Evening Star Newspaper, April 21, 1940, Page 95

THIS WEEK MAGAZINE enhance the graciousness of homes and to make streets cool places of delight. And then, about a hundred years ago, came the railroads, forerunners of the age of industry. Communities wel- comed the new space-conquering means of locomotion and urged the railroad companies to lay their tracks on the streets, along the waterfront, wherever seemed most convenient. Later, when the small, wood-burning locomotives proved to be breeders of conflagration, the ancient shade trees had to be cut down in the name of safety and of progress. Even before the steam cars were well established, along came Samuel Morse with his electric telegraph. Now wires had to be strung overhead and more trees felled to serve the cause of speedier communications. A quarter of a century or more later appeared Alexander Graham Bell’s invention. Soon after that Edison built the first central power station. Both the tele- phone and the transmission of elec- tricity required more wires to be strung along city streets. A decade later trol- ley cars made their appearance and with them the overhead circuits from Mhich they drew their power. In the meantime communities were growing and finding need to bury water and gas and sewer pipes beneath the streets. Each Took Its Toll EACH new technological advance took its toll of fine old trees planted with instinctive wisdom; each step in material progress demanded the sacri- fice of things pleasant to men’s eyes and needful for their souls. Shortly before the last war the cycle of destruction was moving forward swiftly to its climax. The automobile had arrived and multiplied tremen- dously. To engineers and others the need for straighter, wider streets with permanent pavements had already be- come apparent, and trees suffered ac- cordingly. And then it was suddenly dis- covered that trees, which had long been a nuisance to the lineman and the engineer, were a detriment to retail shopping. In scores of towns, stately old elms and maples that had some- how withstood the onslaught of prog- ress now vanished before the inexorable demands of business. There were protests of course. There were those who said that beauty had its own utility, that shaded streets were no less agreeable when shopping than streets exposed to the full glare of the sun. But to every argument, the .‘ merchants had an unanswerable retort. | “‘Look at Fifth Avenue!” they cried. i l | Planting a big tree at night on Fifth Avoue, New York SHADE OVER MAIN STREET by Merrill Denison NEW war grips Europe, but an need to have growing things around old war is ending in America; him. And with this understanding, a war between utility and when they built their dwellings and beauty, between ugliness and gracious these grew into towns, they set out ways of living. It’s a war that has been trees and cherished them. fought for more than a hundred years They destroyed the forests, it is in the business sections of our towns true. They chopped and grubbed and and cities. The century-old conflict burned to clear the land, but they had its beginning when the trees along always planted trees around their some village street were sacrificed in homes and along their streets and the interests of the first railroad. Its highways. Study the old town records end has been foreshadowed by the of New England and the Middle West planting of shade trees on Fifth and you will find, among the first Avenue in the very heart of the world’s pieces of business, quaintly worded greatest retail shopping district. bylaws that provided for the setting The trees appeared suddenly, as if out of straight young saplings along by magic, in front of Rockefeller Cen- the newly surveyed streets or avenues. ter; eight splendid elms with branches From the Atlantic seaboard to the uplifted to the sky, growing out of the Mississippi, elms, maples and syca- sidewalk of the famous Avenue where mores were brought from the forest to no tree had spread its kindly canopy of green for more than a generation. All through last summer’s long dry spell, passers-by slowed hurrying foot- steps to wonder at the unexpected beauty and draw from it a measure of refreshment. Trees growing on Fifth Avenue! Dappled shadows falling on the white concrete and patterning the limestone | fronts of buildings. Green foliage over- head breaking the long vistas of con- crete, shielding strained eyes from the | hot glare of the sun. i Now the original eight trees have . companions: maples and elms donated by Major Bowes of radio fame to grace the lawns and sidewalks of St. Patrick’s Cathedral directly across the Avenue from Rockefeller Center. Some have already