18 



The Florists^ Review 



NOTBHBBB 7, 1918. 



PITTSBUItOH. 



The Market. 



The last week saw the finer grades 

 of roses, including American Beauties, 

 more plentiful, but the cheaper flowers 

 remain inadequate in supply for the 

 heavy demands of the market. The 

 supply of chrysanthemums continues to 

 increase, likewise the demand for these 

 flowers; therefore the situation pertain- 

 ing thereto remains relatively the same. 

 Pompons are just beginning to come in, 

 so it goes without saying that there 

 are not enough of them, and the same 

 may be said for carnations. There are 

 a few lilies, but only a few. The first 

 violets of the season have been coming 

 in from Ehinebeck, but the prospect is 

 that they will be no more in favor than 

 for several seasons past. Greens of all 

 varieties, particularly ferns, are scarce, 

 and of outdoor stock there is nothing. 



Various Notes. 



Mrs. E. A. Williams and her man- 

 ager, Harvey C. Sheaff, who are inde- 

 fatigable workers in the common cause, 

 have been having a continuous succes- 

 sion of distinctive patriotic displays for 

 months past. The first, it will be re- 

 called, was described in these columns 

 during the early days of the War Sav- 

 ings Stamps campaign. It was during 

 this special display that the custodian 

 neglected one evening to remove the 

 great bunch of exhibition stamps from 

 their accustomed place in the corner of 

 the window and, during the night, there 

 was an unsuccessful attempt to cut a 

 piece out of the plate glass, evidently in 

 an effort to steal the stamps. Since 

 then these valuable enemies of the Pots- 

 dam crowd have been carefully stored 

 away overnight in the vault. 



Thomas McKee Elliott left a few 

 days ago to join the Motor Transport 

 Corps at Camp Joseph E. Johnson, near 

 Jacksonville, Fla., being succeeded tem- 

 porarily in the town office of the Elliott 

 Nursery Co. by his younger sister, Miss 

 Helen Katharine Elliott. The latter, 

 who has a pretty wit, says that the rest 

 of the family who are not at war are 

 at peace in the country counting French 

 and Belgian bulbs, which are now rap- 

 idly arriving. The Elliotts, who are 

 still at their beautiful summer home. 

 Brook Lodge, near Springdale, Pa., 

 expect to return shortly to their town 

 house in the east end. 



Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Demas are mourn- 

 ing the loss of their eldest child, a 

 bright little 7-year-old girl named 

 Katharine, who was buried October 31, 

 as the result of heart failure. Mr. De- 

 mas, who is now proprietor of the 

 Minerva theater, is well known by the 

 florists and growers hereabouts through 

 his former connection as manager of 

 the old Pittsburgh Flower Exchange. 

 He also continues to keep in in- 

 timate touch with many of his former 

 associates through his brother-in-law, 

 George Franks, proprietor of the Phila- 

 delphia Florists. 



Another death affecting trade cir- 

 cles last week was that of Edward J. 

 Hallam, of the north side, whose inter- 

 ment was also an event of October 31, 

 death having been the result of pneu- 

 monia. He was a brother of Walter E. 

 Hallam, who closed his flower stand 

 in the Allegheny Market for several 

 days last week. 



The Pittsburgh Cut Flower Co. cele- 

 brated its twentieth anniversarv in- 



formally during October with by far 

 the heaviest volume of business in the 

 history of the organization. The fol- 

 lowing young women are recent addi- 

 tions to the staff of this firm: Miss 

 Josephine Clark, in the salesroom; Miss 

 Boma Burki, as assistant bookkeeper, 

 and Mrs. Kress and Miss Marshall, in 

 the workshop upstairs. 



Manager McMillan, of the Braddock 

 and Duquesne shops of J. M. Johnston, 

 made a hurried purchasing trip to town 

 November 1. Mr. McMillan reports 

 the serious illness of two of the Brad- 

 dock employees, Mrs. Thomas Cava- 

 naugh, who has just returned to busi- 

 ness following a two weeks' detention 

 at home, and her sister. Miss Cecelia 

 Eiley, who is still confined to the house. 

 Both are victims of the prevailing epi- 

 demic. 



C. C. Phillips also has just returned 

 to his post with the McCallum Co. from 

 a ten days' absence as the result of in- 

 fluenza. Edward J. McCallum, Homer 

 Wood, manager of the supply depart- 

 ment, and Edward Niggel, manager of 

 the wire shop, took a breathing spell 

 from their strenuous duties of the last 

 month, November 1, spending the day 

 on a hunting trip. 



Miss Kathryn Antoinette has re- 

 turned to her former position in the 

 flower department of Kauffman's, pre- 

 ferring the more general trade there to 

 the fashionable clientele of the William 

 Penn hotel. Miss Antoinette has a 

 happy faculty of "handling the 

 crowds" of "The Big Store" that is 

 not possessed by all saleswomen. 



