USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1886 > Part 15
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tion. And thereto, when completed, whether the question involved-
" Providence, fore-knowledge, will, and fate, Fixed fate, free will, fore-knowledge absolute,"
or a tousle with the aborigines for exemption from enforced tonsure; came Moore, Heywood, and Rice; Gookin, Chandler, or Paine; Flagg, Curtis, or Lee; and still later-numerically a squad, but in themselves a host-the minute men under Captain Timothy Bigelow. Therefore what more or better can you do than to acknowledge the dedication of that ground by the blood and memory of the martyrs ! Lay deep and firm the founda- tions of your Town Hall ! [a title grandiloquent enough for Birmingham or Manchester !] open fair and wide its approaches by esplanade and terrace; resting content thereafter with the monuments that you possess and the Jets d' Eaux, or Fountains, to which you may attain, except you prefer to save their cost ! burying it under ground in a clout.
Of late years the COMMON has been used, during the winter months, as a dumping-ground for excessive snow. In so far as such use accommodates the Highway Department, involving no ulterior damage to the Lawns or Walks, it might perhaps be continued indefinitely. But there can be no sufficient reason for surrendering that public ground to the Horse-Railway Company, suffering that corporation to pile up, in gross accumulation, the filthy mess of salt, sand, and ordure with which it has polluted the streets. Just at present, in the entire absence of frost, the ground absorbs freely and no trouble is experienced. But in a spring when the earth shall be frozen deep, the foul stream will over-run the gutters, congealing and melting in quick alternation, thereby constraining the employment of extra labor to keep it within due control. The PARKS-COMMISSION will be obliged to impose some restriction upon such use (or abuse ?) of the COM- MON ;- possibly before another Winter.
April 17, A. D., 1886, the Chairman of this COMMISSION
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received from His Honor Mayor Winslow, a letter that had been handed to him, whereof the following is a literal copy :-
" Boston, 16, April, 1886 ..
P. YOUNG, EsQ.,
Sir :
My Brother, Col. T. B. Lawrence died several years ago, and your note. addressed to him has been handed to me. By referring to the terms of the gift of the Bigelow Monument to the City of Worcester, [April, 1861] I think you will find that the City accepted it, with the agreement to keep it in repair. If therefore, as you say, some of the sections of the Monument require to be reset, it is for the City to do it; and I shall be obliged if you will call the attention of the proper authorities to the matter.
Respectfully yours,
ABBOTT LAWRENCE."
Upon the morning after the very first sleet storm, towards the end of January, A. D., 1886, the Chairman of the PARKS-COM- MISSION visited the Bigelow Monument and inspected the injury so far as it could be detected, anxiously noting its extent. The COMMON was not thronged by descendants of the Martial Black- smith ; nor was there even an awkward squad of the surviving,. -next of kin. In fact, his own affinity to Doctor Abraham Lincoln may have perhaps brought the Chairman as close in the spirit, as he was a hundred-fold nigher in the flesh, beneath those dripping skies. But, after all the day was as dreary as it could be ;- and you don't expose sweet-meats to the storms of winter, do you, oh remote kith or kin ? Of course it was evident that effectual repairs could not be made during that inclement season. But the Chairman gathered up every fragment that could possibly be replaced and carried them in person to the office of the City Engineer, for safe-keeping. Two days there- after he obtained an interview with Col. David M. Woodward and requested that gentleman to make a thorough examination of the structure, reporting its exact condition. That, Col .. Woodward did, with his usual scrupulous accuracy. Thereupon a bargain was made with Messrs. Evans & Co., of Central Street,. to assume and perfect the repairs, putting the whole work in first-class restoration. April 10th, thinking that there had been too much delay the Chairman mailed a note to Messrs. Evans. & Co., asking them if they would not hurry the work. April
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16th, [the very day that Mr. Lawrence's letter is dated], the Chairman walked from the COMMON, where he had not found them at work, to the marble-yard of the contractors and insisted that there should be no more procrastination. The explanation was, that other unavoidable engagements had interfered, but that competent men were then at leisure to fulfil the contract. This assurance was amply vindicated. And, whether for fidelity to their trust,-care that it be strictly discharged, or scorn for reckless insinuations, the Chairman, for and in behalf of the Com- MISSION, feels that he may safely challenge their peers ! This episode concluded, as follows :-
" PARKS-COMMISSION, Worcester, Massachusetts, 18th April, A. D., 1886.
