Removal of Palm Trees at Sloss Street Reserve Melbourne

In August 1934, The Age published this scathing report on the removal of trees, including Palm Trees, along part of St Kilda Road, at  Sloss Street. The removal of these trees was considered especially egregious as Victoria was about to celebrate its Centenary and Prince Henry, the  Duke of Gloucester, was visiting the State in connection to these celebrations. St Kilda Road was one of Melbourne's premier boulevards and would have been traversed by the Duke and many considered the once hidden buildings in Sloss Street were unattractive.

Sloss Street no longer exists - it was named after a City of South Melbourne councillor, John Sloss and was closed in 1961 to allow construction of the Victorian Arts Centre. (1)

 You can see Sloss Street at the top of this map, running parallel to St Kilda Road, and you can also see the tree reserve, the subject of this article. 

Collins' Melbourne and suburban street directory, 1922

State Library of Victoria https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/288556

The Tree-felling Orgy. St. Kilda-road Defacement. A Regrettable Misunderstanding. 

Move to Have Trees and Palms Replanted.

Strong criticism is likely to be expressed at to-day's quarterly meeting of the City Council with regard to the tree-felling orgy in which the parks and gardens committee has been freely indulging at the St. Kilda-road - Sloss-street reserve. The parks and gardens committee met yesterday, but this very contentious subject was "merely mentioned." It will be "mentioned" again at to-day's meeting - but without the gentle modification that is implied by the "merely." Many members of the City Council yesterday protested that when they voted for the cleaning up of this reserve they had no idea that so many beautiful trees and palms would be ruthlessly sacrificed. Indeed, the mention of tree felling was cunningly omitted from the memorandum submitted by the parks and gardens committee to the City Council when this "beautification" scheme was recommended. The committee's memorandum referred to the cutting down of a mound. There was nothing about the cutting down of trees and palms. So members of the council will seek an explanation from the chairman of this committee (Alderman Stapley) about the whole matter.

Criticism has become so strong that it was proposed yesterday by leading members of the council that the only way to repair the artistic damage thus done to this reserve is to replant trees and palms on the flattened reserve. This course will be proposed by a member of the council at to-day's meeting, and the proposal may be agreed to.

The most regrettable part of the whole business is that the position has been misunderstood, even by members of the parks and gardens committee, and there is a strong feeling that the City Council was actually misled by the diplomatically worded memorandum which accompanied the recommendation concerning the "beautification" plan for this reserve.

The bareness of the reserve, now that the trees have been removed, is sufficient to make anyone, even only remotely threatened with a sense of beauty blink. Instead of lovely trees and stately palms there is a nerve-shattering vista of a conglomeration of structures which would easily earn special awards in an ugly buildings competition. There they stand on Crown land in the municipality of South Melbourne, in all their drab unattractiveness without a tree to decently shield their naked ugliness. And the parks and gardens committee calls this "beautification." No wonder the City Council will demand the replanting of trees and palms at to-day's meeting. 

Silence is the strongest weapon of the curator of the City Council's parks and gardens (Mr. J. Smith) in refuting the arguments of his critics, but yesterday he said that all he wanted was time. That requirement is just what cannot be conceded to him. The Centenary celebrations will be commenced in a very few weeks from now, and what ever is to be done to remedy this regrettable disfigurement at such a time of the famous St. Kilda-road avenue must be done quickly. (2)

Sloss Street

The following images all referred to the ugliness of Sloss Street

Caption: Today's Picture Of The "Perfect" Sloss Street View

"Let Trees Grow as God Intended," will be the request of the Victorian Town  Planning  Association, when it forms a deputation to the City Council garden committee. The use of the axe in the plantation which separated St Kilda Road from Sloss Street, South Melbourne, will probably be criticised. In this picture, the view unsightly buildings, which was objected to when the work began, is now nearly complete. The 15 trees which were removed concealed this area from beautiful St. Kilda Road.

The Herald, August 22, 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243104678

Caption: "The Wreckers" in Sloss Street.

