The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-21
FOREST
Appears in a
Night.
COMMON is GREEN
With Proud Firs and Stately
Pines.

Worcester common resembled a small
bit of Norway yesterday. Straight stub
born little frs, big towering pines and
various other members of the numerous
evergreen family who have left their
native Maine woods and come to spend
the holidays in Worcester invaded the
whole Front street side Of the common
and tried to look natural in their new
abode back of the city hall.
1t was almost like an enchanted for
est in its sudden appearance. Monday
evening all that portion of the COM
mon between the soldiers monument
and the city hall was waste of snow
and ice. But yesterday morning the
first sight which greeted the passerby
on Front street was a grove of humid
reds of dark somber frs which had ar
| rived in the night hours as if my magic,
reminding the onlooker of a miniature
| Black Forest and the gnomes and
! dWarfs which are said to frequent ev-
cry pine forest.
! But if the trees look gloomy and I'M
natural to-day out of doors in the cold
4
| pearance next Sunday. Each one of the
! 1000 little trees now on the common
| will find its way into some happy home
| and standing before some hospitable
| fireplace will be made the center of the
days rejoicing. Adorned with glitter
| ing tinsel and loads Of presents and
| bright with lighted candles the little
| fir and the big pine will realize the
purpose of their existence and a few
/ bright hours will make up for the many
cold snowy winters spent in the Maine
wilderness where they grew.
Buy a tree lady? Buy a tree?" This
was the appeal which greeted the wo-
man shopper yesterday as she passed
along Front street doing her Christmas
shopping Two dozen or more rival
statesmen lined the sidewalk in eager
competition, each endeaVoring to steer
the prospective customer to his own
particular grove of the evergreen for
est.
Business was not brisk yesterday, few
customers caring to buy their trees and
/ trimmings until the day before Christ
mas. Nevertheless big business estab
lishments, Sunday schools and clubs
| frequently buy their trees some days
ahead of the average individual. Fri
day and Saturday will be the busiest
days, but occasional trees will be sold
before.
Trees of all sizes and suited to every
purse are for sale. Prices range from
i twenty five cents to $40. No family in
town is so poor as to be unable to af-
ford the luxury of a little sprig of ever
green on Christmas day, while the rich
man can surprise his family with a tree
80 feet high If he feels so inclined.
All the trees on sale in Worcester
come direct from Portland, Me-. where
they were shipped in from the wild dis
tria nrtb If oil
for modern methods of transportation,
Worcester would have to discard the
time -honored custom of having Christ
mas trees, and Santa Claus would
have to confine himself to filling stock
ings.
Worcester county Is not we'll supplied
with evergTeens, and probably does not
contain enough trees to supply the mar
ket a single year. Luckily Maine is
near enough to make freight charges
reasonable, while the Rangeley lake
region has an inexhaustible supply of
pines for all years to come.
The trees now for sale on the COM
mon filled three fiat freight cars. No
body would realize from seeing the
packed in a small space. The branches
are bound down close to the sides and
the trunks strapped together into close
bundles. After the trees arrive at their
destination they are unbound and
placed in q warm room when the
boughs and branches spread out and
the tree expands to its original shape.
Worcester Christmas tree dealers
have occupied the common from time
out of mind. No one remembers when
they first took possession of the city
park. Formerly, before the new city
hall was built, the dealers displayed
their wares on the Main street side, but
now they have been compelled to
change their location
The parks commissioners have al
ways freely granted the privilege of
selling Christmas trees on the common
All they demand from the seller is de-
posit of S., which is returned if they
get through the week without injuring
the city property. This year six dealers
have paid the fee and each one has been
allotted little plot in which to erect
his frs and pines.