ABBOTT LAWRENCE, ESQ.,
Boston, - --- SIR :
I have received from His Honor Mayor Winslow, a note written by your- self to Mr. P. Young (Priestly? presumably,) of this City, relating to the Bigelow Monument upon the Common of Worcester. The subject-matter of that letter,-accidental damage to the Monument by the force of the sleet storm of last January,-had attracted immediate notice from this Com- mission. That the injury is not already repaired results from no indifference or neglect on the part of this City, whose officers have not forgotten the obligation heretofore assumed, and have neither motive nor wish to shirk the especial duty. I think that I may ask you to repose entire confidence in the-bona fides-of this City, not the least of whose cherished treasures is the memory and sacred dust of Timothy Bigelow.
That you should have been subjected to any annoyance in this matter, results from that sort of super-serviceableness, too prevalent of late, which elects to assume a neglect of duty, without the slightest foundation; and is swift to censure, when the least prior inquiry would have shown an utter lack of cause.
With great respect, I have the honor to subscribe myself, EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN, Chairman."
The " care, superintendence and management of the Shade and Ornamental trees standing or growing in or upon any of the public streets or highways of the City," vested solely in this COMMISSION, as formerly in the COMMISSION OF SHADE-TREES AND PUBLIO GROUNDS, has been exercised with all reasonable diligence and energy. The young have been planted ; the old and infirm
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removed or pruned ; and all guarded in so far as danger could be foreseen. The rule not to precede the Highway Department has been rigidly observed ; for there can be no gain and but little economy in putting roots,-the life of vegetation,-where mattock and axe will quickly supervene. Both COMMISSIONS, under the same executive direction, have followed a consistent and uniform aim. The steady purpose has been to shade those streets that most needed to be shielded from the fierce rays of the summer sun; all the time keeping in mind that, while the sun might be uncomfortably warm, now and then, it has ever been and must continue the ultimate, perhaps only source of light, heat and therefore existence. The COMMISSION would screen ; never exclude !
In pursuance of their deliberate policy, the PARKS-COMMISSION gave out to be planted by the Grange, or other applicants, A. D., 1885, upwards of Eight Hundred (800) Norway Maples that the Chairman had been personally shaping for years. In addition, there were planted, under contract, Two Hundred and Twenty- Nine (229) Rock Maples and One Hundred and Seventy (170) White Ash. A. D., 1886, the COMMISSION distributed (largely to the Grange), Five Hundred (500) Rock Maples and caused to be set out, under contract, One Hundred and Sixty-Four (164) White Ash, besides Three Hundred and Sixty-Three (363) Rock Maples. Exclusive of these were occasional Elms and Catalpas, of which no account was preserved, as their allotment was more or less hap-hazard and sporadic. Almost all are alive, for they were planted with care, were nourished by timely rains and, as soon as possible, surrounded by guards. But the Streets must abide their turn ; and those that have been visited by the forester once made to realize that it rest with themselves to keep what they have once got. The COMMISSION cannot return upon their tracks until they have completed their rounds. Nor can they follow after the butcher and baker, to say nothing of that early bird - the milkman, in a forlorn hope to clap a muzzle over the gnawing jaws of some hungry horse. Every abutter must be his own watchman.
There is great and wide-spread misconception as to the age of
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trees. The " venerable monarch of the forest " cuts an impos- ing figure in sentimental poetry ; and several cords to the trunk, according to diameter. But no trees are as ancient as tradition ; and scarcely one finds its tradition merged in remoter fable, like the oft-cited chestnnt upon Mt. Ætna. The rings of annual accretion are very much like the teeth of a horse; yielding an uncertain sign, deciphered by each expert to suit his whim. This old citizen remembers, and that other is sure that his father told him ! And thus, far enough back,-the Ark! On the 18th of last June the following paragraph appeared in the Spy :-
" Edward W. Lincoln says relative to the Elm tree on Sever Street, which his brother states he once started to cut down with his scythe, that heremem- bers skating all over that portion of the city when there was no sign of an elm tree there."