Progress on the "beautification" of the St. Kilda Road plantation. This work caused a great public outcry. For illustrations of the extent to which this scheme has spoiled the beauty of the city's approach, see Back Page.

The Herald, October 4, 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243060884 

Caption: The Duke will see Sloss Street.

Those responsible for tearing down the plantation between St. Kilda Road and Sloss Street said the view of unsightly buildings would be veiled when the trees were in leaf. The top picture shows the

"beautification" scheme practically complete, but the leafy trees are unequal to the task of hiding the eyesore. Beneath, Burns statue (seen also above) set in the "spinney" which originally extended for the whole distance.

The Herald, October 4, 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243061026

Footnotes

(1) This site - Arts Centre Melbourne, see here, gave me the information about Cr Sloss and the date of closure, however it incorrectly states that  Sloss Street linked Sturt Street to Grant Street, it clearly did not; John Sloss obituary - Emerald Hill Record, June 22, 1918, see here; 

(2) The Age, August 9, 1934, see here.

The Palm Tree in the Parliament House Gardens Melbourne

In September 1933, the Sun News-Pictorial published this blurry photo with the following caption-
This Giant Palm Tree which had a girth of 11 feet, was uprooted and cut up for removal from Parliament House gardens yesterday. The gardens will be remodelled.

'

Sun News-Pictorial, September 12, 1933 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article277060759

So, clearly the photograph tells us nothing, but it is interesting that its removal was deemed to be news-worthy; however I have found photographs of this Palm Tree.

A young Palm Trees, peeking over the fence and the hedge

Parliament House, looking up Spring Street, dated c. 1900-1925. 

Photographer: S.J. Jones. 

State Library of Victoria image H82.43/108  https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/76742 

Elevated view of the Palm Tree and garden

Federal Parliament House, 1923-1925. Photographer: C.M.H. 

State Library of Victoria image H2010.18/4 https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/68769 

The Palm Tree and gardens.

Parliament House, Melbourne, c. 1920s - 1933. Photographer: Carl Reinhold Hartmann. 

State Library of Victoria image  H2009.143/227 https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/108065 

The Parliament House Garden, without the Palm Tree and the hedge, in 1942.

Locations and Buildings in Melbourne, 1942. No photographer listed. 

State Library of Victoria image H2017.275/89 https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/4218202

Source

• The Sun News-Pictorial, September 12, 1933, see here

Honor Your Uncle The Palm by George Maxwell

The January 28, 1950 issue of  the Sun News-Pictorial, published this tribute to Palm Trees and the Date fruit, written by George Maxwell (of whom I can find no other information.) 

Honor Your Uncle The Palm

Those succulent looking dates, protected by a cellophane wrapper, are something more than just an after-dinner munch - they serve as bread to thousands of our Asian neighbors, and have a legendary history as old as time itself. 

The dish had stayed in the middle of the table all through dinner. Now, as I sat back and reached for my cigarettes, my host pushed it over and said, “Have one.”
"Those look as though they might have been dates,” I said. "What are they, Bob”?
"They are dates - ginned dates.”
"Ginned dates, eh?" I exclaimed.
"That’s a new one. I thought dates were only good for throwing into puddings and things."
"That’s all you know about dates," my host replied.

I confess it was, almost, but I know more now. I know, for instance, that dates are as old as creation. Legend claims that some time before the apple episode, Adam cut his hair and nails and buried the 

cuttings in a corner of the Garden of Eden. A tree loaded with ripe dates immediately grew on the 
spot. Adam fell prostrate with surprise and adoration. Whereupon, the Angel Gabriel appeared and designated the fruit as Adam’s future food. "You were created of the same material as this tree which shall nourish you," the Angel said.

The date palm is almost a sacred institution to the Arab. It is the chief means of existence for hundreds of thousands of the Semitic race. Nomadic tribes in the deserts of Arabia have been known to subsist for weeks at a time on nothing but dates, washed down with water or milk. In many parts of Irak, dates are used to an even greater extent than bread and potatoes.

