522 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



APRIL 20, 1S99. 



lost the entire stock one night when 

 fordin' a river." 



"I suppose the biggest got away," 

 observed Tommy, sympathetically. 



"You see," continued Jaggs, ignor- 

 ing Tommy's interruption, "them isl- 

 ands is all cut up with creeks and riv- 

 ers, and the native is reg'larly am- 

 phibious. They ain't what I'd call a 

 moral acquisition, bein' out o' the lat- 

 itude of the Ten Commandments, and 

 mostly brought up to the pirate busi- 

 ness. When they ain't goin' around 

 doin' the expansion act, swipin' ev- 

 erythink that is loose, they're loafin' 



around chewin' betel " 



"Ohewin' beetles!" ejaculated the 

 fireman. 



"Betel-nut, o' course," corrected 

 Tommy. "Did you think as they was a 

 lot o' bloomin' entomologists?" 



"When I was in the Sulu Islands," 

 continued Jaggs, "blessed if I didn't feel 

 like I was livin' in a roof garden; the 

 houses was mostly built upon poles 

 along o' the rivers, which was handy 

 if a chap liked fishin', and wasn't so 

 handy for thieves. There was one Man- 

 chester chap I know as has his ware- 

 house built on piles over the river, 

 thinkin' he'd stinick a reg'lar burglar- 

 proof combination, and blessed if the 

 Sulus didn't used to come in a prahu 

 (one o' their boats), steer in under the 

 warehouse, bore holes through the 

 floor, and run all his rice out o' the 

 sacks into the boats afore he know 

 what happened. He struck a scheme, 

 though, as beat Pinkerton watchmen 

 out o' sight — captured a couple o' big 

 crocodiles and chained 'em up under 

 the warehouse; if any thieves came 

 prowlin' around them crocodiles had 

 'em on toast." 



"Well, wouldn't that jar you?" ex- 

 claimed the Chicago fireman, admir- 

 ingly. 



- "How did your Manchester friend 

 tame the crocodiles so they'd recog- 

 nize him?" asked the graduate. "I sup- 

 pose he educated them so they'd fol- 

 low him around like a dog." 



"Not a bit o' it," said Jaggs, "croco- 

 diles ain't domestic animals, and I 

 don't tell you no snake stories as 

 ain't on the dead. The Manchester 

 chap had the crocodiles chained to a 

 sort o' windlass, and when he want 

 'em out o' the way he just reel 'em 

 in, like landin' a salmon. They're 

 game, too; it takes science to play a 

 24-foot crocodile on a 2-inch cable." 



There was a brief pause, during 

 which the audience appeared to be 

 gasping for breath, while Jaggs con- 

 tinued: 



"Talkin' o' crocodiles, I reckon most 

 o' you chaps has seen that there two- 

 horned rhinoceros at the Zoo, with 

 his misfit suit of clothes, but you ain't 

 met that beast in a social way, mixed 

 up in a tropical landscape. I ain't 

 stuck on a tropical landscape myself. 

 Well, as I was sayin', I was strugglin' 

 through the jungle in Sulu huntin' for 

 a giant Grammatophyllum, as the na- 

 tives say has blue flowers as big as 



sirup jugs, keepin' a sharp lookout for 

 snakes, and tryin' to brush the tree 

 leaches out o' my trousers, when I 

 hear a cracklin' in the tall grass as 

 makes me think some bloomin' me- 

 nagerie has broke loose. There was 

 a big tree handy, so I shins up it for 

 a front seat. Slopin' along at a reg'lar 

 canter I see a big rhinoceros, carryin' 

 a man in his mouth like a bloomin' 

 old tabby with a mouse!" 



"What!" ejaculated the giraduate. 

 A vegetable feeder like the rhinocer- 

 os carrying off a man! What on 

 earth should he do that for?" 



"Blessed if I know," retorted Jaggs, 

 cheerfully. "I s'pose if you'd been in 

 my place you'd 'a' sent him your card 

 and asked him would he please ex- 

 plain. Perhaps old rhino thinks as it's 

 handy to have a man around the 

 house.. Anyway, there he goes. Right 

 in his line o' march was one o' them 

 elephant traps — a big pit with a few 

 branches over the top, and I reckon 

 as if old rhino does the McGinty act 

 into that trap there won't be as much 

 left of the chap he's carryin' as would 

 go into a thumb pot. I generally has 

 my wits about me, and I happen to be 

 carryin' a coil o' rope with a slip 

 noose. Just as old menagerie comes 

 under the branch I was sittin' on, I 

 drops the noose, catches the poor chap 

 he carries ai'ound the shoulders, and 

 jerks him up like a brook trout! The 

 next minute old rhino was down in the 

 elephant pit, makin' more noise than 

 a woman's suffrage convention! I've 

 often wondered what become of the 

 chap I rescued, but I had to leave him 

 along o' some friendly Sulus when I 

 started off again. He was English, I 

 reckon, leastways he never said 

 thanks or nothink and carries a Shef- 

 field-made corkscrew." 