Some people may have shaken their heads in doubt; and yet a little reflection would show them that both brothers might be correct in memory and statement. The meadow was, most assuredly, a sheet of Ice in winter, and as clear of shrub or tree as the land, Northward, belonging to Elisha Flagg and John Green, was choked with birch and willow. But the seedling Elm develops with extreme rapidity ; as it needs must to attain its huge bulk during the period allotted for its duration. In the brief course of a year or two it might well offer a stubborn obstacle to even a bush scythe. The writer cannot recollect a tree along Elm, Chestnut, or Harvard, Streets, that was not set out within Fifty (50) years ; and, upon the two (2) former high- ways, mostly by the late Gov. Lincoln. But yet Horse-Chestnuts have been cut down within a few years, west of the Public Lib- rary, that encumbered fully half of an eight (8) foot side-walk. A rock ( Acer Saccharinum) Maple, much more a Norway,- properly planted, and, if not cared for at least not abused, will furnish within ten (10) years all the shade that any one ought to have, desire what he may. There is far more danger of sparing trees along our Streets, that ought to be eradicated because of their decay, and the consequent insecurity from them, than there can be of taking out too many. Our woodlands would be of vastly greater value to their owners, were they cleared off at
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stated, or irregular, intervals,-but cleared off ! thereby allowing the earth to substitute another and different growth for which suitable nutriment was long since stored up. Says Emerson, in his exhaustive work upon The Trees and Shrubs of Massachu- setts :-
" It is not surprising, therefore, that in many soils, the trees should at last be unable to obtain sufficient nourishment and should consequently thence- forward begin to cease to grow, and finally perish from inanition. We do not find this taking place on our rich intervales, and it might everywhere, probably, be prevented by supplies of fresh, nourishing soil."
How then shall the Trees fare along our Highways and Streets, purchased and planted by the City, and which the City,-other- wise and unwise, reckless to save, does its utmost to destroy.
A. D. 1870, in the very first Report written by the present Chairman, he expressed views to which his more matured judg- ment strictly adheres :-
"The felling of that ancient tree* at the foot of Elm Street, which had sheltered so many generations beneath its protecting branches, afforded an occasion at the time for much sentimental reproach. A little reflection would have disclosed the fact that there were those upon that Commission to whom the least twig of that' venerable tree was fraught with tenderer memories than the entire ruck of indiscriminate censors could possibly appreciate. Permis- sion for its eradication was given, upon the application of the Highway Com- missioner, with the advice and approval of the late Mayor t. The Commis- sioners are thoroughly satisfied with the result of an act, the responsibility for which is exclusively their own. And they felicitate the community upon the marked improvements which have followed, and which were rendered possible of accomplishment only by such decided action. Trees were made for man, not man for trees. Yet too many still stand, spared because of lin- gering associations, or on account of their age and massive proportions, whose removal would be a great public accommodation and appease an in- creasing popular demand."
A. D. 1886, Sixteen (16) years later, the COMMISSION having become neither hide-bound nor moss-grown in the interval, were thus delivered, ex-gratia :-
The PARKS-COMMISSION would keep themselves prepared for what is inevitable, precipitating nothing, in nowise forcing mat- ters, but ever conscious and ready to admit that change, if at
* The old LaFayette elm by the former mansion of Governor Lincoln.
t James B. Blake.
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times insensible, is neverthless an inexorable law of creation. A tree, like everything in the animal or vegetable economy, can but fulfil its appointed mission. It springs up, endures and de- cays. It was declared in Judæa almost nineteen centuries ago, that they might actually cumber the ground. The PARKS-COM- MISSION will ever aim to preserve the fortunate mean that should divide a vigorous life, and welcome shade, from the barren existence and positive rot which would soon become perilous. They expect to hear that the Highway Department is alive to the grand possibilities that might be forced to develop a new and brighter life throughout the Northern portion of Main Street. The question which will present itself in such case, must be,- given the opportunity, shall this COMMISSION prevent its realization that a few trees may be spared a little while longer, in impaired and very unprofitable duration ?
Neither bi-furcation, distortion, nor disease lend especial beauty to Shade-Trees on Bass-Wood Street or Elm Park. The truth of the whole matter is,-naked and without under-clothes,
NOTE .- The extreme age that certain men have been fabled to attain is scarcely more preposterous than the reputed longevity of trees. The Chief Forester of Prussia denies that trees grow to be a thousand years old.
His researches put the " extreme age of the pine at 570 years ; of the larch at 429, the oak 410, and the red beech 245. There is a linden tree in Wurtem- berg which is shown by local chronicles to be at least 438 years old, for in 1448 it was so old that it had to have its branches propped up. Seven hori- zontal branches are now sustained by stone columns, but the trunk is a mere shell, supported by internal as well as external masonry. It is said that the pine tree, although it reaches the greatest age in a sound condition, decays more rapidly when its decline sets in. The oak and some other trees con- tinue to vegetate when reduced to mere shells."
