Evening star., 1933-02-08
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Those who hold treasured memories
Of seashore days should live among the
trees, If possible, for nothing else imi-
tates quite so well the sound of the
breaking waves.
Above all, the roar of bending trees
In wind is so much closer to the
noise of SIMILAR air currents by the sea
1t brings the happiest Of recollections.
1t is pleasant to lie in bed, not SC
far from surrounding trees, and tc
listen to the voice of the branches
bending and twisting to the demands
of the fresh winds.
Not all is pleasant, however, about
such a night, even when a home is
warm and one is wrapped in the coziest
of blankets.
one noticed by most persons and those
who may not be personally very sensi-
tive to such feelings.
Not only is there a touch of sadness
at the thought of all persons unpro-
tected, but high winds have terrifying
effect in themselves, even on the shell
tered.
This increases in direct ratio to the
speed of the movement of the rampant
currents of air.
No element is more threatening to
mankind. 1t has been feared and re-
garded a menace, except in gentler mo-
ments, since history began.
In this wind does not differ much
from fire, perhaps, or even water. All
are pleasant and aids. in their due
season, and under proper control, as
man sees that good direction.
Unleashed, however, running un-
confined, each can be, and often Is, a
terrible menace.
Some hint of this is in every wind
of Winter that roars around our city
homes, especially in the suburbs, where
such winds as blow have greater sweep
across country.
Then they come bowling through the
trees as If bent on tearing the giants
out by their very roots.
Such air movement makes the home
gardener Supremely conscious of the
sturdlness of those greatest of plants.
In ordinary air currents trees bend
and twist very little, such motion as
they indulge in seeming to be but a
happy response to the caress of the
wind.
When the latter blows in earnest,
however, then the boughs and branches
weave in and out, and the great trunk
itself, one of Natures most marvellous
organizations, bends its crown before
the blast.
Underground, out of sight, lie the
most marvellous anchors, the roots.
Anchorage Is but one of their func-
tions, and not the main one, in a way.
but how capably they fill it!
When the wind blows in tree top,
then comes the test of tree roots.
Fortunately for the trees in Winter,
the ground is hard, and well packed,
sometimes frozen, around its anchors
The tree is divested, too, of its load
Of leaves. We cannot recall ever having
heard of the weight of the leaf total
on a good sized tree, but it must be
considerable.
Weight of leaves is but part of their
handicap; their capacity as sails is an
other; together these account for the
fact that more trees blow down in Sum-
mer than in Winter, despite the fact
that often the late Autumn and Winter
winds are heavier Another reason, of
course. is the moistened, loosened char
acter of the soil in warm weather. This
Is not so important to oaks and the like,
but it is very much so to shallow rooted
trees, such as the locusts, so prevalent
in this section. These often blow
down in Summer, but few succumb at
this season.
There has been great deal of senti-
mentality about trees, much of it quite
proper, and well deserved, since it has
done no human being any harm and