Evening star., 1947-06-17
This and That
BIZ Charles E. Trncenell.

There are few things man takes more pride
In than his trees.
But pride often goes before fall, here as
elsewhere, and that is where the trouble comes
In.
When beautiful trees grow old they become
larger, and every year they stand, beyond q
certain date. according to the species, the
danger of falling is greater.
Locusts, for instance, have no tap root to
speak of. Other species have various failings.
Oaks and naples stand well for many years.
The purchaser of a home in suburb or
country Is thrilled at his trees. For long
time they are literally, the pride of his life,
whenever he thinks of them.
Let one be blown down house or garage,
however. and he comes to look at the matter
differently.
Especially in recent years. with the increase
In property values it seems rather shortsighted
to keep aloft huge threats to house, and even
life and limb
The time comes in every trees life, it is
quite evident, when the chances of 1t falling
are greatly augmented.
Every year thereafter the danger grows more
acute.
One does not exactly live in fear. Even those
who live on volcanoes get over that. But there
is always lurking idea In the back Of the
mind that something may happen Why
tolerate 1t?
Something may happen, of course, to any
one, any time. Mind has come to the end OF
it's tether as H G. Wells said, in his last book,
a book nobody reads. but the title is good.
Mind at the End of It's Tether" is what we
have in the atomic bomb.
If this is what mind does, then maybe we
had better go back to prayer
During heavy rainstorm Is a good time to
take stock of ones trees, and decide which ones
ought to come down.
We don't mean just topped. Not all trees can
be topped, and those that can-well, they are
the very ones that should come down, II, IN
the falling they will hit any building.
This ought to be the yardstick OF Judgment:
Will they hit any building?
Either ones own building, or ones neigh
bors' buildings, 1t should make no d1nerence.
The mark of good Christian is love OF neigh
Dor.
Trees are such wonderful things that no one
contempates their removal easily especially
does the suburbanite dislike to disturb them.
It not only costs money-much money today
but it goes against the suburban grain. The
suburbanite is shy pruner, at best He usually
lets his shrubs and evergreens grow all over
the windows, get "leggy' and ugly, before ne
begins to prune.
When it comes to his trees, they were, at first,
his pride and joy. To have trees OF ones very
own-that drew him closer to the pioneers, put
him In touch with the past.
It was the future he forgot about. Coming out
of little row house in the deep city, he could
not be blamed for loving his trees, and not
wanting to take them down.
But every tree has its life, and every year
draws 1t closer to its dubious end.
There is no telling which roots will give
way, in sudden gust of wind, rain and sleet.
There is no knowing which trunk is suffering
from sort Of dry rot, or is hollow inside.
The sure rule is to keep trees away from
houses.
Small good trees, such as maple and holly,
may be tolerated. because at the worst they
could not do much damage.
Tall heavy ones, with tons of weight in them,
gain irresistible power when the fall is long
But even no farther away than 10 feet falling
tree gives blow that is atomic. The minute the
tree strikes, real chain reaction starts crush
ing and sending twists to all parts OF the struc-
ture.
We saw this In our own garage recently. as
1t was struck by q large locust at the height
of the recent wind and sleet storm. 1t was not
pretty sight.
Our advice to all property owners Is to have
all trees taken down that may strike buildings
In falling 1t Is costly but 1t will be much better
than waiting; far less costly In the end