340 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



AUGUST 25, 



bluff caught the eye of everyone. It 

 was a gay show of color and its posi- 

 tion made it noticeable for a long dis- 

 tance. 



An orchestra had been rendering ex- 

 cellent music at the east of the house 

 and when the party gathered there 

 long ta'bles were found loaded with 

 good things, including pure wine 

 grown on the place. The shade from 

 the trees being insufficient Mr. WilcOx 

 had stretched a huge canvas perpen- 

 dicularly over the house from a tree in 

 front to" another at the rear and as the 

 .<un was sinking in the west the east 

 lawn was completely shaded. 



Here a splendid lunch was served to 

 all. and at the conclusion of the repast 

 President Gude called upon Mr. Wm. 

 Scott to express the thanks of the 

 guests for the princely hospitality of 

 Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox. Mr. Scott per- 

 formed the task in his usual happy 

 manner. He said that when he was 

 introduced to Mr. Wilcox he expected 

 to see a man of venerable appearance, 

 like that of himself or .John Westcott 

 (laughter) and was amazed to iind so 

 young a man to be the builder and pro- 

 prietor of such an immense establish- 

 ment. He expressed the profound 

 thanks of all for the splendid enter- 

 tainment, and called upon Mr. Robert 

 Craig to help him do justice to the 

 subject. 



Mr. Craig said things are done on a 

 large scale in the west and the present 

 entertainment was no exception. He 

 referred to the Exposition as an ex- 

 pression of western force, spirit and 

 enterprise and of architectural splen- 

 dor, and in fitting words conveyed the 

 hearty thanks of all to the host of the 

 occasion. 



H. A. Siebrecht was called upon and 

 reiterated the sentiments expressed by 

 Messrs. Scott and Craig. 



Mr. J. D. Carmody, "of Posey Koun- 

 ty," was called upon and made a very 

 witty speech. He felt there was little 

 opportunity for him, following other 

 orators that were always loaded 

 (shouts and laughter) — with wit and 

 humor. What mainly interested him 

 was where the host secured all the 

 beautiful ladies that waited on the 

 tables. "Where did they pick them 

 up. They are no windfalls." He paid 

 a glowing tribute to the 'adies and 

 said that if anything can add to the 

 pleasures of bounty it is beauty. 



Mr. E. G. Hill was called upon and 

 said he claimed to be a western man 

 and was therefore no stranger but was 

 among his friends. He wanted it un- 

 derstood, though, that he was not from 

 Chicago, where some terrible things 

 are done, and he told a story about an 

 alleged Chicago woman who used the 

 ashes of her first husband to sprinlile 

 on the icy sidewalk so husband num- 

 ber two would not fall and injure him- 

 self. 



Adam Graham said he could add 

 nothing to what had been already 

 said except an explanation that the 

 Clevelanders had entered the bowling 



contest merely to help let Philadel- 

 phia down easy. 



The president then gravely an- 

 nounced that any of the ladies who 

 would like to favor Mr. Carmody with 

 a kiss could meet him under a neigh- 

 boring apple tree, which statement 

 was received with shouts of laughter. 



Mr. Wilcox was called upon but said 

 speech making was out of his line and 

 all he could say was that he was glad 

 to have the visitors present and hoped 

 they would all enjoy themselves. 



A vote of thanks was passed with a 

 shout and three cheers and a tiger 

 before the party returned to the cars 

 for a pleasant trip back to Omaha. 



Presentation. 



At the Thursday evening session 

 President W. F. Gude and wife were 

 presented with a beautiful silver tea 

 service, silver water pitcher and gob- 

 lets, spoons, knives and forks, etc. Mr. 

 J. D. Carmody made the presentation 

 on behalf of the members of the so- 

 ciety. Mr. Carmody humorously re- 

 ferred to President Gude as "a goody- 

 goody fellow." He presented the ar- 

 ticles one at a time making some hu- 

 morous reference to each. He said: 

 "The butter dish is for yourself and 

 your wife, and may you never love any 

 but — her." Also: "If anyone owes you 

 anything I hope he will 'fork' over 

 your just dues." In presenting the 

 water pitcher he said: "Keep to the 

 pure contents of this pitcher, and you 

 will avoid trouble. There is no fight 

 in a whole barrel of water, and I never 

 yet knew the contents ot a water pit- 

 cher to bring about a divorce." Then 

 dropping the humorous Mr. Carmody 

 spoke some feeling words on behalf of 

 the donors and trusted the gift would 

 be received in the spirit ot fraternity 

 with which it was offered. 



