Evening Star Newspaper, May 27, 1926, Page 25

ARBORETUM ACTION * WIELY FAVORED Nature Lovers Foresee Pro-| posed Feature as Never- Ending Delight. * BY BESSIE WILMARTH GAHN, Uhnited States Department of Agriculture. It is true; Americans are real na- ture lovers. From all parts of the United States petitions have poured into congressional mail bags and burzed over telegraph wires, urging the establishment of a national ar- boretum near Washington, where Vis- ftors to the Capital City might fol- low the experimental work of Gov- | ernment scientists upon plants living in their natural environment. On May 10 the United States Senate | passed a bill authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and main- tain a national arboretum for pur-| poses of research and education con- cerning tree and plant life. When es- 1ablished this national arboretum will contain a permanent, living collection of trees and other outdoor plants growing within two miles of the Capitol. The land proposed for the purpose lles north and east of the city, along the drained marshes of the Anacostia | River and on the wooded areas of Mount Hamilton and Hickey Tl sites that are suitable to wide ranges ot plant and bird lite, and yet ac-| cessfble for nature lovers. People loved nature when t came to America, many years ago, and their tastes have not changed. | As an flustration. there are spectal nccasions durng the vear when the Department of Agriculture opens its | sxperimental greenhouses o Visitors. | that they may view the collections of gav chrysanthemums, gorgeous ama- ryllises, Easter lilies or whatever the | season mayv bring. At such times | pligrims from far and near throng the greenhouse corridors from morn- ng until night, eager to gaze and | perhaps to gain mental pictures such | as Longfellow suggested in his verses to ““The Daffodils.” 1 gazed and azed, hut little thought had brought: | ipon that inwa blitu It would he interestinz could ' plants display their histories as weil as their beauty, for there are vards, of romance wrapped about each of them. In one of the houses, for in-) stance. there stands a row of un-| sophisticated baby box with an impos-| ing name. “‘Buxus sempervirens suf-| fruticosa.” These little plants are of | a variety of box often used in the| old formal gardens of FEurope, and now considered most rare. They were | “slipped” from an ancient hedge at| Rose Hill. an old estate at Port To-| bacco. Md.. settled in 1664. The par-| ent plants were brought over from | England in 1758, with all of their| age, and their gnarled roots buried in historic soil, their leafage is vet| fresh and green; their masses of pro- tective branches hide from the world the relic of a once elegant mansion where Gen. Washington frequently | visited with Dr. Trown. the country’s first physician zene where Dr. Hosack visited in 1730 and, from the 10 acres of terraced zardens, obtained the idea of a public arboretum to be used by doctors and students of| medicine. | It is of interest to know that the country’s first public gardens, estab- | lished ‘in 1801 on old Murray Hill, 3 miles from the then city of New York. arizinated on the hanks of the Pot mac., not far from the site now chosen | for ‘the great national arboretum. This was old Elgin Garden. and its history is hut ane of the romances to be learned from plants in the Govern- ment’s zreenhouses. If vou were strolling along Fifth | avenue today, watching the crowds of | busy New Yorkers, what would vou think if the large church at the corner | © of Forty-eighth street suddenly should | disappear and in its place there would | be a tall and stately greenhouse, loom- ing up between fwo flourishing hot- | What if the Fifth avenue | suddenly became winding, | gravelly paths leading down from the greenhouse through box hedges and into vast gardens of Canadian pink- | root, rhubarb, popples, foxglove and other old-time medicinal plants? Suppose you could stand on the hill- side in front of the greenhouse (old | Murray Hill) and gaze er and | cond etching | Looking _east would see the waters of the East River glistening in the morning sun, and turning to look past the wooded hill in the west vou would see the broad Hndson reaching toward the north. Were it possible actwally to see the thinge which now are but memories. what a veritahle Garden of Eden one could trace in this portion of New York's Fifth avenue! This was the site of the Elgin Garden from 1801 until 1857, when the first of its land was sold, 16 city lots at Forty-eighth atreet, for which the Dutch Reformed Church paid $50.000. An intéresting paragraph in Medical Repository, volume 1, 292, reads as follow: “In the year 1801 Dr. Hosack. being pro- fessor of botans and, materly medica in, Co, nmpia_College. purchased 20 acres of land near New York, for the establishment of a | anic garden. This situation is on the 3 oad between the Bloomingdale and | Kinghsbridee Roads. ‘This distance from | the City Hall is about three miles and a half % East_and North Rivers are plain The grounds are also arranged agreeable to the most approved style of ornamental gardening. The whole is N rounded by & belt _of - forest trees’ and ahrube. Judieially chequered and mingled and enclosed by a well constriicted stona wall.” “But who was ‘Dr. Hosack'>" you may ask. Then, suppose we open volume 5 of the bulletin of the New York Rotanical Garden and read a mection of page 324, as follows: “Hia [David Hosack's] father. Alexander osack. wae born at Elgin (for which the Hen was name>. Scotland. in 17 758 he came with General Jeffrey Aml as an artillery officer to the siege and cap- ture of Louisherg, and afterward settled in New York. where he married Jane, dln&hlvr of Francie Arden. a prominent w York David Hosack was their oldest son. born Augu 31, 1769, He was for two D4 one-half vears # pupil of Columbia. but completed b college course in 1780 at Princeton.” During 1790 Dr. Hosack lived in | Alexandria, Va.. which place he be- | lleved was to become the capital of | the country. Here he bezan his medi- cal work and mingled with men of prominence and learning, becoming acquainted with them in their inti- mate, family circles. He was thus located not tar distant from Mount Vernon, Gen. Washington's home: Marshall Hall. the ancient estate of | the Marshall family, and Rose iill. the old home at Port Tobacco of Dr. Gustavus Brown, grandfather of Dr. William Brown. the first surgeon gen eral of the United States. Dr. Wil- liam Brow; graduate of the, Uni- versity of Edinburgh, had left his medical practice at the outbreak of the Revolution that he might devote his wealth and energy to Gen. Wash- ington’s assstance. After years of | faithful and intense service, Dr. Brown had retired to civil life in Alexandria. There he met Dr. Hosack in 1790, and | a rare friendship ensued. | The Brown family estate at Port | Tobacco was called Rose Hill be-| cause of its terraced rose beds. It| was famed far and wide, however, for | its great collection of medicinal plants, | its greenhouse and hothouses and its | unique system of irrigation for acres | of native and exotic trees and shrubs. Once visited, the place was never to be forgotten. - Certainly. through Dr. Toaack’s visits, Rose Hill played a tre- the page in’ sight. and planted n herat | i | ed_many _repairs THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY, | OLD PRINT OF AMERICA’S FIRST ARBORETUM (Reproduction from an o America’s first eey of Dr. N. L. mendous part in the future of New York City After graduating from the Univer. sity of Pennsylvania in 1791, and later from Edinburgh, Scotland, D Hosack diligently studied botany, first hey | ynder Curtis in his botanical garden |Yet could find no remedy. at Brompton. and then with James F. Smith. Upon Dr. Hosack’s return to New York the country was made richer by his gift to the Lyceum of Natural History of a duplicate of the | Linnaean herbarfum. which he had | brought with him from Europe. Tn 1795 Hosack was made professor of botany in Columbia College, and in | 1797 professor of materia medica. These two chairs he retained until 1811, when he resigned to accept the professorshop of materia medica and of clinical medicine in the College of Phy ns and Surgeons, where he remained until 1 According to Tlosack hecame tie his t Dr. the ne. ‘nd 2 | vears ¢ phrsicians of the New York Hos. I He attended Hamilton at his fatal meeting with Burr, July 11, 1804, and the following day remained with Hamilton until his death. He was one of the organizers of the New York Historical Society and for eight vears its president. For several years has was president of the Horticultural Society. His vie ideas were admired and his w were famed. From 1814 to 1824 he edited (with Dr. Mitchill) the Ameri can Medical and Philological Register, in four volumes. | In all of this time. Dr. Hosack's realization of the worth of a scien- titiz garden for medical purposes had grown, end in 1798 he made a request that Columbia College should give a small sum annvally toward this proj- ect, to he aid_in the studv of materla medica. Not succeeding in obtaininz this stance. he applied | in 1500 