been planted. They are strong, full-bodied maples that soften the old gray walls of the cathedral and give to | ; & its cold exterior a promise of the gen- Safely checks Perspirafion : DEODORANT i tleness that dwells within. | No Local Matter ON FIRST thought the planting of a few trees, twenty-four at most, on New York’s Fifth Avenue may seem a purely local matter and, as such, some- thing that concerns only New York. | Two and a half billion trees, it is said, have been planted throughout the United States during the past five years. Why, then, grow excited over twenty-four, even if they happen to be growing in such an unusual environ- ment as Fifth Avenue? This is the answer: these twenty- | odd trees are likely to exert an in- fluence on the American scene out of all proportion to their numbers. Their planting may mark the end of ugliness on busy city streets and a return to a I to 3 days Non-Greasy . . . Stainless . . . 77'| Full Oz., 35¢ Takes odor from perspiration (NOT JUST A HALF OZ.) Use before or after shaving | Non-irritating . . . won’t harm \ dresses ‘ODO-RO'DO No waiting to dry . . . vanishes quickly GUARANTEE—Money refunded if you don’t agree that this new Odorono Cream is the best de- odorant you've ever tried! The Odorono Co.. Inc., 191 Hudson St., New York, N. Y. Tested and approved by 2/ Good Housekeeping Burvean love of beauty so characteristic of the American of an earlier day. , The early colonists had a great love of beauty. They understood man’s “Not a tree on its whole shopping length. And if anyone should know what’s good for retail trade, surely it’s the merchants on Fifth Avenue.” To this statement there was no satisfactory answer. In countless towns the few remaining trees in the down- town shopping centers were cut down. Now naked and forlorn, once-charming Main Streets stood revealed as un- lovely wastes of asphalt and cement. The Circle Completed BL’T technology itself continued to march on. Telephone and telegraph wires were placed underground. Busses superseded streetcars in all but the larger cities and there was no longer any need to string power circuits over- head. The circle was completed. We could have trees again if we wanted them. We could bring back again the loveliness that once belonged to Main Street. But one obstacle remained — that old taboo against trees in shop- ping districts. And herein lies the significance of the twenty-odd trees that have been planted on Fifth Avenue. They have laid to rest the old taboo. From them will radiate an influence that should be felt throughout the entire country and help make America a still more beautiful place in which to live. True, the Rockefeller trees suffered 15 from the prolonged drought of last summer in the East, and as autumn approached those who had first wel- comed them were concerned about their welfare. But whether or not the eight elms have survived the winter does not really matter. Should they die, they will be replaced by others. And whatever may befall the first ex- perimental planting, the precedent has been set. Henceforth, when the local garden club appears before the city fathers to plead the cause of civic beauty, no opposition dare extol the barrenngss that was Fifth Avenue's. Trees again on Main Street . . . marking the seasons with the buds of springtime and the falling leaves of autumn . . . sheltering hot pavements with grateful shade in summer and relieving the drabness of winter skies with the bold tracery of branches overhead . . . Nature returning again to the blighted centers of our towns and cities and bringing with her the beauty that is only hers to give. America recapturing the understanding of a simpler age . . . Of all the fashions set by Fifth Avenue in her long and proud career as arbiter of the nation’s styles, this one may prove to be lovelier and more beneficent than any other. I —— IS YOUR “SMOKE TASTE” TIRED? In between the others... SMOKE A KGDL 1. It gives your throat a welcome change. 2. The mild menthol is definitely refreshing. 3. You'll enjoy all your smoking more. A\ Once you try it, you'll find KGDLS so much easier on your throat, you'll TUNE IN — Posel Swlliion Keviews the News- (KBS —every might escopt Set. VALUABLE COUPON ON EACH v st Ntictog 4 smoke 'em all the time. ACK ...FOUR EXTRA IN CARTONS - FREE. Write tor ustrated now Glussware. 6 of a size (highball, tea, old tushioned or cocktail) . . . 100 coupons. edition B & W premium book e, No. 17. Address the Brown & W illismuson Tobacen Corporation, Box 5%, Lowisville, Keptucky. Bridge Table De lauxe inlaid woods, smartly modern. Sturdy. 750 coupons. B & W COUPONS ALSO PACKED IN RALEIGH & VICEROY CIGARETTES & BIG BEN SMOKING TOBACCO