The Prophet Mohammed during his lifetime consecrated the palm with these words: "There is among the trees one tree which is blessed. It is the palm. Honor your Uncle the palm. It resembles man by its upstanding bearing, by its separation into two sexes, and by its necessity for the pollination of the female. If its head is cut off, like man it dies. If its heart is exposed to too great a strain, it perishes. If its limbs are cut off, it cannot grow others in the same place. It is covered with a fibre analagous to the hair of man."

In the Bible, the date palm is mentioned as being used only for ornamental purposes. This is because the climate of Palestine is not conducive to the ripening of the fruit. It was very prominent in all the carvings that covered the walls of Solomon's temple. A palm sheltered the stable in which Mary gave birth to the Christ Child. Later, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on that memorable Sunday, He carried a date palm in His hand as a sign of authority.

The foremost appeal to mankind has been more mundane than ethereal. The date contains a big percentage of carbohydrates, fats, salts and proteins. Dates have a calorific value of 283, compared 
with 194 for mutton, and it is no mystery that they have become a most popular food the world over.

Irak, which produces nearly 80 per cent. of the world date crop of 350,000 tons, exports 120,000 tons annually. Curiously, the main port of Irak, Basra, is only a few miles from what is believed to be the site of the Garden of Eden - the legendary birthplace of the date. The Irak groves extend about 120 miles inland along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, to a depth of one to three miles. The whole area is pierced by over seventy canals averaging two miles in length, 120 feet in width and 15 feet in depth. These canals are used exclusively for irrigation and transport. Irrigation is carried out almost entirely by tidal action, the impact of the sea tides causing the river to rise and fill the inland arteries with fresh water twice a day.

Iraq. River scenes on the Euphrates taken at Hilla. Sun rays through a palm grove, 1932. 

Photographer: American Colony (Jerusalem). Photo Department. 

Image has been cropped see original here Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2019706905/

An interesting anomaly of the date trade is that countries like Algeria and Tunisia in North Africa, which themselves produce and export dates, import large quantities of the Irak product. The reason for this is that Basra dates keep in perfect condition in their containers for periods as long as twelve months. The North African climate being insufficiently hot and moist to dry the dates on the trees before picking, the Tunisians and the Algerians have to shin up their palms like telephone linesmen and cut their crops while they are still fresh. Such dates keep only for a short period of weeks before they turn sour and ferment.

You’ve been wondering, of course, how to prepare ginned dates. Well, here’s the recipe. Put one pound of whole dates, with stones, in a jar or pickle bottle. Add gin, whisky and rum. Cork the bottle or jar for three weeks until well matured. Then uncork and hoe in. Simple? Yes, but very delicious.

Source

The Sun News-Pictorial, January 28, 1950, see here

Royal Society of Victoria Palm Tree

In June 1925, the Palm Tree in the reserve surrounding the Royal Society of Victoria building in Exhibition Street was removed, along with the other trees. 

The Argus, had this interesting article on the tree removals -

More Trees Destroyed. Clearing Royal Society Reserve.

Men are busy removing the trees that surround the Royal Society of Victoria's building, at the intersection of Exhibition street and Victoria street. The building is in a large triangular reserve and it is stated, it is intended to remove all the trees and replace them with lawns. For a long time the reserve has needed cleaning up, for some beautiful trees, notably one palm, have been hidden by ugly, misshapen trees. The reason for removing all the trees, however, is hard to understand. No one could claim that the Royal Society's building, which will be exposed, has a beauty that justifies conspicuousness. The trees also served to hide, or at least to make less noticeable, the many undesirable buildings that face the reserve. The trees partly hid these buildings from the Exhibition Gardens, and from Victoria street; now the view of them will be uninterrupted. The caretaker's cottage on the reserve, surrounded by an ugly paling fence, will also be disclosed.

The work of removing the trees was begun at the end of last week, and a bonfire of trees was burning last night.

I don't have a photograph of the Palm Tree, but the image immediately below, from 1875, shows some of the vegetation surrounding the building, which clearly The Argus, did not think was very attractive. The Royal Society building was opened in 1859 and constructed of red brick which was rendered in 1880.

