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Section Ii.—_the Duties of the Cemetery Inspector._

A Supplementary Report on the Results of a Special Inquiry Into the Practice of Interment in Towns. · Edwin Chadwick — chapter 2 of 5 · ~510 words · public domain

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(11.) He is chosen by the Church and Cemetery Commission, and the appointment is confirmed by the mixed Church and School Commission.

In case the latter commission should find reason to delay the ratification, the grounds of the delay are to be reported to the senate, which will then order what is requisite.

The oath of the Cemetery Inspector must be taken before the younger Herr Bürgermeister, but his dismissal must be conducted in the same manner as his appointment.

He must be examined by the Sanitary Board, and must be found by them to be qualified. He must also be a burgher.

The Cemetery Inspector retains his situation during good behaviour, exact obedience to the interment regulations, and all other matters contained in his instructions.

(12.) The sextons and their assistants are under the control of the Cemetery Inspector.

He has to enforce the regulation that all those employed in the solemnities of funerals, or in the house of mourning, shall appear in good black clothes, and that no disorder, negligence, or defect, is permitted in the cemetery.

He has further to see that on the part of the sextons, or the gardeners, the neatness of the paths of the cemetery is restored after interments, as also that of the plantations and flower borders, as quickly as possible, and also that the mounds on the graves in the common ground are covered with green turf and kept in a pretty form.

(13.) The interments are to be notified by writing to the inspector of the cemetery by the Interment Commissary. This notification must be signed by the Church and Cemetery Commission, otherwise the inspector may not venture to order the sextons to form a grave.

One of the principal duties of the inspector is to keep a register of all the interments from these notifications, which register he must weekly lay before the Church and Cemetery Commission.

(14.) The coffins must, without any distinction, be lowered into the graves, and the inspector has to see that the necessary ropes are always in proper condition.

No less important is it for the inspector to be present at an interment, in order that by his presence nothing may be done by his subordinates, or by any other person, which should be contrary to the dignity of the interment or to the regulations.

(15.) The inspector must also inspect the family vaults, graves, and monuments, and keep a book, in which he enters statements of any repairs which may be necessary, and a notification of this is immediately to be sent to the Church and Cemetery Commission, without whose permission no alteration can be made in the graves.

(16.) The inspector has also the superintendence of the house of reception.

(17.) It is the duty of the inspector to treat all who have to apply to him with politeness and respect, and to give the required information unweariedly and with ready good will.

Under no pretext is he allowed either to demand or receive any payment, as he has a sufficient salary.

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