The Brown Co. Democrat newspaper ran a story today (10/17/2001) entitled, "SEPTIC CEMETERY? Neighbors say fingers invade graveyard". A Helmsburg man allegedly moved headstones and put a septic field over an old cemetery site in Brown Co. The property owner (Daniel Scalpelli) acknowledged that there was an "old cemetery, approximately 100 feet from a residence" but denies doing anything wrong, stating, "It was falling down, it was washing away, I thought it was abandoned. As far as I was concerned, I was morally obligated to bring that place back so the graves wouldn't wash away." {NOTE FROM LOIS: Can anybody explain what he meant by the final sentence above?} Only part of the published story was on the Brown Co. Democrat's website. It is presently at http://www.browncountyindiana.com/update/breaking2.html , but that page will be replaced by tomorrow's edition. Anybody in the group got the REST of the story? Lois

Lois, I am guessing, maybe he was refering to "the grass is always greener over the septic tank"??? The grass would grow better over the field bed preventing erosion? This reminds me of the people who thought a restroom was acceptable on the back of a War Memorial. NOT! Ernie At 09:39 PM 10/17/01, you wrote: >I was morally obligated to bring that place back so the graves wouldn't wash >away." > > {NOTE FROM LOIS: Can anybody explain what he meant > by the final sentence above?}

Septic cemetery, Just when you think you've heard it all. lol Lois, I was wondering if you found the link to the Mortar mixes. I still don't see it. Our group is going to try and rebuild a bottom to a small tombstone this weekend. LA Tippecanoe County Pioneer Cemeteries Group Coordinator See our cemeteries at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~intippec/tcem.html

LA, If you are building a base for a stone that sits in a slot, there are some good instructions on this page: http://www.gravestonestudies.org/preservation.htm Go about half way down thew page to the section that starts "The stone has broken at the base". Walt builds his boxes out of plywood, but much deeper than the 6" they show in the drawing. I would recommend building the box deeper also, at least 8" to 12" depending on the size of the stone. You can use regular pre-mix cement or pre-mix concrete, which can be found at most hardware stores and lumber companies. This is the "just add water" stuff, the sand and gravel is pre-mixed into it. These instructions are also linked from the INPCRP website here: http://www.rootsweb.com/~inpcrp/pcrpstepbystep.html Ernie At 07:57 AM 10/18/01, you wrote: >Septic cemetery, Just when you think you've heard it all. lol > >Lois, I was wondering if you found the link to the Mortar mixes. I still >don't see it. >Our group is going to try and rebuild a bottom to a small tombstone this >weekend. > > >LA >Tippecanoe County Pioneer Cemeteries Group Coordinator >See our cemeteries at: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~intippec/tcem.html > > >==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== >If we cannot respect the dead, how can we respect the living?

Dear L.A.: Thanks for the reminder! Don't know what happened to the link on the main INPCRP webpage, but Mortar Mixes are back on there, linked from the "Resources" section near the bottom. The page itself was apparently still in place; I must have accidentally killed the link on the main page. Sorry! Lois