"Jaggs, my noble rescuer," ex- 

 claimed Tommy Atkins, rushing tor- 

 ward and enfolding Jaggs in an em- 

 brace which upset him into the peat 

 bin, "for sixteen years I've been look- 

 in' for the 'ero as saved me from that 

 there savage rhinoceros. Jaggs, I 

 was that man!" 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



The market held up very well till 

 last Friday when it went to pieces 

 bauly on all stock except of very 

 superior grades. Strictly high grade 

 still holds up fairly well but the 

 poorer qualities have suffered sadly, 

 no quotation, however low, being able 

 to move them, and large lots have 

 failed to realize anything. 



lue market is still swamped with 

 lilies, but the supply is shortening 

 somewhat and it is hoped that the 

 worst of the glut has been experienced. 



Outdoor bulbous flowers are arriv- 

 ing from the south and are affecting 

 the values of greenhouse grown stock. 



Benthey & Co. note a very good call 

 for forgetmenot when well supplied 

 with foliage, the florists using it as 



green owing to the shortage of ferns, 

 etc. 



Kennicott Bros. Co. are receiving 

 some remarkably tine pansies from 

 Geo. Trowbridge, of Lake Geneva, 

 who is making a speciiity of pansies 

 and violets. 



A great curiosity seen at Kennicott's 

 last Tuesday was a fasci.itod .-.tem of 

 the Bride rose bearing four fine 

 blooms. It was sent in by Garland 

 Bros., of Desplaines. 



At E. C. Amling's we noted some 

 Jubilee carnations from Mrs. Graves, 

 of Richmond, Ind., tna' we believe 

 were as fine as any ever produced. 

 The stems averaged dirLf feet in 

 length and every flower was pe.vfeoi. 

 A vase of Triumph was nearly a3 

 good. This lady can certainly give 

 other growers a few points on carna- 

 tion growing. 



Various Items. 



The propagating houses at Lincoln 

 Park, covering a space 200x100, are 

 soon to be entirely rebuilt and new 

 glass 60x100 added to the range. The 

 space under the greenhouses is no 

 longer to be used as a barn and the 

 houses will be rebuilt on a lower level, 

 the space underneath to be in future 

 used merely for storage purposes in 

 connection with the greenhouse de- 

 partment. The contract for the roof 

 material has been awarded to John 

 C. Moninger Co., this city, the Board 

 accepting their details in full. 



Last Sunday the first hardy flowers 

 of the season showed themselves at 

 Lincoln Park. They were Scilla sib- 

 irica and a few crocuses. The tulips 

 have made marked growth during the 

 past week. 



Henry Romann bar, been arrested on 

 the charge of planning to kill liis for- 

 mer employer, John Schoepfle, the 

 florist at 884 Bissell street. He wrote 

 letters purporting to have been writ- 

 ten by Mr. Schoepfle and drew up a 

 bill of sale of the greenhouses, all of 

 which are pronounced forgeries. The 

 police hold that these acts were pre- 

 liminary to the removal of Mr. 

 Schoepfle by foul means so that Ro- 

 mann would come into possession of 

 the property. 



"German hyacinths" and "Greek 

 roses" are now quoted at very reason- 

 able flgures. 



We regret to have to report that Mr. 

 A. McAdams is no better. The doctors 

 now admit that the recent operation 

 for appendicitis was a mistake and 

 state that the trouble is due to an ab- 

 scess on the liver. 



Archie Spencer has something extra 

 swell now on exhibition. It's a bal- 

 loon. 



Bassett & Washburn have removed 

 to their handsome new quarters at 76 

 and 78 Wabash ave. E. H. Hunt has 

 shifted his cut flower department 

 around and A. G. Prince & Co. also 

 have space here. The whole floor is 

 now occupied by the wholesale cut 

 flower men. 



Mr. C. L. Washburn and family are 



