The Ohinemuri Gazetti AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN. "I will a round unvarnish'd'tale deliver" —Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1892.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume I, Issue 14, 19 March 1892, Page 4

The Ohinemuri Gazetti AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN. "I will a round unvarnish'd'tale deliver" —Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1892.

In times of festivity and general holiday the ancients were woat to exhibit a grinning and ghastly skeleton at their "at homes'" and feasts. We can't say we admire the taste of, this proceeding, and we hope that we will not be accused of similar mauvais gout ia bringing up such a question as that of the cemetery at the time of St. Patrick. The local body has, however, brought the matter into prominence latterly, and we think it advisable to say a word or two upon the subject while it is warm. No one can deny that the general aspect of cemetery ( affairs is v - unsatisfactory, not to be superlative, and say disgraceful. Broken "fences, rank fern and weed, and a general desolation are the characteristics of what should be a trim, well-kept section. The lock has been broken open, and the fences will let in horses or cattle, almost anywhere. We therefore hail I with -satisfaction any action which is,i likely to improve matters in this con- j nection., We underatand that the County' Clerk is sending out notices to those who desire to have family graves that it would be advisable for them to buy, out and out, the particular plots in ' which members of their families have, 1 been interred. 'As .it is, any of the 1 graves are liable to be re-opened and. 'alien bodies buried in them.- We:are '•quite sure that thoae persons who have 1 monuments on -what they consider their own grave plots, would v not like thesd monuments disturbed for thsppurr r pose of burying the bodies of, to them, ( alien persons. "Yet, as. at present, these monuments are liable to be shifted if the necessary arrangements are not made. Andeven where a wife or a husband, or a child lies, and no

monument has been placed, we believe that the sentiment must exist in the nearest and dearest to those breeding the desire that, as near.as may be, all of the same came and blood should lie in that long pathetic sleep together. It is sad and apparently incongruous to speak of money in the same breath as death, but cemeteries have to be fenced and maintained, paths have to be made and a graves have, to be dug, and it takes money to do tbis. We understand that the .authorities' are asking: that those whodesire to hold family graves should pay,the necessary fee (30s), and with this the required repairs-would be paid for. Again, the Eoman Catholic portion of the; cemetery has a fence running diagonally through it, beside not being fenced off. from the other portion. ■ It is requisite that this fence sh.6uld.be removed and put into' its proper .position, and .the.teubdividing fence . duly erected. - Sentiment will not pay for thia—nothing'will, bui hard cash., We should like to see some prominent citizen arrange,for a w.orking "bee, to clear the fern, lay out the footpaths, , and, when the season arrives, to plant ornamental trees and shrubs, whicbV we are, 'sure will be had,' if not for t nothing/ at least at a .very low price. The'Ceme-i tery Board will no doubt see "to the fencing, etc., but we think it is an incumbent and common duty_of .the people themselves to step in willingly, and assist in turning what is now closely verging on a disgrace into something 1 approaching decency, „