42 



The Rorists^ Review 



Fbbruakv 2. 1922 



OBITUARY 



Philip L. Caxbone. - - 



General aud sincere sorrow was felt 

 January 30, when the sad nOWs reached 

 the trade of the death of one of Bos- 

 ton's most noted retailers and decora- 

 tors, Philip L. Carbone. He was born 

 in Boston in 1867 and all his life had 

 followed the florists' business. In 1894 

 he opened a store in the l)asenient at 

 258 Boylston street and, although the 

 store was small compared with others, 

 new and rare flowers were offered there 

 which none of the other stores had, and 

 critical l)uyers looking for something 

 out of tlie common invariably went to 

 Carbone 's. The great increase in busi- 

 ness necessitated a removal to more com- 

 modious quarters, and about twelve 

 years ago the ])resont large, elegantly 

 equipped and artistic store ivas opened 

 at 342 Boylston street. 



In addition to flowers and plants, Mr. 

 Carbone carried an extensive line of pot- 

 tery, glassware, l)askets, china, straw 

 mats, etc., the greater i)art being im- 

 ported from Europe, and tlie late pro- 

 prietor had made no less than lliirty- 

 two trips abroad to look up and purchase 

 desirable novelties for his clienteli', 

 which grew to l)e extremely large and 

 the most exclusive of its kind in Bos- 

 ton. Some six years ago a large ware- 

 house was secured, at 348 Congress 

 street, to accommodate the extensive im- 

 portations, and. there certain sp(>cialties 

 were prepared for the trade. Two or 

 more representatives were ke])t con- 

 stantly on llie road of late ye.irs visiting 

 the trade and sales were mad<' all ovt>r 

 the United States, while not a few crit- 

 ical customers came from New York, 

 Philadelphia and other cities to se<*ure 

 specialties uiij)rocurab]e clsewlicre. 



The l)usin('s.s was iiicorporati'd sevei;il 

 years ago, ;ind at the present tiiin' over 

 sixty are eii)])loyed in tlie store and 

 wareliousi'. Tlie Roylston street store is 

 vastly different from the general run of 

 flower stores. Kverything is arranged 

 in a most artistic manner, and a visit 

 to the various parts is an eye-opener to 

 anyone accustomed to the usual crowded 

 and commercialized looking stores. 



Mr. rarhon(> was a gentleman not 

 only of fine physical ;ipiiear;ince, hut 

 witlial ])ossessed of a finesse and artistic 

 touch rarely met. He belonged' to few 

 organizations, luit was an active mem- 

 ber of the Boston Chamber of Commerce. 

 He filled a unique position in the trade 

 and few florists who came to Boston 

 failed to see his store. 



Of late years he li;id spent much time 

 abroad, sometimes making two trips an- 

 nually. In summer lie spent some happy 

 months at his charming home at llyan- 

 nis, on Cape Cod, where lie also had a 

 lovely garden. For about eigliteen 

 months his health had lieen f;iiling, due, 

 his medical advisers stated, to overwork. 

 For some weeks his condition had been 

 serious, although he visited the store oc- 

 casionally and as recently as a fortnight 

 ago. The immediate cause of death was 

 heart disease. 



Mr. Carbone leaves a widow and two 

 sisters. One of the latter has been the 

 financial head of the firm for many 

 ♦ years. He had no children. Owing to 

 the large number of friends, employees 

 and others wisliiug to pay him a last 

 friliiite of esteem, it was deemed best to 



hold services at Mount Auburn cemetery 

 chapel in lieu of the late home, at 827 

 Boylston street. At the services, Febru- 

 ary 1, there was a large and representa- 

 tive gathering. Bo ,n the store and ware- 

 house were closed all day and the em- 

 ployees attended in a body. Many mem- 

 bers of the trade were present and the 

 funeral pieces were numerous and of 

 magnificent quality. W. N. C. 



Dr. Walter Vaai Fleet. 



Dr. Walter Van Fleet, plant breeder 

 of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture since 1910, died at Miami,- 

 Fla., January 26, following an opera- 

 tion, at the age of 64. He arrived Janu- 

 ary 25 to conduct experiments at the 

 plant introduction garden at Miami, 

 For more than twenty years he had oc- 

 cupied a prominent place among the 

 l^lant breeders of the world and had re- 

 ceived several medals for his work. He 

 had gone to Florida with a view to im- 

 proving various tropical plants. He was 

 a leader in developing gladioli, garden 

 roses and chestnuts. His work with 

 roses brought him into particular promi- 

 nence in the florists' and nursery trade. 

 Several of his introductions are to be 

 sent out under the auspices of the Amer- 

 ican Kose Society this year. 



Among the new roses which Dr. Van 

 Fleet produced, jiroliably the best known 

 are Miss Mary Wallace, named after the 

 daughter of Secretary of Agriculture 

 Wallace, whicli was entered at the Port- 

 land, Ore., rose show last year as a con- 

 testant for the gold and silver medal of 

 the American Kose Society and the city 

 of Portland medal offered for the best 

 sjiecies of rose; Silver Moon, a cross of 

 Wichuraiana and Southern Cherokee; 

 American Pillar, Bess Lovett, Beauty of 

 Kose Mawr and Dr. W. Van Fleet. 



