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Tree wa i n the way _ • j• Eugene lost more than 150 y ears of history ' in approximately 60 seconds on Mother's Day - weekend. That's about how long it took one man with a chain saw to gird and kill a magnif- icent old maple tree that was located behind the Skipper's restaurant on Coburg Road. Was it diseased? Was it ready to topple onto a pow- er line or an unsuspecting motorist? No, it's even worse than that. This historic old tree was in the way. The maple was there before Eugene Skinner put up the first cabin, at a time when Coburg Road wasn't yet a gleam in a dvic planner's eye. It has been enjoyed by several generations of people over the years, providing grace and beauty to an area that has been increasingly lost to pavement and storefronts. But no longer. In the interest of "progress" (read: make a quick profit), the new owner of the property decreed that the maple and its smaller sister tree were to be cut down. When 1 walked by on Sunday morning, the sister tree was already on the ground and the grand old maple had been girded. What a coincidence that these trees should die on a weekend when agencies and the me- dia aren't keeping desk hours. And how inter- esting that the maple should be girded — why bother? Why not just cut it down? Could it be that the owner was afraid of an inconvenient public outcry that might slow down the devel- opment? That tree was destroyed in 60 sec- onds, hardly enough time for even the most experienced of civic watchdogs to raise a fuss. How clever of the developer. . • I can't do anything for my favorite old tree now except to publicize its fate. It seems a pitiful return for all of the pleasure it gave me over the years. • I'U miss you, old friend. CAROL DELANCEY Eugene