Upon this, the Editor of the GARDENERS' MONTHLY, whose fame for a thorough knowledge of everything pertaining to Arboriculture is not inferior to that of Douglas, or Sargent, comments, as follows :
This is what the GARDENERS' MONTHLY has been contending for in connec- tion with American forestry, where trees have a less tenure of life than in the more favorable climates of Europe. There are in America, as well as in the Old World, individual cases of trees, as well as of human beings, going on to a great age; but when we are asked for the average duration of life in the trees of the American forest, we may give in round numbers two hundred years as about the figure. For this reason the efforts that are being con- tinually made for the preservation of our old forests, should be transferred to the planting of new ones.
E. W. L.
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whether it involves complaint or satisfaction about the planting or excision of a tree,-the abutter getting wonted to the situation. Along Main Street, by the present location of the Orphanage, Horse-Chestnuts and Maples alternated at distances of perhaps fifteen (15) feet apart. Neither lawn, sidewalk, nor roadway got a ray of sunlight. The situation was becoming intolerable, until finally the writer relieved the public by solving the difficulty-at the base of the Horse-Chestnuts ! When the axe was first up-raised, the yelp was universal. Do the neigh- bors complain now, more than the ruminants that gazed across Tremont Street in Boston; and chewing the same old cud, observed querulously when their surprise allowed, that the world seemed to continue moving in front of the Granary Burial- Ground !
At this precise time, A. D. 1877, there is peril imminent to limb and life from decaying or dead branches of the veteran Elms along Main Street, Northwardly. Spare the old tree ! vociferates the itinerant whose call is sharp, whose duration is short, whose appointment elsewhere is decisive. Who will liquidate the damages ? responds the Auditor as he shifts his finan- cial polygraph in the vain effort to strike a balance between appro- priation, Sinking Fund, and evitable liabilities. But, who will assume for us our responsibility for neglect of duty ? very per- tinently inquire the PARKS-COMMISSION before harm has befallen or a citizen gets maimed or killed !
The Annual Work in ELM PARK has attained that stage, now that it makes little visible show, however absorbing or extensive its occupation and, for that very reason, becomes yet more diffi- cult to detail intelligibly. Who, save a close observer, could or would care to trace the subdivision of Herbaceous Pæonies, or Phlox; or would be capable of anticipating the superb display to be developed from either of those splendid perennials, when the hundred of roots shall have been multiplied by thousands ? It is difficult for the writer, even, whose oversight is daily, if not hourly, exercised, to recall and remember the, as it were myriad, altera- tions and changes occasioned or rendered imperative by rea- sonable forethought for the growth and health of shrub or tree.
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How then shall those who scarcely allow themselves leisure for a monthly visit keep pace with the incessant variation, or renewal ; the re-location or revival ; that is known by all good gardeners, all that are worth their manure at least, to be absolutely indispensable. A plant will die out if left too long in one spot ; no matter how vigorous its habit. There must be neither forgetfulness, indolence, nor omission. With good soil and proper treatment there should be but ordinary difficulty in growing successfully any one of a hundred flowering plants or shrubs ; whose first cost is trifling, and whose beauty (as of Iris Kæmpferi, for example) is signally conspicuous, though comparision should be challenged with the "far-fetched and dear-bought" scentless Orchids ! Although the COMMISSION look rather to the occupation of the newer Parks, pro- posed by them to be acquired by the City, for Play-Grounds and unrestricted public enjoyment, they also expect that clumps of per- ennial plants, with occasional copses of flowering and ornamental trees, will nowhere be out of place and may lend a novel and un- wonted charm to nature unadorned. For this end, the collection of species and the multiplication of varieties in ELM PARK, will be of exceeding utility ; constituting it fons et origo, wherefrom may be disseminated such beauty as shall become a "joy forever."