to the State Legislature fo | aid, but agair failed. Still having in mind the Rose Hill gardens at Port Tobacco and the ¥Curtis” gar- dens at Brompton, England, Dr. Hasack determined to undertake the work of establishing a garden at his own expense. According to the Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden, volume 4, page 324 “In 1801, he hought of the ety nlots of the rommon: lands (Nos. 0 'and 611 in All about 20 acres. or e oraextending from Forts-sex met e FifthiArat ctreet and from Middie Fiith aventie) " westward to & st of Sixth avenue— Tor S4R0%.36, in mones. and a auit rent of 1% hushels of good. merchantable wheat fo be paid every Mar 1. in kind. or its eauiv- Alentin E0ld or silver coin | "] R08. the £ronnds were mostly under | Baving ahout 2000 species of | lante. with one &pacious green house and Rothouses, prosenting a frontage of 180 ‘he. piots devoted led by shrubs and nelosed by o ane Francis, Dr. t four 5 ol two feet. en. r high Dr. penditures for the garden expectations and, after failing to obtain assistance from the Legislature, he was compelled, in 1808, to offer the garden for sale. It was not sold. however, until 1810, when the State Legislature passed an act entitled ‘‘Act for promoting Med- jcal Science in the State of New York.” This authorized the purchase. and, the property thus passed to the People of the State” at a price of 8875, just $28.000 less than Dr. = outlay upon it. It i« interesting to compare this! price with an estimate of the value| in 19 In a report of the Fifth Ave- nue Rank of New York, it is stated that the tract upon which Dr. Hosack | 1aid out the Elgin Garden. in 1801, by | 0,000, . upon pur chasing the garden, that the place | should be used and emploved for the benefit of the medical schools of the | State: that there should be no future | charge or expense to the State; and | that the physicians and medical stu- ould at all times have access gin Garden free from any ex- pense. . Thus, as the regents of the college were forbidden to incur any expense to the State, the garden was committed to the management of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in May, 1811, to be “kept and pre- served in a condition fit for all med- ical purposes and open to medical students.” In June of 1811 the garden ‘was leased for five vears to Michael Deni- son, Dr. Hosack's former gardener, who agreed to keep it in good condi- tion. n the meantime Dr. Hosack was called to the chair of materia medica and clinical medicine, and was Jargely instrumental in the union of the College of Physicians and Sur- geons with the .medical department of Columbia. In 1812, at the time of his lectures on botany before classes of the college, Dr. Hosack was able to make use of the garden in his teaching. By 1813, however, the garden need- and_Dr. Hosack W .00 Special| "' Excursions | Atlantic City | SUNDAYS May 30, June 13, 27, July 11, 25 August 22, September 5, 19 SPECIAL THROUGH TRAIN Via Delaware River Bridge Eastern Standard Time Leaves Washington - 12:01 A.M. Returning, leaves' 8. Carolina Ave. Tickets (n eale two daye preceding o ecursion at City ket Ofce. Pennsylvania Bidg.. 613 14th St v.. and Union Station. NP‘;znns'ylvania Railroad | when | was at | The trustees of Columbia Coll | Fifth avenue today. assistance. In the grounds | flosack con tinued his attempts to lease the prop- erty for himself, but without avail He could see that it was deteriorating, It had conveying the that the again tried to obt 1814 the Stare o Columb been his property hope, to the upon State, | den would hecome a permanent insti- | car, the Jurdin des Mis hopes to ob- ate as 1828, similar o in Paris ase continued as he made st attempt. He| that ti president of the | Horticultural Society, but even with | this added power he failed. In 1835 | Dr. Hosack died. | After Dr. Hosack's death the gar-| den was valued not from a teaching | aspect but as an ornament to prop erty which was fast increasing in | value. Its greenhouse plants had| been removed in 1819, and jalue now was to hasers or s to the tution, Plantes tain a had alwavs considered the zarden too far | removed from the city to he of direct benefit to the people: they preferred | rather its assets by way of future| rentals, and for this purpose they retained the land. It is to their sa- gacity, therefore, that today's wealthy university owes its prosperity. In the Columbia University Quar- terly, volume 5. page 279, 1903. it is stated that & ‘‘most interesting memorial of the Elgin Garden is still to be seen in the two noble yews that flank