MARCH 11, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



33 



Frederick W. Bruggerhof . 



Frederick W. Biuggerhof, head of the 

 seed firm of J. M. Thorburn & Co., 5;^ 

 Barclay street, New York, died at his 

 home Monday, March 8, at the age of 90. 



Mr. Bruggerhof, often called the 

 "dean of the American seed trade," was 

 long a prominent figure in its ranks, 

 having first become associated with J. 

 M. Thorburn & Co. in 1849. He was 

 born in Barmen, Prussia, October 15, 

 1830, of Holland ancestry. In 1855, 

 after only six years of service, he be- 

 came a partner in the firm and con- 

 tinued an active member until it was 

 incorporated in 1894, when he was 

 chosen president. 



He was president at one time of the 

 Wholesale Seedsmen's League, whose di- 

 rectors at the time, in 1910, presented 

 him with a loving cup upon the occasion 

 of his eightieth birthday. At that time 



B. Landreth, secretary of the league, 

 said of Mr. Bruggerhof, "He is ac- 

 knowledged to be the best all-around 

 seedsman in the United States, the higli- 

 ost authority on the history of the seed 

 trade in America, and his views as to 

 variations and merit command the high- 

 est consideration." 



Mr. Bruggerhof 's home was in Nor- 

 oton, Conn., in which state he had been 

 prominent in public affairs since 1874. 

 He was elected on the Democratic ticket 

 to both the House of Representatives and 

 the Senate and was a presidential elec- 

 tor-at-large in the electoral college ot' 

 1884. He was a member of the Wee 

 Burn Golf Club, of Xoroton, of the Stani 

 ford Yacht Club, of Stamford, both of 

 Connecticut, and of the Hardware (Hub 

 of New York city. 



His son, E. E. Bruggerhof, is vice- 

 president and treasurer of J. M. Thor- 

 burn & Co. 



Mrs. Christlane Smith. 



Mrs. Christiane Smith, vice-president 

 of the W. C. Smith Wholesale Floral 

 Co., St. Louis, Mo., mother of William 



C. Smith and of Mrs. Herman V. Hun- 

 kel, of Milwaukee, Wis., died at the 

 home of her daughter in Milwaukee last 

 week after an illness of six weeks. 



Mrs. Smith was Born in Holstein, Ger- 

 many, in 1848 and had four brothers, 

 all in the trade; they were William Ed- 

 lefsen, formerly of Milwaukee and now 

 of Portland, Ore.; Louis, of Los An- 

 geles, Cal.; John, of Allegheny, Pa., and 

 Kdward, of St. Louis, Mo. The last 

 two died a few years ago. Mrs. Smith 

 was a widow and is survived by her 

 son and daughter. 



The remains were taken to St. Louis 

 and the funeral took place March 5 

 from Kron's funeral parlors, 2715 Grand 

 avenue. Many friends, both of the de- 

 ceased and of W. C. Smith, in the trade 

 attended and expressed their sympathy, 

 and the room was filled with the beau- 

 tiful floral emblems. J. J. B. 



Leonard Lawson. 



Leonard Lawson, of Rockford, 111., 

 died at his home Monday, February 23, 

 from a complication of diseases, from 

 which he had suffered for several years. 

 He was 52 years of age. 



Mr. Lawson was born in Rockford, 



October 6, 1867, and made that city 

 his home during his entire life. He was 

 engaged in the florists' profession for 

 the last twenty-seven years and previ- 

 ously had been a helper in the green- 

 house of George W. Tares. He left the 

 business for a short time, but reentered 

 and took his brother into partnership 

 with him, erecting a new greenhouse at 

 Ninth street and Eleventh avenue. Be- 

 cause Mr. Lawson 's health was poor, 

 they had to sell a few years later. 



During the last four winters he spent 

 the time in the south, hoping thereby 

 to regain his health. 



The funeral was held Wednesday, Feb- 

 ruary 25. The floral tributes were many 

 and beautiful, all the florists in Rock- 

 ford sending pieces. 



Mr. Lawson was a charter member 

 of the Court of Honor, No. 230. He is 



Frederick W. Bruggerhof. 



survived by his mother, three brothers 

 and three sisters. 



