Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-07-02


Kinley lay dying. at Buffalo. he
and watched the swaying foliage of
the trees. aren't they beautiful"
were almost his last words.
There is no architecture more Won
derful than a healthy tree, Its
foundations lay hold upon the eternal
rocks, and through it's qualifications
beneath the surface of earth runs a
| water system that puts to shame the
| aqueducts OF our greatest engineers.
There is chemistry and physics.
There is strength and fineness. Up
from the roots rises in the most royal
dignity the trunk, with its protecting
mail. and high aloft sways the foliage
"a universe in itself-a world in
which nature revels. birds sing and
squirrels play hide and seek. and tiny
insects-beneficent to man, or preda-
tory-live and move and have their
tragedies.
And what beauties come and merge
from one splendor of color to another,
as the seasons march in pageant ar
ray. The tracery OF the leafiess
| lacework. Can the laces of Brussels
match it? The daintiness of spring
| blossoms and leaflets. Can jewelry
sparkle and blush so charmingly? The
fullness of July and August foliage!
That symbolizes the abundance of
heaven and shows the industry of
nature.
Chemistry has. in the foliage. the
task of converting elements into
seed, and the struggle for the sur
Vival of the flttest even there begins,
as the life germs fight for their full
development and crowd each other in
emulation for the high honors of per-
lection and maturity, that they may
carry forward the race from genera
ton to generation.
The fitteSt survive. The whole
story of evolution is retold yearly In
the seed struggle within the trees.
Trees are great orchestras. They
harbor birds whose CHEEKY, sweet
notes are like purity itself Sorry
am for Washingtonians who have
to live where there are no groves of
trees-only hot brick walls. How can
They don't, though they would like
to cheer the poor victims of the hot
brick walls, even as they tune the
merry notes of their morning con-
certs in the trees all about US more
lucky mortals.
At 4:30 o'clock in the morning /
hear single chirp. 1t is the leader
baton to catch the attention of
canaries. robins. catbirds, song spar
rows. redbirds-all assembled in the
trees. with perhaps twenty other
kinds of birds. There is crowded.
bass crow-who always caws four
times. listens for a distant response.
then caws three notes back, and then
the whole bird orchestra begins. We
have the Grand March of Aurora" with
the bird band-because OF our hun
dreds of leafy trees.
Washington is especially happy in
her abundance of trees. Many of the
streets, and even in the wider avenues,
are grand arches of greenery, stretch
ing for many a mile. in magnificent
Champs Elysees. adorned not merely
with granite piles at the end, but
through all the way with verdant trf-
umphal arches.
=
There is not in any other city so
beautiful a bit of natural scenery as
| is Rock Creek Park. Its principal
! charm lies in its pristine. untram-
meled nature. There are thousands
of trees which have been growing
longer than any marble architecture
of the city beautiful. How long VIII
they be permitted to show the SUI
periority of nature?
There is a spur of the park with
a deep gulley filled with splendid
foliage, borne upon trees from few
inches of diameter up to nearly two
feet. The gulley-this fascinating
"sunken garden" of wonderful charm
lis threatened.
There have been many pests threat
ening trees everywhere. Caterpillars,
moths, scale, blight! But such pests
are comparatively harmless. They
can be sprayed. They can be poisoned