The Scandinavian Lutheran Cemetery Society held its annual meeting in the Stensland Building last Monday evening. The secretary and treasurer of the society, Mr. Paul O. Stensland, presented the following report on the society's activities during the past year:

"In addition to the regular rental work undertaken at the Cemetery during the past year, the following improvements have been effected:

"A well was dug, and a pump and windmill put up last summer....Piping has been laid to connect the new well with the main system..... About nine hundred feet of one-inch pipe has been laid, at a depth to insure against freezing, to provide the greenhouses with water as well as to secure drinking water at all seasons of the year. Six hundred feet of five-inch sewer 2pipe has been laid eight feet deep, and about twelve hundred feet of three-inch pipe, four and one-half feet deep.

"A second well, one hundred and fifty feet deep--the same depth as the one dug last year--has been finished and supplied with pump and windmill, the latter one hundred and eighty feet high, twenty feet higher than the one constructed last year. A stone foundation and a substructure of lumber have been put in for the new water tank. This tank, now under construction, will hold 64,000 gallons of water. These two pumping stations, together, will give a plentiful supply of water--thirty to thirty-five gallons per minute--of excellent quality, both for drinking purposes and for watering flowers.

"During the past year 1,400 trees have been replanted; several thousands have been trimmed and grafted; five hundred Norwegian spruce trees have been planted in the nursery, and one thousand flower bushes and smaller trees put all about the cemetery. Most of these bushes and smaller trees 3were bought in Philadelphia.

"In order to develop a rich lawn, our whole cemetery has been covered with fertilizer during the winter. Some of this has been carried to the cemetery in horse-drawn carts; part has been brought from the city via railroad. Trees that were planted during the past two or three years have all been carefully mulched, and fertilizer added. Afterward all the fertilizer was raked carefully together into heaps for future use. Large quantities of cinders have been provided to cover the roads and walks.

"A new barn and a shed have been erected. The barn is twenty by thirty feet; the shed, sixteen by eighty feet. The second stories or lofts of the barn and the shed provide ample space for hay, straw, and feed, while the shed gives excellent space for carriages, machines, and tools.

"Three thousand cubic feet of soil has been carried away in connection with the work of building the roads and leveling off the lawns. The greenhouses 4have been regularly inspected and kept in excellent condition. The power plant, the coal house, and the place for the gardener are being rebuilt.

"This year we have by far a larger supply of flowers and plants in our greenhouse than before, and all in all our cemetery is more beautiful and in a better condition, than ever before.

"Permit me now, briefly, to suggest the policy which in my opinion ought to guide this society as far as improvements are concerned. Although improvements have been undertaken along broad lines, the surplus earnings have been sufficient to secure good dividends. The opinion has been advanced that expenses for improvements might now be cut considerably, and that, in consequence, the dividends might be increased. From a business point of view such action might be advisable, yet I would oppose it. To earn money is not our only objective in the present undertaking; it is not even our main objective. It ought to be a matter of pride to us--and I feel convinced that such is the 5case--to make this cemetery....one of the most beautiful in Chicago and vicinity.

"In our effort to accomplish this, it may be possible and even probable that the surplus will become less than at present. In order to make the cemetery worthy of our nation, however, we ought to be willing to make the required sacrifice. I also beg to suggest that part of the income from the cemetery be set aside as a perpetual care fund, in order that the cemetery, in the future when all the improvements have been made, may be maintained in a state of beauty and attractiveness.

"If such be done, our descendants will have cause to view with pride the holy ground where so many of their ancestors found their final resting place."

From the reports it was shown that the total income during the year amounted to $18,933.64. To the shareholders the sum of $6,500 was paid as dividends, 6and $940.50 was set aside as a trust fund. The rest of the income, $11,489.14, was applied for improvements of the cemetery.

The meeting was under the leadership of the president of the Society, Mr. Nels Johnson.