Through the instrumentality of State 

 Game Commissioner John Phillips, 

 known in Boy Scout circles as "Chief 

 Silver Top," three barrels, or about 

 5,000 black walnuts were planted dur- 

 ing the week in Allegheny county by 

 the local organization under the super- 

 vision of the respective Scout and field 

 executives, C. B. Shaler and Thomas 

 Sparrow. 



Samuel Matsukes has joined the staff 

 of^j^e Liberty Florists, with whom his 

 cousin, John George Matsukes, has been 

 identified for some time. 



The recent presence of Mrs. Julius 

 W. Ludwig in the store of the Ludwig 

 Floral Co. is an admirable present-day 

 illustration of the application of the 

 biblical text: "The harvest is great and 

 the laborers are few." Being essen- 

 tially a "home woman," Mrs. Ludwig 

 has no hesitation in saying that she 

 is there from a stern sense of duty 

 rather than from choice. If any further 

 proof were needed that the establish- 

 ment was doing its utmost in keeping 

 the wheels of the floral industry revolv- 

 ing during the stress of the times, it is 

 the fact that her husband has tempo- 

 rarily eliminated his weekly chat with 

 the various press representatives. Mr. 

 Ludwig has a keen perception of news 

 which is second only to that of the 

 trained journalist and it is largely to 

 this fact that The Eeview is indebted 

 for many choice morsels from time to 

 time. 



Like Mrs. Ludwig, Mrs. Michael F. 

 Stafford, together with her two sons, 

 John and Henry, is temporarily assist- 

 ing Mr. Stafford at his shop on Smith- 

 field street. Mrs. Stafford is noncom- 

 mittal, but the attitude of the young- 

 sters would suggest that parental au- 

 thority rather than choice is holding 

 them on the job. They are "banned" 

 from school, owing to the order of the 



board of health, a^d it is a question 

 whether they consider school or the 

 flower business as the lesser evil. 



Milton Alexander was a recent vis- 

 itor in the city, representing a ribbon 

 house of New York city. E. E. S. 



OINOINNATI. 



TliA Market. 



Business continues good, but is show- 

 ing signs of easing up. The supply is 

 sufficient for present needs. Shipping 

 business is holding up well. 



Eoses are plentiful. Carnations are 

 in fair supply and Easter lilies may be 

 had. Chrysanthemums are here in 

 quantities; although the local cut is not 

 so heavy as it was for a fortnight, still 

 it is large and includes excellent stock. 

 Pompons are on the market and some 

 valley is seen, but it finds a poor 

 demand. Greens are in fair supply. 



Various Notes. 



Miss Laura Murphy reports that the 

 Christmas Fund committee has over 

 $400. Florists are urged to send in the 

 names and addresses of all local boys in 

 the service of Uncle Sam in either the 

 military or naval forces. 



C. E. Critchell has cleaned up almost 

 his entire stock of wire goods and sup- 

 plies during the last few weeks. 



Among recent visitors to the trade 

 were Harry M. Gregory, Eeesville, O.; 

 J. H. Broxey, Dayton, 6.; J. T. Herde- 

 gen, Aurora, Ind., and Joseph H. Hill, 

 Eichmond, Ind. 



L. Davis is now in charge of Peter 

 Weiland's salesmen in this city. 



C. H. H. 



PRIMULA POISONING. 



From time to time the question arises 

 of how to deal with poisoning from Prim- 

 ula obconica. It may be stated here 

 that an authority says that it is the 

 sharp hairs on the plant that produce 

 the irritation. Careful handling, there- 

 fore, may be a way to avoid bad results. 

 A number of remedies and recipes have 

 been offered in previous issues of The 

 Eeview for primula poisoning, the most 

 effective of which are given below. 



One says: "A few applications of 

 peroxide of hydrogen gave me relief." 



Another advises the use of thick sweet 

 cream as an ointment. This is said to be 

 a sovereign remedy. 



Sugar of lead is claimed by others to 

 be the most valuable treatment for this 

 trouble. One recipe directs that it be 

 dissolved in water, while another calls 

 for alcohol. The alcohol solution is the 

 antidote recommended by the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture for rhus poison- 

 ing. 



Several cures are reported to have re- 

 sulted from the use of tincture of blood- 

 root, which should be applied freely. 



Luytie's Pinus ointment as a local ap- 

 plication and sulphur and cream of tar- 

 tar, in the proportion of two parts to 

 one, respectively, as a blood purifier, 

 with -a nourishing diet, is a treatment 

 highly recommended for either primula 

 or ivy poisoning. 



Be sure that you do not light your pipe 

 while using this one: Eub the affected 

 parts with a solution made by dissolving 

 two ounces of camphor in one pint of 

 gasoline, before putting the hands in 

 water. Another application before re- 

 tiring is helpful. 



