AUGUST 25. 1S9S. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



343 



a few seconds, but on the fourth exhi- 

 bition our friend said he could keep up 

 this distention for halt an hour, and 

 proceeded to do so. After a minute or 

 two it is painful to watch it or sit near 

 it so I intimated politely, very politely, 

 that it would be a relief to several of 

 us if he would collapse and accompany 

 me to the buffet car. The sound of 

 buffet did the trick and he forthwith 

 collapsed. 



That ride on the Burlington road 

 was a dandy and it seems to me the 

 Chicago boys did not receive a good 

 5olid. sensible vote of thanks for their 

 great kindness and forethought. Ev- 

 ery guest felt the keenest gratitude. I 

 know, and a more formal expression 

 was cut off along with Phil Haus- 

 wirth's amusing speech and many an- 

 other good thing. Messrs. Hill. Craig 

 and Westcott were only just recover- 

 ing from temporary fright, occasioned 

 by the extraordinary electric storm 



dreamt in those Jays of the mighty 

 cities that lie on the banks of the 

 mighty Missouri and Mississippi. To 

 Dibden both rivers were branches of 

 the Missouri and he was not far wrong 

 in calling it the Missouri. I was neith- 

 er pleased nor disappointed with these 

 great streams for I had pictured them 

 many years ago. Broad, featureless. 

 shallow, sluggish, undefined ris'ers; 

 they may be a mile wide or half of it, 

 but you can easily believe that in 

 springtime they would be ten miles 

 wide. When crossing the Niagara on 

 Sunday morning over the suspension 

 bridge and viewing the tumbling, toss- 

 ing, foaming rapids 200 feet below, I 

 fancied after the pea soup consistency 

 of the rivers we had lately seen that 

 below us was ten million hogsheads of 

 champagne let loose to sparkle and 

 gladden our eye. We did not sample it 

 till we got home, where we tap the 

 river 21 miles nearer its source. 



sends out his valuable annual report it 

 will be found the meeting just closed 

 was the equal of any for the amount of 

 good business done, practical and val- 

 uable essays and discussions to the 

 point on live topics. There was many 

 an eastern face missed that would have 

 gladdened the party and which has in 

 the past been inseparable from a con- 

 vention, notably The Duke of York and 

 other good old familiars. There is no 

 disguising the fact that had there been 

 a shooting contest it would have 

 brought at least G more members from 

 the City of Brotherly Love. While the 

 attendance from east of Chicago was 

 light, there was a large attendance 

 from Iowa. Nebraska. Minnesota, Kan- 

 sas and other Western points. 



The social features were very en- 

 joyable. The gathering at the beauti- 

 ful home of Mr. Wilcox at Council 

 Bluffs, was well managed and most 

 hearty and p'.easant. and made the 



The Grand Court and Lagoon at the Omaha Exposition. 



Photo by F. A. Rineliart. Omaha. 



which we had been passing through for 

 several hours, and were just wound up 

 and ready to discharge a good volley 

 of their personal reminiscences, which 

 are so much more amusing and instruc- 

 tive than mere anecdotes. What a pity 

 that the whole of the Chicago delega- 

 tion could not have been in the party: 

 a big mistake and no sensible excuse 

 for it. They must realize by this time 

 that they missed a great deal, are 

 doubtless very sorry, but too proud or 

 stubborn to own it. It must be over 

 50 years since Dibden, the great song- 

 writer, penned these fine lines: 



"To the West, to the West, to the land of the 

 free. 

 Where the mighty Missouri rolls flown to 



Where a man is a 



toil, 

 And the humblest 



the soil." 



n if he's willing 

 gather the fruits 



The west to Dibden meant Ohio and 

 Indiana; it is doubtful it he ever heard 

 of Iowa. He certainly knew nothing of 

 Omaha and he nor any other man 



If the rivers are bread and slow there 

 are no flies on that glorious state of 

 Iowa: corn, corn everywhere, and when 

 it's not corn it's cattle. What riches! 

 An empire of itself: 3 feet of rich soil; 

 all we saw of easy grade to plough. 1 

 believe its fertile billowy, bosom-like 

 surface could raise the necessaries of 

 lite for the whole population of this 

 great United States and a Sunday d'u 

 ner for the Canadians. 



When seated in that beautiful chur:'h 

 among our brother and sister florists, 

 and the grand tones of the majestic or- 

 gan pealed forth among us. I was then 

 positive that I had done a wise thing 

 in coming to Omaha. Strange what an 

 influence the grand and solemn tones 

 of an organ have on a worldly man or 

 even hardened sinner. If reformation 

 is an object as well as punishment in 

 our penal institutions. I would give the 

 unfortunates hours of organ recital 

 7 days in the week. 



The church as a meeting place was 

 grand and when Secretarv Stewart 



whole crowd feel like brothers and sis- 

 ters. Long life and health and pros- 

 perity to that unassuming voung man, 

 our host. Mr. Wilcox. 



The bowling, now a permanent feat- 

 ure of the social side of every conven- 

 tion, was well managed, but with only 

 two allevs it took many hours to de- 

 cide the winner. If the convention had 

 been held within '>W miles of Philadel- 

 phia that handsome cup would now be 

 landed there for good, but they vvere 

 sadly handicapped. Several of their 

 best bowlers could not get away. One 

 was quite ill and when they had to 

 call on such retired war horses as 

 Robert Craig and John Westcott, you 

 can imagine what a fix they were in, 

 but those old fellows did nobly. It 

 takes the old fellows to perform in pub- 

 lic. Th?y don't get stagu fright. Per- 

 sonally. I wish to say that all the com- 

 peting clubs were gracious enough to 

 allow Buffalo to enter a team for the 

 sake of competing for the individual 

 prize. It was a kindness and courtesv 



