Investigation has revealed that 

 trees and wires do not always live 

 together in harmony in the crowded 

 quarters where circumstances often 

 make it unavoidable to confine 

 them. It may well be that here as 

 in other experiences, familiarity 

 breeds contempt. In the crowded 

 spaces, wind, rain, snow, and ice 

 give added spread, volume, and 

 weight for which adequate allowance 

 cannot be provided ordinarily with- 

 in the already cramped quarters. 

 Thus we have conflict. 



It is doubtful whether more laws 

 or regulations can resolve the issue 

 of trees and wires or whether any 

 one fixed pattern can be established 

 to abate the conflict. Rather, it 

 would seem that fundamentally the 

 problem is not between wires and 

 trees, but between individuals and 

 personalities, that is, human rela- 

 tions of persons served by wires and 

 trees. 



Needless Damage Caused 



Moreover, in a recent survey* it 

 was found that many trees that fall 

 on wires preceding service inter- 

 ruption were defective often at 

 critical points in support of limbs. 

 For the most part, the defects, in- 

 cluding damages by fungus and in- 



*Marsden, D. H. Shade Tree Survey. Mar. 9, 1951. 



sect pests, could have been detected 

 before tree breakage and damage to 

 wires. 



In the so-called good old days we 

 anticipated loss of service from 

 utilities during and after storms by 

 providing alternative devices. Us- 

 ually, the kerosene lamps were still 

 on hand, and the telephone was not 

 the universal, dependable means of 

 communication but merely the lux- 

 ury of the big house on the corner. 

 However, new generations have 

 almost lost self-reliance in prepara- 

 tion to meet emergencies, and lux- 

 uries have become necessities in an 

 increasingly complex world of but- 

 tons, bells, and bulbs. Accordingly, 

 the demand for continuity of ser- 

 vice requires critical review of in- 

 terruptions. 



Tragedy and Tradition 



It would be interesting to com- 

 pare data over a period of years in 

 an effort to determine whether there 

 are communities that keep abreast 

 of tree maintenance problems so 

 effectively that every storm does 

 not bring also a shower of limbs and 

 branches. Let us hasten the day 

 when such showers shall be suffi- 

 ciently rare that they will be worthy 

 of the same note now given the 

 rare showers of fish. 



A decaying elm and a sleef 

 storm interrupted wire serv- 

 icesin this town, endangering 

 the near-by house as well as 

 police and fire equipment. 



