Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-05-09

Upon this head lady correspondent writes
to THE STAR Sin despair she says, as follows
calais! for the next ten or twelve weeks,
shall not take walk, or drive any where about
the city without behOlding. stretching In far
perspective. rows and rows of these tall, angu-
lar 1ree-boNeS. ugly enough at the first, but
now made h1deOuSly suggestive OF wayside
gravey ards, and presenting unlimited opportu-
Titles for the decorating Of small boys jackets.
Nor is this all. The trees themselves, those
which have Outgrown their small clothes, and
outliyed the vandalism OF the street Arabs. even
the same barbarons treatment viii take tn It
back, Mr. barbarian. In your free forest ranges
nature holds sway, and her colors are perfect In
blended hue 1t Is only In civilized communities
that man seeks to improve the shades and tints,
so precious in variety and richness to poet and
artist.
You would excuse my earpestness, did you
know all / suffer. The house In which live Is
not new. Indeed. taking everything into &C
count, may truthfully say it Is very old
house, and was occupied years and years before
j had the privilege Of living In 1t, and some
times shut my eyes and think how quaint, and
messy. and subdued the to-, the old red bricks
would be now, and what pretty background
they suffered no touches but those that nature
gives. But they have been whitewashed! those
old bricks have, and l metaphorically butt my
head against them every time 1 am obliged t.
encounter sight OF them.
have neighbor, lovely woman, whose
face always reminds me Of an early summer
morning, all smiles and genial f1endl1nesS;
whose voice is musical as the ripple Of running
water. or the hum of the hOney-Seeking bee,
and who Is lover OF the beautiful too In one
sense, judging from the care bestowed upon
her dress and her flowers. Four good sized
trees shade the front OF her dwelling, and every
spring they gladden. the whole neighborhOod,
first, with their fair corOnal OF tufted catkns,
and later, with their rich luXuriant foliage.
But one Of the prettieSt Of their adOrnmentS Is
the bark Of their trunks. The dull wintry hue
changes into soft delicate brOwniSh green, q
perfect delight to the eye, inviting inspection
ana fs So my aoGy
offered, and which has power TO S0oth many
an annoying thought, and the next, alas, to
my dismay, the whitewash man has been there
and covered up my beauty, that so cOmforted
and rested me. and turn away In disgust, as
do from the face Of painted woman.
Dame Nature, however, Is all good nature,
which she hastens to repair injuries. Where
ever our rudeneSs, or ignorance, or 1diOtic
carelessDess, does violence to her laws, she
S with healing touch to the rescue and
to repeat It, And thus It happens that my
beautiful treesI call them mine, though they
are my neighbors-in their young and vigorous
growth, soon slough of the disrasteful white
wash, and unless second coat Is applied later
In the season, there Is still left In the autumn
little time for me to enjoy them. But alas for
the leprosy of the orient, the blemish Will cling
to 1T. until it is pulled down and utterly demol-
tshed."
Undoubtedly, the glaring light of white
washed surfaces Is not only discord to the
artistic sense, but great discomfort to the
human eye under our bright southern sun. Yet
the ltme wash seems to be about the only cheap
substitute for paint that can be applied to the
miles OF tree-boxes in our "Forest City," The
difficulty could, however, be readily got over
by mixing coloring matter with the whirewash
Tn fov To r,la
brown or yellow. This would be a compare
lively inexpensive process. As regards the
atrocity OF whitewashing shade trees we sup
pose nothing can be said in its defence. may,
perhaps, be OF service In protecting some kinds
of fruit trees from insects, but the bark OF shade
trees worth planting On our streets Is not sus-
ceptble to injury Of this sort.