett, Charles Sumner, Henry W. Long-
fellow, James Russell Lowell, Anson
Burlingame, Louis Agassiz, Rufus
Choate, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Nath-
aniel P. Willis, Robert C. Winthrop,
Phillips Brooks, William Ellery Chan-
ning, Charlotte Cushman, John Lothrop
Motley and Jared Sparks.

"Hundreds of visitors every day wan-
der through its beautiful paths and
stately avenues, seeking the resting
place of those who have added to the
world's fame, and drawing inspiration
from their deeds while living. To sleep
at last amid surroundings like these
makes one feel that he would not be
forgotten, and is itself an inspriation to
a noble life."