282 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



AUGUST IS, 



THE OMAHA CONVENTION! 



A SUCCESSFUL MEETING BEYOND THE 

 MISSISSIPPI. 



LARGE ATTENDANCE FROM THE WEST. 



MANY VALUABLE ESSAYS READ AND 

 DISCUSSED. 



MUCH USEFUL WORK ACCOMPLISHED. 



A STRONG STAFF OF OFFICERS FOR 1899. 

 A HOT BOWLING CONTEST. 



THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI EXPOSITION. 



FULL REPORT IN THIS ISSUE OF 

 THE FLORISTS^ REVIEW, 



The First Congregational church at 

 Omaha was very well filled when the 

 fourteenth annual meeting of the So- 

 ciety of American Florists was opened 

 with music, and prayer by Rev. John 

 Williams. 



The address of welcome by Hon. F. 

 E. Moores, mayor of Omaha, was one 

 ot the best the Society has ever been 

 favored with and left no doubt that 

 the city was glad to have the florists 

 within its walls. The mayor said that 

 there was a local law making any man 

 between the ages ot IS and 45 liable to 

 arrest if found on the streets after 3 

 a. m., but he gave his auditors the 

 number of his private telephone and 

 instructed them to call him up in case 

 any ot them should be tampered with 

 after the hour noted, and he would fix 

 it with the police department. In bril- 

 liant words he emphasized the pleas- 

 ure the presence of the florists gave 

 him and the city, and reiterated the 

 hearty welcome already given. 



E. M. Wood, Natick, Mass., re- 

 sponded in behalf of the society. He 

 expressed the thanks of the members 

 for the hearty kindness of the welcome 

 and the gracious terms in which it 

 was expressed. He said that the mem- 

 bers assembled were pilgrims from al- 

 most every state of the Union, and 

 some were from the Dominion of Can- 

 ada. He quoted Shakespeare as au- 

 thority for the statement that "There 

 are no account gentlemen but garden- 

 ers;" they hold up Adam's profession, 

 for he was the first to bear arms. He 



paid a warm tribute to the ladies and 

 their love for the beautiful. He said 

 the city of Omaha was a revelation to 

 those who now visited it for the first 

 time. 



The wonderful development of the 

 last two decades and the Trans-Mis- 

 sissippi Exposition has made the peo- 

 ple of the east ready to believe in the 

 success of anything undertaken by the 

 west. He felt that florists were bene- 

 factors in making what was already 

 beautiful more so. Improvement adds 

 to the value of everything. The efforts 

 of the florists are to make the thing 

 of beauty a joy forever. 



He accepted the welcome with pro- 

 found thanks and assured the mayor 

 that he and the people of Omaha 

 would ever have an abiding place in 

 the memories of the delegates. 



President W. F. Gude was intro- 

 duced by Vice-President Donaghue and 

 was received with long continued ap- 

 plause. He then read his address as 

 follows: 



Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of 

 the Society of American Florists: 



Goethe, whose poetical imagination 

 permitted him to strew "Flowers of 

 Rhetoric" around and about him, as 

 well as probe into the mystery of the 

 metamorphosis of plants and flowers, 

 and observe closely the evolution of 

 shape, color, and function, is well en- 

 titled to his prerogative of such figura- 

 tive generosity, but it never should be 

 expected that "Flowers of Rhetoric" 

 could ever be conceived, cultured, and 



culled by the President of the Society 

 of American Florists and Ornamental 

 Horticulturists, organized to deal with 

 substance, not shadows, with real 

 earth, and not with ethereal elements 

 of poetry. And yet who has more beau- 

 tifully entered into the subject, in pre- 

 senting an annual address to you, than 

 our worthy and much loved president 

 of a few years ago, brother W. R. 

 Smith, and my immediate predecessor, 

 Adam Graham, of Cleveland, 



Therefore, in presenting to you this 

 address, as a practical man fully im- 

 bued with all the interests of our So- 

 ciety, filled with the sense of realiza- 

 tion as to its great importance now 

 and in the future, I come with my 

 greetings to you in practical words 

 expressing practical thoughts. 



First, I congratulate you upon the 

 choice that you have made in your 

 meeting place, enjoying as you are 

 the generosity, kindness, and whole- 

 souled hospitality of this growing city 

 of the middle west, which, in compar- 

 ison to its population, has demonstrat- 

 ed since it has been recognized as a 

 city more "push" and enterprise than 

 any other city in our country. It has 

 opened its doors to assemblages of all 

 kinds and natures, and entertained at 

 its boards conventions, conferences, 

 expositions, fraternities, and shrine 

 caravans, which have made the name 

 of Omaha known not only in our own 

 country but throughout the civilized 

 world. So to-day we must feel some- 

 what the pride of being the guests of 

 not only those who are members of 

 our Society, but all who are interested 

 in floriculture and in the progress and 

 prosperity of this city, and it must be 

 a gratifying fact for you all to realize 

 that from every section of our country 

 representatives have come in such 

 large numbers to enjoy this reunion 

 and the pleasure of being at Omaha. 



The organization has been well fa- 

 vored this year in having a most effici- 

 ent Executive Committee, which in the 

 interim since the last meeting has been 

 not only the deliberative, but like- 

 wise the legal body of our Society. 



It is usual that the Executive Com- 

 mittee shall hold its preparatory meet- 

 ing prior to the annual assemblage 

 of the Society in the city in which the 

 session is contemplated. For many 

 reasons this custom was not followed, 

 and the meeting was held at the Na- 

 tional Capital, with the hope that the 

 presence of our representatives would 

 have some influence upon Congress in 

 securing action upon the National 

 Charter, which has been so long antici- 

 pated, and to which my predecessors 

 have referred with a great deal of feel- 

 ing and in terms of considerable elo- 

 quence. But legislation on this bill 

 had to give way to war appropriations, 

 "Free Cuba" speeches, and annexation 

 treaties, so we submissively allow our 

 matter, in sense of duty to our coun- 

 try, to go over until Congress meets 

 again, when we are assured that it 

 will be a fact and become a law. 



