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II () lil 1 I' II 1/ru RK 



May 4, 1918 



•THE FLOWER: A SYMBOL OF 

 TRIUMPH." 



Quct Given to the KlorUl holdlcr* In 



Camp iifiir Houston. Tcxnu. Iiy thf 



Florist*' Club of that tity. 



■Now stiBll our brows bo crowned with 

 victorious wrcnths ,.,.,.„ 



And nil the clouds that o or our house 

 did hover. , . ■ .. 



In the d.H-i> bosom of the ocean burled. 

 ■A consnrnntlon." may we all say. most 

 di'voutedly to be wished. 

 Victory Is the national desire. 



Al a banquet to those whom we arc 

 delighted to honor— men who go for- 

 ward from the ranks of the florists, 

 nurserymen, seedsmen and landscape 

 architects to the ranks of our great 

 American Army— and whom it will lie 

 our pleasure. I believe, after a bril- 

 liant victory over the enemy, to see 

 marching In triumph through our 

 streets; at such a banquet. It may be 

 appropriate to say something about 

 the position that flowers have held, in 

 all nations and in all ages, as symbols 

 of victory and triumph. 



It seems as if the Lord God. Blessed 

 Be His Name, intended that the record 

 of the fragrant flower— that delicate 

 token of memory— should be preserved 

 even after great nations and civiliza- 

 tions have crumbled into dust and 

 most of their records have become a 

 matter of pains-taking digging on the 

 part of the archeologist; for we find 

 among the ruins of ancient Egypt. 

 Greece and Rome, where only vast col- 

 umns are left standing to mark the 

 places of once beautiful and lofty edi- 

 fices, that all the devastations of the 

 years have not erased the sculpture of 

 fragrant flowers and leaves with which 

 these ancients commemorated their 

 prowess by carving into their temples 

 and triumphed arches. 



Today there are still standing some 

 of the wonderful columns of the pal- 

 ace-temple of Amen-Ra at Karnac, 

 Egypt. In magnificence, grandeur 

 and majesty of execution, this struc- 

 ture is regarded by all the authorities 

 on architecture as the grandest and 

 finest structure ever erected by man. 

 Its hypostyle hall, cunningly lighted, 

 was so vast that a human being felt 

 like an insect in it. This mighty 

 structure was erected by the Pharoahs 

 as a thank-offering to the Deity who 

 had given them victory in battle. The 

 distinctive feature of its great col- 

 umns was the carved image of the 

 delicate Lotus Bud of the Nile. 



Alexander, the greatest general 

 among the Greeks, always celebrated 

 his victories by the profuse use of 

 flowers. He and his men garlanded 

 themselves with chaplets and danced 

 on flowers. The architectural glories 

 of Athens, in column and frieze, show 

 how the most beautiful city of the 

 Greeks reearded flowers as symbols 

 commemorating its many successful 

 battles. On the return from one ot 

 his victories. Alexander bought up all 

 the flowers of the country and his men 

 were actually showered with them for 

 a three days' feast. Strange to say. 

 Alexander, who was some winner of 

 victory, gave to his soldiers, on this 



POINSETTIAS 



Pniimetlla In (! in. I'ot. 



It is now time to start up the old 

 stocli polnsettias. Cut them back and 

 pot in .'small sized pots in good soil 

 and with proper attention in a well- 

 lighted place tlioy will furnish cut- 

 tings in abundance. Cuttings may be 

 stru(;k any time now until midsummer 

 accoiding to the size of blooming 

 stock required for Christmas, the early 

 plants being tlie best for cut blooms. 



occasion, all the wine that they could 

 drink and girls to dance with, and 

 Plutarch says that the gaiety and good 

 humor engendered by this wine and 

 by these girls enabled them to throw 

 off a distemper from which they had 

 been suffering. Of course, in these 

 particularly pure and sober days that 

 we now live in, we cannot but frown 

 on such unseemly behavior. (Paren- 

 thetically, however, I wish to remark, 

 and my language is plain, that I have 

 actually heard horrible reports to the 

 effect that even our American soldier 

 is occasionally getting "his," both in 

 respect to wine and girls. • • Some 

 day we may have in authority men 

 who will handle such matters in a 

 common sense rather than in an up-in- 

 the-air. idealistic manner. 



