■.-¥'.- 



Max 6. 1916. 



The Fbrists^ Review 



25 



■3n. 



Dr. Cowell was born in Wrentham, 

 Mass., March 3, 1852. He was edu- 

 cated in Wrentham and studied law 

 at the Boston University and at the 

 Harvard law school. He practiced law 

 for three years in Boston and in St. 

 Paul, Minn. 



In 1874 he went to Buffalo to take 

 the position of principal of school No. 

 36. Later he was transferred to school 

 No. 6, where he remained until 1894, 

 when he became superintendent of the 

 South park and botanical director of 

 the park system of Buffalo, 



For several years Dr. Cowell had been 

 professor of forestry in Buffalo Uni- 

 versity. He made many lecture trips 

 through the country. He was a member 

 of a large number of botanical societies, 

 and assisted in the activities of the 

 Buffalo Florists' Club, acting as chair- 

 man of the reception committee at the 

 time of the carnation convention in 

 Buffalo last January, 



Dr. Cowell is survived by his wife, 

 one daughter, Mrs. Charles B. Moul- 

 throp, and a son, Francis Cowell. 



John Zech. 



John Zech, well known Chicago whole- 

 sale florist, whose sudden, serious ill- 

 ness was reported in last week's issue 

 of The Eeview, died April 29, at Co- 

 lumbus hospital, where he had been 

 operated on for appendicitis four days 

 before. 



Mr. Zech was born at Laporte, Ind., 

 August 20, 1861. Following the custom 

 of the time, he was apprenticed in early 

 youth to a relative who taught him the 

 stonecutters' trade. He soon devel- 

 oped the qualities of reliability and 

 thoroughness for which he became well 

 known in later years and while yet a 

 mere boy achieved a mastery of the 

 occupation chosen for him. Feeling 

 that he was doing a journeyman 's work, 

 he resolved to leave home to seek his 

 fortune. Arriving at Chicago, without 

 even a nickel in money, he swung his 

 tools over his shoulder and walked the 

 long miles to Eosehill cemetery, where 

 he had acquaintances and was not dis- 

 appointed in his hope of finding work 

 at his trade. Here he wielded mall and 

 chisel for several years, gaining, in the 

 meantime, the acquaintance and con- 

 fidence of Peter Reinberg, whose green- 

 houses adjoin the cemetery, so that, 

 when at length he became convinced 

 the work he was doing was undermin- 

 ing his health, Mr. Eeinberg gave him 

 a place in the city wholesale store of 

 Reinberg Bros. It is a far cry from 

 working in stone to working with flow- 

 ers, but Mr. Zech soon became as ca- 

 pable in the new trade as he had been 

 in the old. Then he became assistant 

 to S. B. Winter, a commission dealer 

 in cut flowers, who did quite a business 

 in Chicago in the old days. 



It was May 16, 1898, that J. A. Bud- 

 long opened a store for wholesaling the 

 cut from his large range of green- 

 houses in the outskirts of Chicago. He 

 took Mr. Zech as his salesman and 

 later, when A. H, Budlong was required 

 to devote practically all his time to 

 the growing end of the business, Mr. 

 Zech came to have charge of the store. 

 Later he was with E. C. Amling. 



In 1905, the failure of M. Winandy, 

 ^ho occupied one of the limited num- 

 ber of stores in the Atlas block then 

 available for wholesaling cut flowers, 

 opened the way for Mr. Zech to enter 

 business for himself. He formed a 



John Zech. 



partnership with Mathias H. Mann, a 

 well known grower north of town, and 

 Zech & Mann took over the Winandy 

 business from the receiver, March 28. 

 In its next issue The Review said Mr. 

 Zech "is a hard worker and well 

 equipped to make the business a suc- 

 cess." This he proceeded to do. In 

 the course of time the quarters on the 

 second floor of the Atlas block were 

 outgrown and iji May, 1913, removal 

 was made to the present quarters, 

 where three times as much floor space 

 was available. Since then the business 

 has grown faster than ever. Shortly 

 after the founding of the firm Aloysius 

 Zech, the elder son, just through school, 

 became his father's understudy and 

 chief assistant. It is announced the 

 business will be carried on unchanged 

 under his management. 



Mr. Zech married Lena Armbruster. 

 They had six children, four of whom 

 survive with their mother. They are: 

 Aloysius, Amelia, Caroline and Leo. 

 Amelia is Mrs. John Cunningham. 



It was in 1906 Mr. Zech joined the 

 Society of American Florists. He has 

 attended all the conventions held since 

 that date. He also was a member of 

 the Hlinois State Florists' Association, 

 the Chicago Florists' Club and several 

 other trade organizations. A wide ac- 

 quaintance grew out of these and his 

 business connections. A man of strong 

 convictions and determined purpose, he 

 was everywhere held in high esteem 

 for his unswerving commercial in- 

 tegrity. 



The funeral was held May 3, from 

 the residence, 1837 Summerdale avenue, 



to St. Gregory's church, in which Mr. 

 Zech was a member and an active 

 worker, thence to St. Boniface ceme- 

 tery. The church was filled with friends 

 of the family and members of the 

 trade. The Knights of Columbus and 

 the Catholic Order of Foresters, of 

 which he was a member, attended in a 

 body. The flowers were extremely 

 numerous and beautiful. Peter Rein- 

 berg, George Reinberg and M. Matchen 

 were the pallbearers representing the 

 trade. 



William J. Walsh. 



William J. Walsh, Springfield, 111., 

 died April 28 in St. John's hospital. 

 He was 68 yeaiys of age and had been 

 in the business many years, with an 

 establishment near the fair grounds. 



Nazareth, Pa — A suit instituted 

 nearly two years ago by Mrs. Mary L. 

 Geiger against the Nazareth Cement 

 Co., the Phoenix Cement Co, and the 

 Dexter Portland Cement Co., all located 

 about a mile from her greenhouses, is 

 being heard. Mrs. Geiger asks $20,000 

 damages, alleging that the dust from 

 the cement works coats her glass so 

 that plants cannot be grown profitably 

 in the houses. The range was a pay- 

 ing proposition in the lifetime of 

 George R. Geiger. After his death 

 Mrs. Geiger conducted it for a time, 

 and then leased it to Johnson & 

 Garland, who would not renew the lease 

 at its expiration in December, 1913, de- 

 claring it impossible to continue the 

 business profitably on account of the 

 dust from the cement works. 



