The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-10-27
fHg WOODMAN'S AXE STAYED
AND 1000 HISTORIC TREES IN
WASHINGTON RESPTTED.

UnenG-Wtd0 Destruction rtnnneo W
Wake an Aveuue for the Gen. Grant
Memersal-Mr. Roosevelt nntervones'
WASHINGTON. Oct. "a merry little
var IL stirring up Warrington. Squabbles,
merry and otherwise. are common enough
In the nations capital, but the distinguish
ing feature OF this row is that II 10 q fight
between a monument and q thousand trees.
70 Is the fight IN which President Roosevelt
has iust interviewed with an order that the
trees shall be spared.
The monument In Of Con. Grant. II has
not yet been erected: consequently. % far
a. possession goes. the trees. some Of which
have been on and In the ground for almost
q century. have the advantage.
But surely IL every ones first protest,
zone monument doesn't reed the room
occupied by q thousand treesi'
Not just that. This il the way Of n:
The COMMITTEES got the permission OF
Congress to place the monument In an
sunoccupied- portion Of tho Botanic
Garden. Some Washingtonians NJ been
Inclined TO doubt whether there arc any
unoccupied spots in the city 30 far a. NOM
ments are concerned.
That. however. 10 an extreme view. Asa
matter Of Fact the Grant memorial could
be accommodated without serious elbow
ing Of any Of the other real or near he
roes now empedestallsd in tho city.
But tho plans In the present case do not
stop short at . monument. They involve
Q great avenue or vista leading from the
projected Grant memorial. which will
stand at tho southern base Of the Capitol
bill. through tho Mall to tho Monument.
.A.< - 80 th> Ws~hsuwxou Mopvun~u<
There are many monuments in tho city
but only one that 10 capitalized.
II IL In the clearing Of this ~vista-eatiri-
cally referred to by its enemies a. "a Frenchi-
fed idea'-that the thousand trees wore to
some down. Apparently nobody in Wash
ington woke up to this fact until the are
demned trunks. Then the city got up and
became its protests.
Theswathw which II the plans were followed
would he cut through the Botanical Gardens
involved the destruction Of no less thar
forty historical trees. Supt. William r.
Smith, who has been In charge Of the garden
for moro than fifty years and who started in
flower pots many OF the finest OF the great
trees. stood among his arboreal cronies
tho other day and pointed them out to q
SuN reporter.
-Looki" he said. there's Mr.. Evarts.
and there's Mr.. Blair. and there are tho
two Morrills and Edwin Forrest and John
Forney. and h~ere-why. look here! here's
Charles A. Dana! Does any reader OF
THE sun want to see that tree cut down?
That tree 1 raised from an acorn brought
from the grave OF Confucius and sent to
me by Mr.. Dana.
See what q fine. sturdy growth 1t 10!
I won't let It be trimmed because I want
IL to seed. Trimming would prevent that.
But when I nave had seed from It I shall
have It made more symmetrical-that ia,
II it is allowed to exist at all.
Here is the finest willow oak in the coun-
try. 1t was planted by Mr.. Maybury.
but I call it the Jefferson tree.
The willow oak was Jefrerson's ~favorits
among trees. When he was out riding
he used to stand on his horse In order TO
gather the acorns from those oaks. Turkey
oaks. they are sometimes called.
And here is the Washington Film. Wash
ington planted two up near the Capitol.
When the old grass terrace was replaced
by the present marble one. the tree In that
section OF the grounds was cut down.
This n in the garden was propagated
from one OF the roots Of ths original tree.
Il was planted by. James B. Beck. who mar
ried a Miss Thornton. a distant relative
OF the W~ashingtons.
THAT magnificent hornbeam IL called
the Bingham -Sumner tree. The original
Sumner tree, as It was known. stood east
OF the Capitol. There was talk OF cutting
IL down during some work In the grounds.
and Sumner actually made a speech in
Congress pleading that 1t be spared.
HE declared that he knew OF nothing
In the District Of Columbia that equalled
It in beauty. He did not live to SEQ it's
fate. for he himself died . few months
after making that speech. To the credit
OF Congress it must be said that they tried
to save the tree.
"The ground around II had to b. cut
down, but the tree was left on a sort OF
mound. II did not thrive. 30 they tried
TO cut under il and lower it to the surround
ing level. It withered and was cut down
and made into enufI boxes.
The present tree il not q descendant
Of that one. but iasa splendid specimen Of
the same v~ariety--the hornbeam or, a.
It is sometimes called. the Italian beech.
Here is the Garfield memorial acacia.
During the funeral rites over the dead
President a slip Of acacia was laid upon
his coffin. This tree was raised from that slip.
Opposite IL is another specimen planted
IN 1852 by Gen. Albert Pike. head Of the
Masonic order. One of those Lebanon
cedsrs vas planted in 1899 by Senator Hoar.
and the other was planted in 1890 by Senator
Evarts.
Those two Expresses are rare. Edwin
Forrest sent me the seed 81 one from . Il 80
IN Broad street. New York. The other
vas planted by John w. Forney. founder
NJ The Philadelphia Press.
"Thereis another Lebanon cedar. planted
In ise; by the elder Frank Blair. who was
editor OF tho Washington GLote. the organ
81 The Jackson faction during tho lstter's
Presidency Here is a Crimean fr. planted
more than forty years ago by Judge William
s. Holman.
Here ,s a gingko, or maidenhair tree.
rf,n,a1 f,rtu xyoara n hu q Iansn>%A