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19 



CLEVELAND'S FUNERAL 



FLOWER FACTORY 



The Sixth City is first in quite a few things that pertain to the florists 

 business and among the most unusual of its points of trade interest is the factory 

 where John Kirchner and his sons turn out funeral work in quantity with a 

 dexterity and celerity seldom if ever equaled. 





N every line of human en- 

 deavor there is some man 

 who, by intrepidity, per- 

 spicacity and high integ- 

 rity, rises from the obscur- 

 ity of the ranks to the 

 plane of leadership. The 

 oil world has its Eocke- 

 f eller, the automobile 

 world its Ford and the 

 world of commercial floriculture has a 

 worthy aspirant to the eminence of lead- 

 ership in quantity production in the 

 person of John Kirchner, of Cleve- 

 land, 



Situated far out at Quincy avenue, 

 in the Sixth City, away from the beaten 

 paths of retail traffic, this genius of 

 twentieth century commercial floricul- 

 ture is conducting a business of such 

 unusual magnitude as to tax the imag- 

 inative faculties of the casual observer. 

 To those who are honored in knowing 

 John Kirchner, his suc- 

 cess is but the inevita- 



ble result of a temperate 

 life and an inordinate 

 capacity for work. He 

 is a man with a purpose 

 in life, possessing a 

 force that sweeps aside 

 all obstacles that stand 

 in the way of success. 



Seeing Is Believing. 



Having heard much 

 about this exemplar of 

 tireless effort, it oc- 

 curred to me that may- 

 hap the underlying 

 principles of success 

 could be observed in 

 operation by watching 

 the wheels of his busi- 

 ness revolve, so advan- 

 tage was taken of a re- 

 cent errand to Cleveland 

 to visit the reputed hive 

 of industry. 



What I saw could be 

 adequately described 

 only by the facile pen 

 of a Forrest Crissy or a 

 Julian Street, so vital is 

 the message John Kirch- 

 ner 's life and industry 

 have for the average flo- 

 rist, but as their powers 

 of description are not 

 available in this particu- 

 lar instance, the follow- 

 ing report will convey 

 the moral in an unre- 

 fined manner. 



After a street car ride 

 of about twenty min- 

 utes ' duration through 



By CHARLES N. COTTER. 



a section that obviously is populated 

 by those who dwell in the dull gray 

 stratum of Cleveland's social life, I 

 alighted at Quincy avenue and walked 

 into the office on the corner in front 

 of a small range of greenhouses. This 

 office or reception room had nothing 

 except immaculateness to distinguish it 

 from the salesrooms that are charac- 

 teristic of small retail greenhouse estab- 

 lishments. It was spick-and-span 

 throughout, sort of cozy and homelike; 

 in fact, it symbolizes tranquillity 

 rather than the hustle and bustle I had 

 prepared myself to see. 



Quantity Production. 



But walking to a door at the opposite 

 side of the room, my eyes were greeted 

 with a sight that filled me with amaze- 



nation was 



John Kirchi^rt of. Cleveland* and His Two Sons. 



ment. There, in the center of a large 

 workroom, stood our genial friend, in 

 his shirt sleeves, busily engaged in add- 

 ing tone to a large standing cross of 

 pink and white asters. Along the sides 

 of the room were eight girls working 

 just as fast as human dexterity allows, 

 wiring asters, roses and bronze magnolia 

 leaves. Two other men and Mrs. Kirch- 

 ner were concerning themselves with 

 rapid fabrication of diversified emblems 

 of mortality, while in another room, all 

 by himself, worked an artist of no mean 

 ability putting the finishing touches on 

 a casket cover of such magnificence as 

 to cause one almost to agree with 

 Shakespeare, that ''death is a consum- 

 mation devoutly to be wished." Here 

 and there— in' fact, everywhere— re- 

 posed spravs, wreaths, pillows and gates 

 ajar. It seemed as though Cleveland 

 must have suffered a calamity and the 

 expressing sympathy in 

 floral tokens. I never 

 ill all my life saw so 

 much funeral work be- 

 ing made at one time, or 

 made so fast. 



An Average Day. 



Mr. Kirchner smiled 

 when I asked him if it 

 was an extraordinary 

 day's business and in- 

 formed me that he had 

 poorer, also better, days, 

 but that he was of the 

 opinion that ere night 

 fell it would prove to 

 have been an average 

 day. Two of his sales- 

 men, he explained, were 

 out delivering door 

 wreaths and undoubted 

 ly would return with $.")0 

 (ir $75 worth of addi- 

 tional business. 



On my expressing my 

 astonishment, Mr.Kircli- 

 ner requested that be- 

 fore passing judgment I 

 accompany him through 

 the entire works. He 

 first took me to the 

 garage and there showed 

 me more motor power 

 than I imagined would 

 be possessed by any re- 

 tail store other than the 

 large department or- 

 ganizations. 



There are ten in all. 

 seven of them Whites. 

 Two are enormous closed 

 body trucks, polished 

 like mahogany; one is a 

 5-ton open truck, two are 