The Royal Society of Victoria building, in 1875.

Detail of Views from the Gaelic Church, Rathdown Street, 1875. Photographer: Charles Nettleton. 

State Library of Victoria image H88.22/23. https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/132488

The Royal Society of Victoria building in 1933, eight years after the removal of the 

Palm and other trees. 

Royal Society of Victoria, 1933. Photographer: John Kinmont Moir.

State Library of Victoria image H4890

What is interesting is the headline of the article - More Trees Destroyed. Clearing Royal Society Reserve. The removal of trees in the City, was apparently an on-going and news-worthy matter; for good reason, as you can see how bare the Royal Society Reserve looked in 1933.

Sources

• Article is from The Argus, June 24, 1925, see here.
• The History of the Royal Society of Victoria building is from their website - https://www.rsv.org.au/

Beauty of Palms by William W. Froggatt

On September 28, 1935 the Sydney Morning Herald, published an article by Walter Froggatt entitled - Beauty of Palms. The Fan or Cabbage Palm. The interesting article is transcribed below and you can read it on Trove, here. 

The author Walter Wilson Froggatt (1858-1937), an entomologist was born in Melbourne. In 1880, he moved to the Mount Brown goldfield near Milparinka, New South Wales, where he collected specimens and then to the Flinders River, Queensland, where he sent specimens back to Sir Ferdinand von Mueller (1), the director of the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. Froggatt was appointed special zoological collector and assistant zoologist, and later taxidermist, to the New Guinea expedition organized by the New South Wales branch of the (Royal) Geographical Society of Australasia. Later he worked in Queensland and in the Kimberleys in Western Australia. In 1891, he was a foundation member of Naturalists' Society of New South Wales, and served as President for eleven years; he was a council-member from 1910 of the (Royal) Zoological Society of New South Wales, which elected him a fellow in 1931, and a founder of the Australian Wattle League, the Gould League of Bird Lovers of New South Wales and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia and a member of the Australian National Research Council in 1921 until 1932. Walter was a prolific writer and in 1907 wrote Australian Insects the first general textbook on Australian entomology. He was also an outspoken critic of the introduction of cane toads into Australia, and the Froggatt Award, awarded by the Invasive Species Council, is named in his honour. He died in 1937 in Croydon, in New South Wales. (2)

Beauty of Palms. The Fan or Cabbage Palm. By Walter W. Froggatt. 

Nearly every group of palms has a decorative beauty of its own. It is somewhat remarkable that our landscape gardeners have not used more varieties in the beautification of our parks. The only palm to come into prominence in the suburbs of Sydney during the last twenty years is the Wild Date palm, Phoenix canariensis, a native of the Canary Islands. It has a bizarre beauty of its own; but, in the writer's opinion, it is a very unsuitable species for the adornment of our streets, or to have planted in avenues across our parks.

The most decorative palms are those with slender, graceful stems, and these should be planted in groups of five or seven, upon a hillside, or in a park well away from other trees. Among the most decorative are those popularly known as fan palms, on account of their fanlike foliage. One genus, Livistona, was created by Robert Brown (3) for an Australian species.

When forming a genus, many botanists commemorate the names of their friends, or of distinguished scientists. Brown named this genus after his friend, Patrick Murray, Baron de Livistine (4), a well-known horticulturist, who in his garden near Edinburgh had gathered together with 1000 trees and plants, and had enriched the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens with many rare specimens.

The members of this genus Livistona are found in northern Assam, southern China, the Malay Archipelago, New Guinea, and Australia. They are a distinctive group, palms with very tall, slender stems, and crowned with fan-shaped fronds; and each frond has a long stalk beset with powerful recurved spines. The handsome flower spathes spring out from among the base of the leaf stalks; each dainty flower has a three-cut calyx and a three-petalled corella. The round, dry fruit contains a single seed, and it is said to retain its vitality for a much longer period than those of other palms.

