Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-12-02

ness for many generations, and
faces he hath not seen shall bless him."
The most beautiful city in America is
Washington, D. c., largely because of it's in
Vulnerable lovely trees. These afford pic
turesque beauty that is subject for poets
fancy. Atlanta can be made just as attrac-
tive if the school children and citizens gem
orally will plant trees numerously tomorrow
and on each recurring annual Arbor day.
Children, If there were no trees the night
ingale, the oriole and the other birds that
fill the air with the gladness and sweetness
of their melody would have no place to
build their nests
If there were no trees, the whistings of
the redbrd, the varblings of the bluebird
the twitterings Of the swallow, the mellow
notes of the thrush, and the trillings of
robin redbreast would no longer make the
groves vocal with their delightful music.
If there were no trees, there would be
neither peach blooms nor apple blossoms
neither golden oranges nor yellow pears,
neither Juicy plums nor delicious cherries,
neither luscious :rGs nor the royal pomegran-
ate and the fragrant pineapple.
Ii there were no trees, there would be no
easy cradle in which. to rock the baby, no
violin across whose strings the musician
support the tottering feet of the weak and
aged.
IT there were no trees, all our houses would
nave to be built of brick and stone, and win
dows and doors made of steel and iron.
IL there were no trees, there would be few
newspapers and books to read, and not many
school lessons to learn
Diffuse Life and Blessings
And the grown people would do well to
remember that the trees are not intended to
1nrn1N nntST I,Yo
Der, or decorative feature of the landscape
to delight the eye, and beneath whose shade
they may idly rest, but they should consider
tnat II there were no trees, running streams
would dry up and epidemics of sickness pre-
vail; that trees absorb the heat of the sun
and purify the atmosphere by extracting the
carbon from the air, and send up currents of
cool air which attract the rain from the
clouds and conserve it when it falls.
Botanists and other scientists tell us that
mighty rivers have their fountains in the
leaves of the forests. Representative Davey
declared j.. an address in congress that "the
leaf is probably the most wonderful of living
things. Without the leaf all life must perish.
1t is the one and only connecting link between
the organic and inorganic worlds. Every
grain, every fruit every vegetable food prod
uct, every foot of lumber, and every other
vegetable product that is used for the pleas
ure and profit of ran is made in the leaf, The
great God who created the world and the life
greatest and the most wonderful instru-
mentality of that life
The living foliage diffuses life and bless
ings. Then how fortunate, regrettable and
inexplainable it is that man should be more
destructive, more thoughtless and in
considerate enemy of the trees than are
storms, winds, insects and diseases.
Gods First Temples
In the sentiment of the poet, "the groves
are Gods first temples
Trees gave the chief character and the
peculiar charm to the Garden of Eden.
When look at some great tree behold in
it, "a symbol of the glory of Cod
How true it is that there is not monu-
ment of nature in which the beauty of,
creation is more : parent, or the existence of
an overseeing Divinity made more manifest,
than the monarch of the forest, the towering
majestic oak.
"Then here's to the oak the brave old oak,
Who stands in his pride alone!
And still flourish he, I. hale green tree,
When a hundred years are gomez
The Bible and numerous ancient records
give sacred prominence to trees The tree was
the contemporary of Adam, Abraham, Moses,
David, and Mohammed.
Tree Worship Popular
We read on the pages of history that CEN
turtles ago tree worship was prevalent in many
the primitive belief that in trees, as in all
plants, there dwell god or spirit, who in
some cases had the power Of detaching him
self from the tree at will. The latter idea is
still general among numerous tribes of Africa
and the Eastern archipelago. The natives of
the slave coast will not cut down tree unless
they have reason to believe that the spirit is
temporarily absent. The belief continued long
in England that the hanging of green boughs
over the doors of dwellings Warded off evil in
fluences.. The practice, but not the belief
survives today in the habit of the young peo-
pie bringing home MAY bushes So also the
mountain ash in Scotland was reputed to be
safeguard against witchcraft.
When ArbOr Day Originated
I learn from authoritative sources that the
annual planting of trees under state auspices
a certain day is said to have been first sug-
gested in 1855 by r. G. Northrop, secretary of
the Connecticut board of education, while the
name Arbor day first probably used by
j. C. Morton, through whose influence the
custom was adopted in Nebraska in 1872. In
1882 Ohio introduced the observance of the
day into the public schools, and since that
time it has spread rapidly until about forty
states have set aside certain days for the pur-
pose. The date varies: in the northern states
it is late in April or early in May; in the
southern states, in December, January and
February. In Georgia, December list, has
been designated as Arbor day.
PRESS TALK in GEORGIA