the steps leading to the| University Library. These originally stood in the EIgin Gardens and were | early transplanted in the south field. | whence they were removed to their present position during the Winter of 1894.95." The writer recently wrote to Co. lumbia University and inquired as to the present status of the vews. The following answer was received: “T regret to say that the vew trees | referred ta have long since passed | out. I can find no one on the n,wxlvy\u,~i to give me any information regarding | them.” Thus living things became mem- ories, and unless there is national effort for their preservation, their memories likewise fade into nothing- ness. Elgin Garden, in all of its pomp and splendor, is scarcely known by the thousands of citizens who traverse | ze Having learned this lesson, it is not to he wondered that Americans today are clamoring for a national arhoretum here in Washington. They knew the importance of natlonal ef- | fort and national support If they are to keep a_natlonal “Garden of Fden." | o PIE;I Excursion June 23. The Northeast Business Men's As- | sociation decided at a meeting last night to hold their annnal excursion | to Chesapeake ReachgJune 23 The usual program of games and amuse- ments will be arranged for the event, with the horseshoe pitching contest to be a feature. The following com- | mittee on arrangements for the ex- cursion was named: Dr. R. W. Mc- Cullough, chairman: Clarence Poston, Harry White and William Razey. Hit Playing in Front of School. Twelve-year-old Sylvia Dudley, cal- ored, v avenue, was knocked an automohile driven by Santo S. Zumbo, 931 New Hampshire avenue, while plaving in front of a school near Twenty-seventh and 1 streets during noon recess yes- terday and slightly hurt. She re- | turned to school after receiving treat- ment at Emergency Hospital. Deaf Mutes Rarely E-xilt. _ Use of the term “deaf mute"” is van- ishing. It has been found that more than 30 per cent of the children in schools for the deaf have the sense of hearing to a degree. The mute part has followed the deafness. Great prog- ress has been made in teaching the deaf to speak. Hearing through the fingertips from plano key vibrations and membranes, such as may be stretched over the large end of a mega- phone, and by- radio, are among the accomplishments in teaching the deat to speak. um. of New York.) Britt Struck by Auto. M an Albert ol 4 3 down automobile hd Fitth street about 7 ‘ock last night and slightly hurt. Talmadge Bond, colored, 23 sears old, ulleged to have heen the driver of the was arrested by Policeman Wil- hams of the ninth precinct. He was ¥ charged with leaving the scene of the his identity | and ar- | cident without making known, taken to Trafic Conrt ra He entered a piea of not guilty and demanded iy trial Tn one week in April Germany 383 hankrupteies and 317 receiver ships Poor lubrication sends more cars to_the repair shop or the scrap heap than any other single cause. Be Sure . . Be Safe . . *DEMAND AUTOCRAT Beware of Substitutes At Good Dealers’ Everywhere BAYERSON OIL WORKS~ COLUMBIA 5228 ["Ihe Best ollinth 1 Herbst’s Pharmacy 25th and Pa. Ave. Is a Star Branch Just run into the nearest Branch Office with your Classified ads for The Star—instead of taking the time and trouble to came way down town. The Branches will give prompt service— and without fees; only regular rates are charged. There is one near you. The Star prints MORE Classified ads every day than all the other papers here combined — because you reach most readers through Star ads. “Around the Corner” is a Star Branch Office. Reduced Prices On Standard Paints (Mostly in 14 Pt., Pint and Quart Cans) To-be-discontinued brands of standard finishes at Big Reductions to effect quick clearance. We quote gallon prices—proportionate prices on the smaller size cans. READY MIXED PAINTS Formerly $3.50 $9.50 VARNISH-STAIN Formerly $4.00 2 Also In % Gals., Qts., Pts. & % Pts. FLOOR & DECK PAINT Formerly $3.50 Also in % and Qt. Cans High-Grade Floor VARNISH Formerly $4.00 $3 el Also in % Gals., Qts., Pts. & % Pts. HUGH REILLY CO. PAINTS & GLASS (1334N.Y. A The only all-rall route to the Seashore . Phone _Mlin' 1703 had | » MAY 27, 1926. 25 Sy T S e VA L o R 7 the rifty Woman will take advantage of these SUPER-SAVINGS—RE4 WEEK ENDERS! Half the fun of an outing depends on the right clothes. Remember, that the Surprise Store has made a spe- cial effort to present a complete line of sport and outing apparel at the usual sensational Surprise prices. ‘SURPRISE SURPRICE. 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