Show underpass dooms old trees with some friends I 1 sat looking through a window on lafayette square just as the leaves reached the point where they screened an drew jackson sitting on a horse which somebody described as having two feet firmly planted like a radical in the air soon the foliage will come down like a hood covering the skeleton branches which now are still showing through the green trees were on our minds tor for we had just walked down connecticut avenue which tor for several blocks is being de forested so that a tunnel can be drilled underneath dupont circle washington Is famous lor for its trees but of 0 late years the automobile ha caused the destruction ol of many of the finest widening 0 of streets sometimes necessitates removal of trees frequently ancient oaks elms or are cut down dovin and replaced with saplings underpasses Under passes to take care of the traffic have burrowed under two ot of out oui circles already and now my circle dupont 1 I live ohly three blocks from it 1 10 is to experience a a similar operation it will r never ever be the same of course dupont circle is not quite the same as it was when I 1 first saw it three decades ago when it was the center of the social and diplomatic section I 1 was bemoaning this official vandalism which robs these spots ot of their charm as we looked out over the five varieties of elms in the park before us one of our group a naturalist identified the elms as american english scotch dutch and Smooth leat leaf not to meni men i tion the horse chestnuts maples beech dogwood a beautiful deodar dejdar an ash which he reminded us was the mystic tree of drasil its crown in the heavens and its roots in the nether world how flow much better would we be I 1 insisted with our surreys with the fringe on top instead of our automobiles and our trees instead of parking space A survey made by the highway director of the district of columbia H C whitehurst shows that 52 vehicles skirt the circle ev every ery day not counting buses and trolley cars it is estimated that in less than 10 years cars a day will be nosing by that Is the reason tor for the underpass the two circles already operated u upon pon were thomas circle an eight point intersection and scot circle six points since then the accident rate has dropped 75 per cent the commission reports it is going to cost to operate on dupont circle and the trees |