In Assam and China, the fronds of the Toko pot-palm. Livistona jenkinsiana, are used in the manufacture of the large umbrella shaped hats worn by the Chinese coolies working in the fields. They are also used for thatching the native houses. The round-leaf palm, Livistona rotundifolia, is a native of the Celebes Islands. Wallace (5), in that wonderful book, "The Malay Archipelago," says: "This palm tree is the most beautiful fanleaf I have ever seen, with a slender stem not more than ten inches in diameter raising its crown of fronds a hundred feet up in the edge of the tropical forest." 

Lane-Poole (6) describes a handsome Livistona found in New Guinea, with a slender stem fifty feet in height and six inches in diameter, and a graceful crown of fan-shaped leaves on stalks nearly eight feet in length.

Livistona Australis
This fine fan-palm was better known to the colonists of New South Wales as the cabbage palm, because where vegetables were scarce they cut the palms down and made use of the unexpanded leaves in the centre of the crown by boiling it as a substitute for cabbage. Then, some enterprising settler conceived the idea of using the young foliage instead of straw for making hats. He may have seen the soft-plaited Panama hats of South America. The leaves were first boiled and then allowed to dry; then the pliable leaflets were split up and plaited into the low-crowned stiff "cabbage-tree" hats.

Cabbage tree hat with silk puggaree, c. 1860.

  This hat was worn by Marcus Clarke, journalist and novelist, after his arrival in Melbourne in 1863.

State Library of Victoria image https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/209287

This palm has a wonderful range, and it was aptly named "australis," for it grows as far south as Orbost, eastern Gippsland, Victoria, and ranges along the eastern coast of New South Wales and Queensland. The fan-palm round the Gulf of Carpentaria is now considered to be the same species.

Allan Cunningham (7) took seeds to England, a specimen was growing in the Royal Gardens at Kew in 1824, and its flowers were figured in the Botanical Magazine. It is said to have grown so tall that it was too big for the palm-house, and had to be removed. Specimens 100 feet in height are common; and there are records of this fan-palm attaining a height of 120 feet, with the stem not much over a foot in diameter

Livistona Mariae
This unique palm was discovered by Ernest Giles (8) and his exploring party when, in 1872, they were following up the source of the Finke River through the Krichauft Ranges. They entered a rugged gorge, which led into a beautiful valley dotted over with cypress pines and slender tall palms. It was a remarkable find-a desert-loving plant in the heart of Australia; and Ernest Giles named the valley "The Valley of Palms." This palm has a very limited range - down the valley, and thence spreading into some of the surrounding gullies through the range. It would be easy to count all the existing specimens of the Desert Palm. The valley was visited by the members of the Horn Exploring Expedition (9) in Central Australia in 1894, and the Valley of the Palms is described in the Botany of the Horn Expedition by Professor Tate (10), as follows: "The principal colony of this stately palm, which attains a height of 90 feet, is in Palm Creek, which joins the Finke River at about nine miles south of Hermannsburg. The trees, rooting in the joints of the bare sandstone floor of the creek bed, extend for a length of about two miles from its junction with the Glen of Palms; altogether there cannot be more than about 100 full-grown individuals."

Giles sent all his specimens to Baron von Mueller for identification and description; the Baron pronounced this a new palm. Giles, in this expedition, had named a mountain range "Alfred Range," in honour of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (11); and this suggested the name of the Princess Maria of Russia (12) to the baron, so he named this palm Livistona mariae in her honour.

Some time ago a friend received a package of seeds of this palm from the mission station at Hermannsburg, and he gave me a dozen of them to see whether I could germinate them, but up to date they have given no sign of germination. This palm has been grown in the Botanic Gardens at Rockhampton, Queensland.

A copse of central Australian cabbage palms (Livistona mariae), 

Palm Valley, Northern Territory, ca. 1946.

Image: National Library of Australia PIC/14192/177 LOC Album 1151

Livistona Alfredi
This fine palm was discovered some years later, in the valley of the Fortescue River and its tributaries, from the source of the Robe River and Caves Creek, North-west Australia. At first it was considered that it was the same species as Livistona mariae, but Mueller, when he had examined the specimen, pointed out that seeds, leaves, and flowers differed from that species. After listing it in his official report on the plants of North-west Australia, printed by the Western Australian Government, he described and named this palm in the pages of the Victorian Naturalist, 1892.

