The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-12-21
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New York.-Big little Christmas trees, scrawny Christmas trees
 in full, heavy-scented bower are
 being shipped into New York by
 the thousands from all the chilly hills hereabout. But the extra- special, de luxe Christmas trees--- fit for mayor to christen in Times Square-mostly come from one place, the tree-farm of Miss
 Evelyn Smith. at Amawalk, N. r., near the Rockefeller estate. Miss Smith has been a sort of glorified Christmas-T -Tree-Lady for | 25 years, ever since she inherited 600 acres of forested land from her father. Major Orlando J. Smith, who collected fine trees as a hobby. Miss Smith was just out of finishing school then, and gave away many of the trees be- fore she realized that they were worth a lot of money. Today her estate and the trees on it are val- ued at several million dollars. ouSluC5S ktfUUCkh<>S Oub
 For many years Miss Smith shipped the big 30 and 40-foot
 trees which were put up in Times
 Square and Washington Square
 and the railroad station rotundas
 during the holiday season. These
 were live trees, delivered roots and all, because she refused to sell any
 which couldn't be planted some-
 where later and allowed to grow.
 As a result, many of the big ever
 greens in Central Park and along
 Riverside Drive were hers origin ally. . The most important order she ever had was for the National Christmas Tree,
 which was planted in Wash ington. Every year the Presi- dent or the first lady pre-. sides at the holiday ceremony when it blooms into light. Miss Smith goes down to see
 it occasionally. Says it's de- ing fine.
 She can afford to collect trees herself now, as her father did. Some years ago, while visiting { Washington, she bought a fine box wood which had been planted by George Washington. The Daugh- ters of the American Revolution protested, but the tree went north with Miss Smith to Amawalk. She also sells all kinds of trees to wealthy people for their estates, among them the Rockefellefs and the F'ords. Most of the memorial trees planted in New York and Washington by visiting celebrities such as the Prince of Wales and Queen Marie of Rumaria came from Miss Smiths estate.
 His Jobs On Ice
 People who fret about getting ice cubes out of refrigerator trays ought to give a thought to the task of Jim McNally, superin- tendent of Madison Square Garden. One day he has to make enough ice to cover the entire floor of the arena for a hockey match. The next day he has to rip it all out to make way for a wrestling or boxing bill. Then he has to put
 on another coating of ice for the following evenings hockey. It's such q strenuous routine that Me-
 Nally sleeps at the Garden dur ing a busy season.
 It takes eight hours to get the
 rink in condition, freezing the ice
 in eighth-inch layers until it is about an inch thick. Thirteen
 miles of pipes run under the Gar den floor, and a freezing solution ! is kept circulating through these while the ice is in use. Right after a hockey game, though,
 steam is run through the pipes
 and McNally's rousters attack the
 ice with electric blows which the
 superintendent invented. A job
 that used to take twenty hours by
 hand is now done in forty min utes.
 Besides installing boxing and
 wrestling rings, and ringside seats.
 McNally also has to boss the
 building of the huge wooden sauc-
 CT for the six-day bicycle races,
 has to put in the track for indoor
 athletic meets, and must cover the
 arena with dirt for horse shows,
 rodeos and circuses.