Upon a recent occasion, the present writer recalled a waning attention to the evident dispersion of that nimbus which so long enshrouded the pinnacles of Sinai. "Thou shalt not steal !" proclaimed Moses ; and centuries later, crucifixion sufficed for thieves. " Beware lest thou be found out !" enunciated Lycur- gus : and thereafter the Spartan youth hugged the fox to his breast - no matter how keen its teeth. "Why make such a fuss ? It belongs to the City, and there are plenty more! " is the cry of sickly sympathy, when striplings of either sex are detected plucking flowers or pulling up whole plants; or even carrying away choice fir and pine trees, that have required years to develop, in honor of the Christ-Child. " Discharge him ! he is insane !" yelps philanthropy, when some unaltered brute is caught waylaying young girls as they disport themselves in their fresh innocence, throughout our parks and play-grounds. Now- a-days sin consists not so much in the offence as in its discovery.
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Its enormity matters little ; its measure is scarcely that of de- gree ; so lightly is it condoned, so quickly forgotten. Men have been sent to the Lunatic Hospital for tendency or attempt to ravish at sight ; who, later, were found in ELM PARK or its vi- cinity, let loose without formal adjudication, to prey at will upon an unguarded community. Young men have hardly got dis- missed from school, but they provide themselves with tools where- with to neutralize, or destroy, the labor of this Commission that was just manifesting its fruit after years of patient toil and wait- ing. " Give me but a few more officers !" exclaimed the Mar- shal, not so long ago, " and I will see if I cannot put a stop to these troubles." He has got them ; the same marshal - a small loaf and a few fishes! while more mischief was perpetrated in the public grounds of Worcester, A. D., 1886, than ever before. Don't violate the Commandments, the statutes, the ordinan- ces ! at least not just now, if you please ! Just now I am busy in a chemical analysis and must not be interrupted. Understand, oh stupid ! that I am employed to enforce that moral law, where- of the injunction is,-
Nothing shall ferment Higher 'n three per cent. !
The City of Worcester possesses, at this day, in ELM PARK, planted out to remain, or in nursery rows for dispersion when needed, an infinitely larger wealth of shrub and plant than was ever the subject of ill-informed boast for the Boston Public Gar- den. The multitude do not know the fact ; probably could not, in any shape, fully appreciate the intrinsic value of that precious accumulation of bulb and root. Nevertheless such is the truth, resulting from a careful and deliberate collection and multiplica- tion of choice native and foreign species and varieties that have been tested and found adapted to that peculiar locality. There may possibly lurk a doubt whether property in vegetation, of any nature soever, merits or should obtain municipal safeguard. Perhaps a further query - if nurse-maids and children, not to mention the mothers ! who may visit ELM PARK to admire and enjoy its floriage or seclusion, should not be made to learn that they seek such recreation at their peril ! And still it suggests
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itself, as scarcely needing demonstration, that the property of the City in its Parks and along its Streets, requires, and requiring is as much entitled to, protection at the hands of the civic police as the cigarettes, or calicoes, that are in the enjoyment of shelter and possess the safeguard guaranteed by bars and bolts. The in- crease of population is urged in behalf of the multiplication of officers. But the majority of that force is restricted within a narrow beat ; few or none of its members, agile or stalwart, being spared to patrol the suburbs. The Law clothes the PARKS-COM- MISSION with ample authority to appoint its own police. But au- thority to appoint is worthless without the money to pay incum- bents !. And the COMMISSION, reluctant to create superfluous tax- eaters, will await impatiently the assignment to their use and behoof of a portion of the expected police appropriation.
On Saturday, December 4, A. D. 1886, schools being dis- missed, ELM PARK was vindicated, if never before,- its Pools at least. The children of Worcester uttered no complaint that there had been excessive excavation; a trifle less than four (4) acres of superficial area for skating out of the entire twenty-eight (28) being crowded to repletion. It required but the frost of a single night, with the mercury at 10° to form ice that would bear. In two nights, absolute safety from even a wetting was secured. Since the Commission were ever careful to provide for a depth of water which, while sufficing for pleasure boats, should nowhere be such as to imperil the life of any child, old enough to be trusted in the Park, and smart enough to stand up straight should it unluckily break through. It is a great pity that the ice cannot be maintained in suitable condition. It is so much needed and so much enjoyed by young and old ; the one actively participating in the cheerful sport,- the latter deriving honest pleasure from looking on. But it will evidently require some management of Water-mains that is not yet fully devised, by whose timely use the surface can be sprayed at will. As it is now, the water is so shallow that, under the influence of intense cold, rifts are formed through ice a foot or more in thickness, that serve to trip the unwary if they do not become a source of positive danger. Moreover it is astonishing in how short a
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