In giving it the specific name of "alfredi," to honour of the Duke of Edinburgh, he says: "At whose nuptial festivities the fan palm became dedicated to the Princess Maria of Russia." So, we have now two Australian fan palms, separated from each other by 800 miles of sunbaked land, uniting in name the Royal lovers. 

Footnotes
(1) Sir Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller (1825–1896) - Australian Dictionary of Biography entry - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mueller-sir-ferdinand-jakob-heinrich-von-4266
(2) Walter Wilson Froggatt (1858-1937) - Australian Dictionary of Biography entry - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/froggatt-walter-wilson-6251;  Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation entry - https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001050b.htm ; and  

https://invasives.org.au/our-work/froggatt-awards/

(3) Robert Brown (1773–1858), author of Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen and who accompanied Matthew Flinders and his journey on the Investigator. Australian Dictionary of Biography entry - 

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/brown-robert-1835

(4) Patrick Murray, Baron de Livistine  (?-1661)  Can't really confirm any information about him, possibly he was the second Earl Elibank of Livingston in Scotland - but there are inconsistencies with his death date all over the internet and Ancestry. 

(5) Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1813). His book The Malay Archipelago was published in 1869.  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Russel-Wallace

(6) Charles Edward Lane-Poole (1885-1970). Australian Dictionary of Biography entry -

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lanepoole-charles-edward-7026

(7) Allan Cunningham (1791-1839) - colleague of Robert Brown. 

 Australian Dictionary of Biography entry   https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cunningham-allan-1941

(8) Ernest Giles (1835-1897). Australian Dictionary of Biography entry - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/giles-ernest-3611

(9) Horn Exploring Expedition, organised by William Austin Horn (1841-1922), mining magnate, to find evidence of  older forms of life in the MacDonnell Ranges, Central Australia.  Australian Dictionary of Biography entry - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/horn-william-austin-6734; Horn Expedition - Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation entry  https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P006856b.htm

(10) Professor Ralph Tate ( 1840-1901) - Australian Dictionary of Biography entry https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tate-ralph-4688

(11) and (12) Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844-1900), second son of Queen Victoria. In 1866.He married Grand Duchess Marie (1853 - 1920, called Princess Maria of Russia in the article). She was the daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia (1818-1881) Source: The Golden Age of Royalty: Photography from 1858-1930 by Trevor Hall (Coombe Books 1981)

(12) See footnote 11

Fourteen days in gaol for stealing Palm branches

In February 1897, James Cash was charged with stealing part of a growing tree - palm branches valued at five shillings. He was sentenced to fourteen days on gaol, which seems a very severe punishment. 

James Cash stealing part of a growing tree

The Age, February 8, 1897 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193696228

Stealing Palm Branches -
James Cash pleaded guilty at the City Court on Friday to "stealing part of a growing tree," value 5s., the property of the Board of Land and Works. A constable gave evidence that on the day previous he saw accused coming out of the Wellington Gardens with some palm branches in his hands. He said he had got them in Flinders-street, where they had fallen from a tramcar. Witness went back with him to the gardens, and there found that some branches had recently been broken from a palm tree. Accused, who pleaded that he had been drinking, was sent to gaol for 14 days. (1) 

The Wellington Gardens, are now, I believe Weedon Reserve, an allotment of land bi-sected by the tram lines, between Wellington Parade and Wellington Parade South; you can see the reserves on the map below. The Gardens were re-named Weedon Reserve in August 1913, after Sir Henry Weedon who was Lord Mayor from 1905 to 1908. (2)

Wellington Gardens, between Welling Parade and Wellington Parade South.

Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan. no. 879, City of Melbourne, 1897.

