THINGS OF BEAUTY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 972, 15 May 1930, Page 8

THINGS OF BEAUTY

AMERICAN CEMETERIES DESCRIBED A PROBLEM SOLVED “Some of the cemeteries in the United States are delightful parks, with beautiful trees, and groups of statuary, and fountains.” Mr. C. A. Trevithick, an Auckland architect, said in a lecture the other evening that the American authorities had solved the problem of the ugliness of cemeteries. “There is no sign whatever of dilapidated railings and untidy lots, or multitudes of tombstones of every size, shape and degree of merit,” he said. “It Is just one glorious park. No tombstones are allowed. The grave of everyone buried there, whether rich or poor, simply has a small stone slab with particulars engraved on it, and the slab is flush with the ground, and the motor-mower keeps the grass cut short everywhere. “I could not help making a comparison between these fine parks and the unsightly slopes of Purewa or Waikumete. In my opinion, the Americans in this case had solved very happily a very diflicult problem.”