Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-08-13
NOTES FROM THE HUB.
LsrEcIAL corREsroNpENcE.

elms has gone. Ii stod in the lot on Bea-
con street next To the Boston atheneum,
and adjoining the Old Granary hurying
ground. 1t was sacrificed To make way
for the new Congregational house, which
is soon to be erected by the Congrega-
tinnal association. City Registrar
Whitmorc, i'm whose family the lot has
been for many years, says: No one
knows quite the history of the old tree,
but as ii was the same age and variety
as the other trees known Ia have been
imported by Captain Paddock from Eng
land, ii seems most reasonable to believe
that ii was one of the number he set
cut Here is an account of the trees"
continued Mr.. Whitmore. taking down
volume of Mayor Shurtleff's History of
Boston, and turning to the chapter
called Paddock mall" 1T is fully
settled by general consent that Captain
Adino Paddock was principally con-
Cerned in the truly praiseworthy under
taking of establishing the Granary
mall. The exact time when the trees
were planted by Captain Paddock can
not be stated with that degree of pre-
cision that is desirable: yet there is not
room for a reasonable doubt that this
event took place about 1862. at which
time Mr.. Paddock was "a years of age.
This date is given by Mir. Emerson in
his report on the trees of MassaC Chusetts.
Nov, only II of these noble trees re-
main standing in their lot. How many
uf them there were originally is not
know. 1t is supposed that the row eX-
tended from Park street meeting house,
northerly To the larch tree in the burial
ground, beneath whose shade slumber
he victims of the State street massacre
March 8, 1170. If. however, the row eX
tended SO as to skirt the whole front of
the Granary burying ground there
might have been 16 trees in all" Mr..
Shurtleff closes his chapter on Pad
docks mall with this sentence: Far
distant may the day he when those old
friends must be removed from the spot
which they have SO long occupied and
ornamentcd. and may our city fathers
ever regard them as among the cher
ishcd objects which must hC preserved
with the greatest care, as valued hCrit-
ages that Rostonians have received from
the generations that have preceded
them" Since this account was written
the old trees have gone one by one, un-
til it would seem that with the removal
of this one. the last of the old Paddock
cms has found its last resting palCe.
Al prophecies regarding the date of
the opening Of the subway to public
travel have failed, and it now looks aS
if this important event in the history of
Boston's underground system of transit
would not come off for several weeks.
and it may he months. one cause of the
delay is to he found in the fact that the
method of treating the walls and roof
has proved defective, and it may be that
the commission will he compelled to take
off the present finish and try something
else. If it is concluded to do this a
month, at least. will he required for the
work, as the West End is avcrsc to start
ing its cars through the tunnel Will"
the change is being made, as the Gle
mCnts If danger would he greatly en-
hanCcd 1t does not required the prac-
tised eye of an expert to detect the faul-
ty condition of the material with which
lIlt W ais al Nb\NIFtl' ti~ at many Ilc'' =
it is beginning to peel oft. while just be
yOnd the portal on the Public Garden,
where the dampneSS is greatest are
many signs of rapid Corrosion, and 50
far nothing has been tried that seems to
meet the difficulty. The transit COM
mission remains firm in its belief that
il has put on finish that has 10 supe-
rior. it having been selected after an
endless variety of experiments. and af-
ter its corps of engineers had made a
most panstaking study of its charac-
teristiCs and compared it with a number
Of other materials that had been submit
ted for trial. The commission had two
purposes in view when dealing with
this matter viz, durability and effect.
The latter was attained, but it would
seem that the former is far from being
realized. 1t is reasonable to presume
that the commission will oppose making
any change whatever in the interior fin
ish, on the ground that no better results
are possible. There are number of eX-
perts in this class Of work, however, who
bold opposite views and are not slow in
making the charge that a serious error
of Judgment has been committed. As
the matter now stands, it looks as il the
subway would lie idle for an indefinite
period. as there is no disposition on the
part of the West End to accept the work
until it comes up to its idea of complete
ness.
The old clock on the Boston and Maine