See entire plan here - State Library of Victoria https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/121251

I came across a few other references to the crime stealing part of a growing tree, including this one -

Tree Damaged - At the South Melbourne Court this morning, Samuel Lewis was charged with breaking, with the intention of stealing part of a growing tree at Albert Park on the 3rd inst. Defendant pleaded guilty. Constable Mumford said that he saw Lewis, in company with two boys and two girls, breaking branches off a tree in the park. They said they wanted them to decorate a room for an evening party. Defendant gave his right name and address, but the others did not, and he could not find out who they were. Thomas Boyce, curator in charge of the park, said he estimated the damage done at about L1. Defendant said be thought he was doing no harm when he broke the branches off. Mr Smith, J.P., said it was unfortunate for accused that his companions had not been arrested, as the whole thing now fell on his shoulders. Defendant was fined 5s, with 20s damages. (3)

Footnotes

(1) The Age, February 8, 1897, see here

(2) The Age, August 22, 1913, see here; https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/neighbourhood-parks-and-reserves

(3) The Herald, November 24, 1904, see here. Two other references to stealing part of a growing tree can be found here - Mercury and Weekly Courier, March 27, 1890, see here and Mount Alexander Mail, January 6, 1894, see here. 

The Palm Trees in Langridge Street, Middle Park

Langridge Street in Middle Park, which runs from Canterbury Road to Beaconsfield Parade, was once lined with Palm Trees. They were removed in the 1950s. What follows are any reports which I could find of these Langridge Street Palm Trees and the discussions around their eventual removal. I haven't been able to find a photograph of either Langridge Street or the Palm Trees.

From a report of a South Melbourne Council Meeting in June 1943 
In the Public Works report the Curator reported on tree maintenance including the fact that the palms in Albert Road and Langridge Street have been cut and tidied. 

(Emerald Hill Record, June 5, 1943, see here) 

From a report of a South Melbourne Council Meeting in June 1947 

The Curator reported that five Phoenix Palms in Langridge street, near the corner of Canterbury road, and one between Richardson and Page streets, on the south side, had grown to such a size that they were interfering with the overhead high tension wires; the Metropolitan Electricity Supply Department had been authorised to cut off the tops of the palms (which would eventually kill them) as a safety measure. The Committee upheld his recommendation that the six palms be removed and the nature strips prepared for future tree planting.

(Emerald Hill Record, June 14, 1947, see here) 

From a report of a South Melbourne Council Meeting in September 1947 
The Curator reported: "During the last two months plane trees were pruned and palm trees in Albert road, St. Vincent place and Langridge street cut and cleared. Six palms were removed from Langridge street.

(Emerald Hill Record, September 20, 1947, see here) 

From a report of a South Melbourne Council Meeting in November 1951 
More Old Trees for the Axe. Albert Road Palms To Go.
Recommendations by the Curator for the removal of more old trees in different parts of the municipality were agreed to by the South Melbourne Council on Wednesday night, on the recommendation of the Public Works Committee. The Curator reported that 41 palm trees in Langridge st. had grown too large and lost all their beauty, and recommended that they be removed, and that during next winter pyramid trees, similar to those growing in Danks st., be planted on the nature strip of this street.

He reported also that the palm trees on the southern reserve of Albert road, between Clarendon st. and the railway, had grown to such an extent that they had to be frequently cut back to avoid interference with telephone cables and overhead wires on the tramway track, and recommended that approval be given for the removal of the palm trees on both sides of Albert road in this section, the work to be carried out after the Royal visit next year. The young Queensland box trees already planted on these reserves would then have a chance to become properly established.

The Chairman of the Public Works Committee, Cr. Phillips, expressed himself as not altogether in agreement with a recommendation of the Committee. He said he did not agree with the substitution of pyramid trees for the palms, though he agreed that the palms should be removed. "The trouble is," Cr. Phillips said, "that we lack variety in the street trees used. Why not mix trees? This is especially desirable in view of the slow growth of pyramid trees. We should be more experimental and imaginative."

Cr. Duncan said he wondered if it would not be possible to accept part of the report and delete portion, thus enabling the curator to be consulted regarding trees in the particular area. There was no doubt that the palm trees should be removed. Cr. Phillips agreed to the deletion of that part of the clause referring to the planting of pyramid trees, to enable discussion with the curator as to the best type of tree to plant in place of the palms.

