The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-03
Did Effective Work

Dld EIIectlve WOIk
 '.Al of the commissioners did effective work for some years, and probably would be In existence today but for the fact that politics finally crept into all of them except the park and tree commission, and the ultimate result was the abolishment of all but the park and tree commission. Tt has never permitted politics to enter into it fin any way whatever, as the em- ployment of any member of it's various departments depends upon his ability and willingness to perform the duties re- quired of him, and not because of his political affilation. Unless the person em- ploy ed performs his duties conscientious ly and in a painstaking way, he Is dis missed from the service, with no chance of his being again employed by the com mission.
 We have always tried hard to keep up the standard of labor in our commission, and are not in position to employ pen sioners, but only good, able bodied men, who are not afraid of hard work for the work, in many instances, is hard and the hours long. But somehow we seem to instill into the men that come into our employ the same feeling that we pos sesss, that of civic pride. and interest in our work, and very seldom do we ever hear murmur because of the hardships. exposure and long hours, as, for instance, during the tree planting season. The men start out at o'clock in the morning and sometimes it Is near midnight before they have completed their labors for the day, and perhaps the next day is just as ar duous as the preceding one. This condi- ton often lasts throughout the winter. cite this to show how and why it is pos- sible for the park and tree commission to accomplish what it does on small appro- priations. It is solely because we have yt- .@f x.wxtN lx~x the superintendent down to the paper pickers.
 ''At the time the park and tree commits sion took charge of the parks and squares of Savannah, 1t had much to contend with; the city had been visited by severe storms which had denuded many of our trees, squares and parks of their most beautiful trees. In one park. alone wc lost 319 trees in one year from assevere well filled, and you can hardly miss the trees that were blown down and re- moved.
 Then we had trouble with Insect pests that caused many of our trees to die and present an ugly appearances. But we are now in position to fight any Insect pest that might attack our trees, and can practically control them.
 Many Discouraging Things
 We have had many discouraging things to contend with, one being that of careless persons in hitching their horses to trees and have the horses invariably gnaw the bark off, which leaves the heart of the tree unpro- tected and exposed to the elements, as a result of which it soon decays and becomes dangerous. It has been hard matter to bring the people to full of the damage that Is done from this form of thoughtlessness. We have had to remove hundreds of trees because of this one cause alone.
 The commission first attempted to replace the trees in the older section of our city and have almost completed that task They are now engaged In the more modern and harmonious method of planting trees systematical- ly. Each street is planted in some spe. cial species of tree, and then the streets as a whole will present most beau tiful and pleasant sight to the eye.
 Colonial park was once cemetery be longing to Christ church. hut the city prevailed upon the church to allow the plat to be made into a park and cove nsnt was entered into whereby the city obligated itself to do certain things So there stands today beautiful park, where in 1896 stood an old abandoned and dilapidated cemetery. In other worda.