Architectural authorities contend 

 that Rome was lacking in refinement 

 of detail in its structures, but they all 

 admit that these structures, dominated 

 as they were by the constant theme of 

 the mighty Etruscan arch, were 

 marked by great grandeur and mag- 

 nificence. In the matter of columns, 

 they took from the Grecians, modify- 

 ing the Doric. Ionian and Corinthian 

 orders to suit their own taste and 

 fancy. Some think they improved up- 

 on the Corinthian order In the use ot 

 "the acanthus leaf divine," as one of 

 the poets calls it, as a symbol of vic- 

 tory in their triumphal arches, flanked 

 by these columns; but however this 

 may be, they were profuse in the use 

 of flowers for the decoration of the 

 frieze. When they celebrated a vic- 

 tory, the path of the victor was strewn 

 with flowers, and at their banquets, 

 celebrating the event, not only were 

 all guests garlanded with flowers, but 

 there were flower boys and flower 



girls servlni; the banquet, and the ban 

 qufting hall was strewn willi rose 

 li'avos. Just think of what a cinch It 

 must have been to lie a florist In those 

 days! Who would not have been a 

 florist In the days of ancient Rome" 

 Tho Honorable Mr. C. J. Caesar got 

 his flowers by the chariot load. (A^ 

 an aside. I would remark that sonn 

 |)eoplo today seem to think that thc> 

 have "something on" the gracious and 

 clement Caesar because he was assas 

 sinated. However, the night before he 

 was asRassinalcd Julius said that he 

 preferred a su(l<lcn death. He was a 

 soldier, and the thought of death did 

 not trouble him. Anyhow, even If he 

 had not been assassinated, he would 

 have been quite dead by this time.) 



We have all heard of the Fleur-de 

 Lys, or Lily of France, for many years 

 placed on the battle flags of the kings 

 (if France and carved Into their monu- 

 ments ot triumph. It was adopted as 

 an emblem of victory by I.ouls VII 

 According to the great authority. Nut- 

 tall, however. Kleur-de-Lys, or lily 

 flower, is a corruption. It was flrst 

 called Fleur-deLouis, flower of Louis, 

 then Fleur-deLuce, then Fleur-deLys 

 It was not the lily which Louis adopt- 

 ed, but tho Yellow Flag (Iris pseuda- 

 corus), for many centuries a symbol 

 of power and majesty, the Egyptians 

 placing It on the brow of the sphinx 

 and on the sceptres of their kings. 



So you can see that the modest, 

 fragrant flowers which we all love and 

 admire have been adopted throughout 

 the centuries by emperors and kings 

 as symbols of power, majesty and vic- 

 tory; and it strikes me that this great 

 Republic when it wins victory, as we 

 all feel sure it will, should adopt some 

 symbol of its own might and triumph 

 to be placed in the capitals of our col 

 umns and in the triumphal arches 

 which may hereafter be erected. Why 

 should we still use the capitals of an- 

 cient Greece and Rome when a little 

 Ingenuity may give up a capital of 

 our own. decorated, say. with the stars 

 we have taken from Heaven and 

 placed on our flag and with the Amer- 

 ican Daisy or some distinctive flower 

 that may readily lend itself to sculp- 

 ture. No doubt our capable American 

 architects will yet develop such a 

 capital. 



You brave soldier boys with us to- 

 night will soon he going to the battle 

 line of France to help win a victory 

 for our flag and to let the world know 

 that not in vain have we won, on many 

 a hard-fought field, the title of being 

 the unconquerable American. We are 

 confident that the flag in your hands 

 will always go forward and never be 

 drooped In shame or defeat. It be- 

 comes us Americans to think always 

 In terms of victory; to decide, with 

 set jaws, that we must win. Let us 

 show the world that so far as our flag 

 is concerned we do not know what It 

 Is to go backward, but only forward. 

 To quote an old saying: If we remain 

 behind, we die; If we go forward, we 

 die; let us go forward." But let me 

 tell you, I firmly believe that this spir- 

 it — to conquer or to die — will result In 

 a comparatively few of us dying. Let 

 It be rather the enemy to die; for him 

 the flowers of the funeral wreath, but 

 for us the laurel crown of victory and 

 tho joyous flowers of triumph. 