(Emerald Hill Record, November 10, 1951, see here) 

From a report of a South Melbourne Council Meeting in July 1952

Residents opposed to the removal of Street Palm Trees
South Melbourne Council on Wednesday night received a letter from residents of Langridge Street, Middle Park, and of Beaconsfield Parade, objecting to removal of the palm trees in Langridge Street. Of the signatories, 48 were opposed to the removal, and only one in favour. Cr. Duncan said that the decision to remove the trees had been reached some time ago. In his opinion the trees did not measure up to the standard which should be required of street trees - to provide either beauty and shade, or beauty, or shade. The palms did none of these. It would be better to remove the trees and replace them with suitable street trees. He moved that the matter be referred back to committee.

Cr. Trevorrow agreed with Cr. Duncan, and seconded the motion. In future, substitute trees should be planted before unsuitable trees were removed. Cr. Strickland spoke on behalf of the petitioners. He said that he had inspected the palms, and while those from Patterson Street to the Parade were in bad shape, those north of Patterson Street were in relatively good condition. The people in Langridge Street were proud of their palms, and were deeply concerned at the removal. They had a decided antipathy to small ornamental trees as substitutes, as these provide no shade. He suggested that the removal be delayed until the matter had been further investigated.

Cr. Hicks, in support of the palms, expressed his doubt as to whether other trees would thrive in the sandy area and windy atmosphere of Langridge Street. The matter was referred back to the works committee for further investigation.

(Emerald Hill Record, August 1, 1952, see here) 

From a report of a South Melbourne Council Meeting in August 1952  
Council discusses Fate of Trees
The song of the trees echoed again through South Melbourne Council chamber on Wednesday night, when the clauses in the report of the public works committee with the removal of palms in Langridge Street and Albert Road, and elms in City Road - came under discussion. 

Cr. Cooper, referring to the fact that the Albert Road palms had "outlived their usefulness" asked the meaning of the phrase. Cr. Trevorrow suggested that the trees concerned were of the gentler sex. Had they been males they would have been curtly described as "just old."

Cr. Strickland said that he had a petition, signed by all except three residents of Langridge Street, pleading for the lives of the palms there. In the meantime, signatories had asked him to express to the public works committee thanks for the year's reprieve granted to the remaining palms north of Patterson Street; find to ask that it be made permanent.

(Emerald Hill Record, August 15, 1952, see here) 

From a report of a South Melbourne Council Meeting in June 1954
Langridge St. Palms. Middle Park A.L.P. Seeks Removal
At its meeting on Wednesday night the South Melbourne Council received a letter from the Middle Park branch of the Australian Labor Party. The letter thanked the Council for improving the lighting at the Albert Road - Kerferd Road railway viaduct; and asked the Council to replace the palm trees in Langridge Street, Middle Park, with more suitable trees. Cr. Layfield, moving that the letter be referred to the Works Committee, said that it was agreeable to receive a letter appreciative of an action by the Council.

As to the request regarding the Langridge Street palm trees, it would be recalled that some time ago the Council had reversed a decision to remove the trees when residents petitioned against their removal. Now, apparently, the objectors had changed their minds. He moved that the letter be referred to the Works Committee in order than an authoritative report could be received from the Curator.

Cr. Dwyer, seconding the motion, said that he thought the Council already had a report from the Curator on the Langridge Street palms. A start had been made some two years ago on the removal of the Langridge Street palms. They had been removed between Beaconsfield Parade and Paterson Street. But as the result of a petition by residents it was decided to let the rest of the palms remain.

Cr. Dwyer said that he thought that the petitioners at that time had been somehow or other misled into thinking that the Council had no intention of replanting the street with trees. He thought that the petitioners signed under that misapprehension. The palms were a danger in the street. They darkened the footpaths, and made the street unpleasant for pedestrians on dark winter nights. From his own point of view he thought them a menace. But it would be a good thing to take a Gallup poll of the people in the street. The motion was carried.

(Emerald Hill Record, June 12, 1954, see here)