President Gude seemed quite over- 

 come by this mark of love and respect 

 and responded briefly that if he had 

 succeeded in doing his duty to the so- 

 ciety he was more than satisfied, and 

 that the beautiful gift would be high- 

 ly valued all his life for the sentiment 

 it conveyed. 



The Exposition. 

 On Friday all visited the Trans-Mis- 

 sissippi Exposition, having been pre- 

 viously supplied with tickets by the 

 local "Florists' Club. These tickets, 

 by the way were paid for by the local 

 club and were not presented by the 

 Exposition. We mention this as many 

 seemed to be under the impression that 

 it was a courtesy extended by the Ex- 

 position. At noon all gathered at the 

 Nebraska building, where were dis- 

 tributed copies of the Florists' Review 

 containing a full report ot the pro- 

 ceedings of the convention. All won- 

 dered how the feat had beon accom- 

 plished and many thought the issue 

 had been printed in Omaha. But such 

 was not the case. The paper was prin- 

 ted in Chicago, and a bundle of copies 

 expressed from Chicago early Thurs- 

 day evening so as to reach Omaha the 

 next morning. This necessitated 



mighty sharp work, even with a free 

 use of the telegraph, and tie speed 

 has never been exceeded, even by a 

 daily paper. The Review was warmly 

 congratulated by all upon, this stroke 

 of enterprise. 



At the Nebraska building the dele- 

 gates were addressed by President 

 Wattles, of the Trans-Missi.^sippi Ex- 

 position, and by General Manager 

 Clarkson, who said he considered the 

 work of the florist one of the most at- 

 tractive features of the Exposition. F. 

 W. Taylor, Chief of the Horticultural 

 Department, also made an address. He 

 said that after the invitation to Omaha 

 had been accepted at Providence he 

 wondered whether it would be safe for 

 him to address the members of the S. 

 A. F. again. He felt sure that he could 

 now safely do so and trusted that all 

 wefre now convinced they had made no 

 mistake in meeting on the banks of the 

 Missouri. Mr. Benj. Hammond fol- 

 lowed and said he had asked "the Ro- 

 man nosed Taylor" for wild Indians, 

 buffaloes and ox-teams but had failed 

 to find them outside of the exhibits at 

 the Exposition. He had been amazed 

 at the boundless waving corn fields he 

 had passed on the trip out an 1 had re- 

 alized more than ever that soil fertili- 

 ty was the foundation of prosperity. 

 He made a patriotic reference to the 

 victorious ending of the recent war 

 and the way in which the riches of the 

 east and the riches of the west had 

 been freely contributed to advance the 

 cause of human liberty in the world. 

 His fervent words were received with 

 long continued applause. 



At the conclusion of the address the 

 party repaired to one of the large res- 

 taurants on the grounds where all 

 were treated to an excellent dinner by 

 the local Florists' Club. Before dis- 

 persing President Gude expressed the 

 thanks of the visitors for the generous 

 entertainment provided and this was 

 briefly responded to by President Do- 

 naghue, of the Nebraska and Iowa 

 Florists' Club. The opportunity was 

 improved and the gold medal won by 

 Mr. William Scott in the bowling con- 

 test was presented to that gentleman, 

 who re.sponded in a witty speech that, 

 brought down the house. 



Enjoying the attractions of the Ex- 

 position was then in order and each 

 followed his individual bent. The hor- 

 ticultural building and contents has 

 already been well described in these 

 columns. A special exhibit for the 

 day was a superb collection of sweet 

 peas exhibited by W. Atlee Burpee & 

 Co., of Philadelphia. This included 

 all the best new sorts and attracted 

 much attention. Cannas are much in 

 evidence on the grounds. Banked on a 

 semi-circular terrace at one end of the 

 lagoon they are wonderfully effective. 

 They were especially brilliant under 

 the glow of the electric illumination 

 at night. Quick growing vines, such 

 as Cobaea scandens. has been freely 

 used along the colonnades and on the 

 trunks of trees with very pleasing re- 

 sults. The exhibits showing Indus- 