Mrs. Albert Homung. 



Mrs. Wilhelmina Homung, wife of 

 Albert Hornung, of Bond Hill, one of 

 Cincinnati's most promising young 

 growers, died Tuesday, March 2, after 

 a brief illness. 



Mr. and Mrs. Hornung were married 

 less than a year and his great sorrow 

 is shared by the members of the trade, 

 who sent many beautiful floral offerings 

 in mute evidence of the esteem in which 

 she was held. H. E. K. 



Mrs. M. B. Morgan. 



Mrs. M. R. Morgan, Bridgeport, W. 

 Va., died March 3, after an illness of 

 four days with influenza and pneu- 

 monia. 



Mrs. Morgan was well known to the 

 trade, as the yellow chrysanthemum, 

 Mrs. M. R. Morgan, originated by her 

 husband, was named in honor of her. 

 She was born November 25, 1881, in 

 Knoxville, Tenn., and was taken there 

 to be buried. Her husband acted as 

 greenhouse foreman for Hayman G 



house Co., H. Weber & Sons Co. and the 

 McCallum Co. 



Mrs. Elizabeth Nidiek. 



Mrs. Elizabeth Nidiek, wife of Wil- 

 liam E. Nidiek, shipper for the Pitts- 

 burgh Cut Flower Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., 

 (lied Saturday, February 28. She was 

 42 years of age. The funeral services 

 were held Wednesday, March 3, at 3 

 p. m., at the home, at 328 Loyal avenue, 

 Beltzhoover. The interment was at 

 Mount Lebanon cemetery. E. E. S. 



Mrs. Mary A. Phelan. 



Mrs. Mary A. Phelan, widow of the 

 late Kiernan Phelan, and mother of , 

 John H. Phelan, died after a brief ill- 

 ness at her home, 16 Chapel street, New- 

 port, R. I., Tuesday, March 2. She was 

 widely known and highly esteemed. 



John H. Phelan has conducted the 

 business with which the family has 

 been so long associated since the death 

 of his father, in August, 1905. Mrs. 

 Phelan leaves two sons and three daugh- 

 ters to mourn her. W. H. M. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



The market was oversupplied and 

 weak March 5 and the next day the ex- 

 press service was discontinued because 

 of a strike among the office and station 

 employees. The result, although it came 

 on the day shipping was the lightest, 

 was to throw the market into a condi- 

 tion of confusion which did not improve 

 as the strike wore its way into the pres- 

 ent week. 



Almost the first act of the express 

 officials in meeting the situation was to 

 order an embargo on perishable freight 

 for Chicago, so that the growers found 

 themselves unable to ship to market. 

 They arranged for motor truck trans- 

 portation and after a day or two the 

 company found itself able to handle a 

 part of the incoming stock, so that no 

 serious difficulty was encountered in this 

 part of the work. While there was a 

 partial delivery service at all times, 

 there was no pick-up service, nor any 

 station service. In the emergency the 

 wholesalers resorted to many expedients. 

 Only a few made no attempt to keep 

 their customers at least partially sup- 

 plied. Several of them made more or 

 less shipments direct from the green- 

 houses. Others got the boxes to the 

 stations and into express cars any way 

 they could, taking the chance of letting 

 the shipments go without receipts. Some 

 shipments were trucked to suburban 

 towns, where they could be put aboard 

 outgoing trains in the usual way. But 

 the major portion /)t' the shipments have 

 been going out by parcel post, special 

 delivery. Of course florists wore not the 

 only ones who had recourse to the par- 

 cel post and this service quickly became 

 badly congested. The first day's mail 

 shipments got through in good shape, so 

 customers reported, but there were costly 

 and vexatious delays when the postoffice 

 clogged up. Later the service began to 

 improve as facilities were increased and 

 as the express service began to function 

 again. 



Writing March 9, it seems as though 

 the strike may end at any moment and 

 that it will wear itself out in a few 

 days if it does not collapse. 



Under such disturbed shipping con- 

 [OontlDued on pare 38.] 



