The Greeley tribune., 1904-03-10
VERY TIMELY
CUTTING REMARKS BY O..
CENSORIOUS SATIRICUS.
Would Have the Verdure of City
Protected Even If City
Council Had to
Butt In.

Editor The Tribune: We have
had an uusually dry, open winter
that has beeu very trying upon lawns
and shrubbery. In the end 1T will
be found that much damage has been
done. Whole stretches Of the grass
upon parked sidewalks that were at
once the constant care and pleasure
OF the owners are now either dead or
In diving condition. And what
makes 1t more trying to endure is
the fact that large share of this
damage is the result Of pure vandal-
ism on the part Of the public. 1t is
bad enough and provoking enough in
midsummer when the water is iu the
bitches, the ground moist and the
.;rass has some little chance for life,
to have people deliberately tramp on
it merely to avoid little mud on
the sidewalk; but in such winter
as we have had, when the walks have
been as dry as boards for months at
a time, it was simply inexcusable.
The fact is that there Is little
sub-stratum Of the barbarian in the
most Of us that crops out whenever
the right opportunity is presented,
and this is one Of the opportunities
that cannot be neglected There are
people who can never pass a clean
freshly planed board that may hap.
pen to he temporarily lying near
them without tramping the whole
length Of it or at least splitting on 1t
II 1t 10 otherwise out Of their reach.
There are others who will step aside
into private grounds. and especially
II owners are absent, aud break of
whole branches OF towering shrubs.
Such people can hardly be classed
with still others who invariably pill
fer at nres or rob houses after cities
: are surrendered In war. but 1t IL the
same predatory spirit. broken loose
, when any degree Of restraint is re-
moved.
And now, as to the particular
offence IN question, 1t pains me to
observe that the women are chiefly
guilty. 1t would be charitable, l
know. and chivalrous, to ascribe the
act to thoughtlessness; but l cannot
tell lie for politeness' sake and the
fact Is that they are much too
| thoughtful in selecting the grass liae
to permit even DOUBT as to their
motives.
Now the other day, for instance,
riding by the neat premises Of an ac-
quaintance who takes great pride in
his grounds and whose sidewalk from
end to end is always as smooth as a
floor, my attention was drawn ire
sistably, through a kindred interest
on my own account, to a lady who
| deliberately walked the whole length
of the grass at its side Nothing
careless about that, for she turned
abruptly sideways to reach it.
knew neither her name nor her face,
but l surmised by the aristocratic
swish OF her skirts that there was no
glass in her front yard and that she
threw all the slops from her kitchen
Ut the back steps.
But there are others. One night
in going home passed little group
of girls holding seance and stand
ing meanwhile on another citizen S
neatly trimmed grass line AS
passed them one Of these girls said,
II don't believe Mr.. X. would like
| it il he knew we were standing on
this grass, and her companion I'M
mediately replied. "Well, l don't
care my feet are tender and iu hurts
them to stand on the hard ground, "
said that the women are the
chief offenders but occasionally see
man whose stride plainly indicates
long residence in the woods where
he has habitually lolo~ COW paths
and often jumped from one bog to
another in going through the swamps;
we'll of course with such a man early
environment determines his life gait.
and he hits the high spots.
Then there are the boys; and now
note personal experience. Sit
ting on my front porch one moonlight
night ] saw two young ladies and a
callow youth engaged in animated
conversation and standing meantime
on the grass on my own corner. 1t
seemed to me they stood there for
hours and all the time this verdant