END OF AN ERA 



During the interim, William R. Smith, who had grown 

 increasingly weary of the fight to preserve the Garden at 

 its original site, died on July 12, 1912. 36 He was succeeded 

 briefly by Charles Leslie Reynolds, who was appointed 

 Superintendent on July 15, 1912. 37 Reynolds had been with 

 the Garden for 40 years, 30 of which he had spent as 

 Assistant Superintendent. 



A little more than a year later, Reynolds suffered a fatal 

 heart attack while "trying to catch some mischievous boys 

 who had thrown stones through one of the greenhouses" 

 at the Garden 38 



THE GEORGE WESLEY HESS YEARS (1913-1934) 



That December, George W. Hess was appointed 

 Superintendent after receiving "a rating of 100 per cent as 

 a specialist in the growing of foreign plants and 98 per cent 

 in general gardening" on a civil service examination. 39 

 Hess brought to the position a diversified background that 

 provided him with workable knowledge of several dif- 

 ferent botanical disciplines. At an early age, Hess began 

 working with John Saul, a leading Washington florist and 

 nurseryman. 



36 Answers Last Call, Washington Sunday Star, July 7, 1912, p. 2, pt. 

 1. A year-and-a-half before his death, Smith was interviewed by Catherine 

 F. Cavanagh for New Age Magazine. Afterwards, Cavanagh wrote of how 

 the battle to stop the uprooting of the Garden's famous trees had actually 

 had a detrimental affect on Smith's health. Cavanagh, A Great Champion 

 of Burns and Masonry, pp. 62-63. 



37 George P. Wetmore, Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library 

 to Elliott Woods, Superintendent, U.S. Capitol Building and Grounds, 

 July 15, 1912, Records of the Architect of the Capitol (hereafter cited as 

 AOC). 



38 Pursues Bad Boys: Is Picked Up Dead, Washington Evening Star, Au- 

 gust 14, 1913, p. 12. See also Dies in Chase of Boys, Washington Post, 

 August 14, 1913, p. 1. 



39 Famous National Botanic Garden About to be Given a New Lease 

 on Life, Washington Evening Star, October 11, 1914, p. 3, pt. 4. See also 

 Luke Lea, Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library to Elliott 

 Woods, Superintendent, U.S. Capitol Building and Grounds, December 

 13, 1913, AOC. A Copy of the December 22, 1913, oath taken by Hess 

 is found in Ibid. 



42 