The home of Dr. Van Fleet, at Bell, 

 ^Id., was well known for its roses as 

 well as for its strawberries, in which 

 he had made many experiments, sev- 

 eral of the varieties produced by him 

 having been put upon the market. Dr. 

 \'an Fleet also produced new varieties 

 of raspberries and gooseberries and as 

 a result of his experiments with chest- 

 nuts and chinquapins he produced a cross 

 which has proved quite successful. 



Dr. Van Fleet was born at Piermont, 

 N. Y., in 1857, and received preliminary 

 education in public and ])rivate schools. 

 He later attended tlie Ilalinemann Med- 

 ical College, at Philadelphia, from which 

 lie graduated in 1880 and completed post- 

 graduate courses at Jefferson ^ledical 

 College. Philadelphia, in 1887. 



In 1883 he was married to Miss Sarah 

 Ileilinan, by whom lie is survived. He 

 ]iracticed medicine in central Pennsyl- 

 vania from 1880 to 1882, but following 

 the completion of his college courses his 

 attention was divert(^d to horticulture, 

 which he made his life study. After a 

 few years of work in \'irginia, Pennsyl- 

 vania and Tennessee, he associated him- 

 self with the Rural Xew Yorker, of 

 which he was editor. 



Dr. Van Fleet entered the service of 

 the Department of Agriculture in 1910 

 and during that and the following year 

 was in charge of the plant introduction 

 garden at Chico. Cal. He was then 

 transferred to Washington, D. C, resum- 

 ing his experiments at Glendale (Bell 

 Station). Md. 



In addition to his experimental work, 

 he wrote extensively iiiton horticultural 

 subjects. In 1918 the George Robert 

 Wliite medal of honor for eminent serv- 

 ices in liorticnltnre \\;is conferred iqioii 



him by the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, 



Benjamin Dorrance. 



Benjamin Dorranee, one of the best 

 known residents of Wyoming valley, 

 died at his home at Dorranceton, Wilkes- 

 Barre, Pa., January 23, of apoplexy. 



Mr. Dorrance was born at Kingston, 

 Pa., August 14, 1846, being the oldest 

 son' of Colonel Charles and Susan E. 

 Ford Dorrance. His early education was 

 received in the Presbyterian Seminary 

 at Troy, Pa., and in Wyoming Seminary, 

 at Kingston. He graduated from Prince- 

 ton in 1868 and was admitted to the bar 

 August 20, 1871. He followed his pro- 

 fession for about fourteen years, when 

 his sight became impaired and he was 

 compelled to retire. He then turned to 

 farming pursuits at Dorranceton and in- 

 cidentally to horticulture. 



His work in horticulture was most suc- 

 cessful and the range of rose houses at 

 Dorranceton became widely known. 



Mr. Dorrance married Ruth WoodhuU 

 Strong, of Bath, N. Y., May 22, 1872. 

 Three daughters were born to the couple. 

 Two of tnem survive. 



He was a life member of the American 

 Rose Society and a member of the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society of Ireland, Society 

 of American Florists, Sons of the Revo- 

 lution, Society of Veterans of Foreign 

 Wars, and Princeton Club of New Yor"k. 

 He succeeded his father as president of 

 the Wyoming Commemorative Associa- 

 tion in 1895 and was president of that 

 organization at his death. He was the 

 originator of Dorranceton borough, 

 which was named after his family. He 

 served as a member of the first Ijorough 

 council and was a school director for a 

 number of years. 



John N. Callas. 



Death came to John N. Callas. of 

 the Owl Floral Co., Kansas City, Mo., 

 as the rci^ult of a hemorrhage, at his 

 home, 2200 Churchill avenue, Janu- 

 ary 25. Mr. Callas was 34 years of age 

 and had been ill six weeks, liaving four- 

 teen hemorrhages in that time. For ten 

 years Mr. Callas had been in ])artnership 

 with his cousin, John G. Callas, forming 

 the Owl Floral Co. He was quite popu- 

 l.'ir in business and had many friends. 

 Surviving him are his widow, Mrs. Ruby 

 K. Callas, two children, and one cousin. 

 Funeral services were held January 27, 

 in the Greek Catholic church, and burial 

 was at Mount St. Mary's cemetery. 



Hiram W. Gordinier. 



Hiram W. Gordinier, president of the 

 H. W. Gordinier & Sons Co., of Frank- 

 lin s(piare, Troy, N. Y., and twice comp- 

 troller of that city, died at 2:40 p. m., 

 January 16, at his home, 48 Second 

 avenue, Lansingburg. Mr. Gordinier 

 had been ill with angina pectoris since 

 New Year's day. He was one of the 

 best known business men in eastern New 

 York. 



The deceased gentleman was a native 

 of Brunswick, N. Y., but he had passed 

 nearly all of his life at Troy. For nearly 

 forty years he had conducted a seed, 

 feed, grain and farm implement busi- 

 ness in Franklin square. He was born 

 in 1851 in the town of Brunswick and 

 came to Troy at 17 years of age. At 

 that time he went to work for Henry 

 Lovejoy, who conducted a feed and 

 grain business on River street. 



lie was employed by Mr. Lovejoy 

 for several years, and succeeded liim 

 in business January 1, 1S76, nt the 



