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May 4, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



1449 



Although the Express Compan ies 

 are in trouble, we are still 



Filling Orders 



without interruption. Plenty stock for all. 

 Send us your orders and you will get what 

 you want and when you want it. 



HEADQIARTERS FOR SMILAX AND ASPARAGUS 



E. C. 3NLING, 



Ths KaryeBt, Best Eqnlppcd and Moat Centrally located 

 Wholesale Cut Flower House in Ohloaffo. 



Chicago, 111. 



32-34-36 



Randolph St., 



Lea. Dieuece Telephei^. { |Uf JCJU22Z *^'*'*'' 



AMSBZCAV BSAUTT, Per dot. 



80-36-inob Item $4.00 



24-lnch ftem 8.00 



20-iiicli Item 2.00 



16-lnob Btem i.so 



la-incb iteBi 1.00 



Short Item, per 100, $i 00 to $8.00 



Brides (3.00 to $ 6.00 



Bridesmalda s.ooto 6.00 



Kalaerin 4.00to 8.00 



Liberty 4.00to 10.00 



GoldenQate 400to 8.00 



Ohatenay 4.00to 10.00 



Oamatlona l.SOto 2.00 



larseandfaQcy.... S.OOto 4.00 



Poet ■ NarclsauB i.oo 



VaUey 200to 4.00 



Oallas per doz., $1.00 to S1.25 



Tulips a.OOto 4.00 



Easter Lilies per doz., $150 lo.oo 



SweetPeas 75to 1.60 



Mignonette ssto .76 



Marguerites i.oo 



Sbasta Daisies 2.00 



▲sparaffus, per strinsr, 2&c to 60c 



Asparagus Sprengeri 2.00 to 6.00 



Ferns per 1000, $8.00 .80 



Qalax per 1000. $1.26 .16 



Leucottaoa 1.00 



Adiantum 100 



Smllax per doz., $2.00 16.00 



Ask for special quotations on 1000 lots 

 Roies and Oamations. 



BnUeet to chaage wlthoat aotlce. 



Mention The Review when yon write. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market 



At the close of last week receipts were 

 fihortened up, principally on account of 

 the difficulty in getting stock from the 

 depots by the old-fashioned process of 

 carrying it under one's arms, but cool 

 weather also had an influence and some 

 of the growers report the heavy spring 

 rose crop as coming off. But at the be- 

 ginning of the present week receipts 

 werel much larger; in fact, much larger 

 than the demand, and the market was 

 pretty well glutted with all kinds of ma- 

 terial, including roses and fancy carna- 

 tions, the prices on which averaged very 

 low. There are thousands of belated Eas- 

 ter lilies which are very hard to move 

 and the receipts of callas show no 

 diminution. Although the season for 

 indoor bulbous stock is supposed to be 

 over, there are, nevertheless, large quan- 

 tities of tulips which have hard work in 

 oompetition with the outdoor stuff. 

 Tbe*:e is lots of arbutus. The one scarce 

 item is smilax. There is so large a sup- 

 ply of adiantum that considerable quan- 

 tities go to waste. The wholesalers are 

 becoming anxious to dispose of ferns be- 

 cause the new crop is at hand and con- 

 siderable quantities of cold storage stock 

 remain. 



At the close of last week business was 

 more than could be handled under exist- 

 ing conditions, but this week has started 

 in dull. It is likely to continue so until 

 Friday. 



Strike of Express Drivers. 



The long anticipated and inevitable! 

 strike of drivers employed by the express 

 companies came on the afternoon of 

 April 27 and left the wholesale florists 

 without means for despatching the after- 

 noon shipments. No union teamster 

 would touch an express box and no non- 

 union teamster dared to. Hence it was 

 a case of the florist packing the box to 

 the depot as best he could, by street car 

 or on his back. It is no small task to 

 "hustle" a box with 2,000 carnations or 



so, a mile or more to a depot, and it was 

 inevitable that many large and some 

 smaller shipments should be failed on 

 that first evening and the next day. At 

 all the depots there were lines of pickets 

 to turn back all express matter and some 

 boxes of flowers failed to get through 

 but most of them did, one way or an- 

 other. 



On Friday there was a meeting of the 

 wholesalers at the office of the Benthey- 

 Coatsworth Co. to talk over the situa- 

 tion. The alternatives of joining in the 

 fight by getting police-guarded wagons or 

 trying to do business by the grace of the 

 union were offered. It was decided to 

 try the latter course first and a commit- 

 tee was appointed to draw up a letter 

 calling attention to the perishable char- 

 acter of the stock • and emphasizing the 

 statement that most flowers are for 

 funeral purposes. This was signed by 

 all the houses and presented to Business 

 Agent Barry, of the express drivers' 

 local. His answer was that shipments 

 marked "funeral flowers" would be al- 

 lowed to pass the lines. As to in-freight 

 he took the position that if the express 

 companies brought it to the city, it was 

 up to them to make delivery. This was 

 inconsistent with his concession to out- 

 going boxes but at the moment was not 

 open to argument. These facts were 

 set before a second meeting of wholesal- 

 ers Saturday morning and the Morists' 

 Teaming Co., Fred Lautenschlager, gen- 

 eral manager, promptly organized, hiring 

 union wagons and successfully passing 

 the lines with huge loads of "funeral 

 flowers." Mr. Lautenschlager's services 

 are highly appreciated. The wagons 

 handled 125 boxes the first afternoon and 

 solved the difficulty of outgoing ship- 

 ments, but left the incoming stuff in as 

 bad a way as ever. A committee was 

 appointed to try to arrange a way to get 

 the in-freight handled, but as yet it is a 

 case of everyone for himself in getting 

 his stock out' of the depot the best way 

 he can. There is a great deal of «tock 

 close enough to town so that it is brought 

 in by wagon or by messenger and a little 

 trouble has so far served to get hold of 



express consignments, so that business is 

 practically uninterrupted, although con- 

 ducted at increased expense. The express 

 companies have begun making deliveries 

 under police guard but there is no tell- 

 ing, however, at what moment existing 

 arrangements will be upset. 



The trouble all grew out of a strike of 

 nineteen garment workers at Montgom- 

 ery Ward's last November. They in- 

 duced a sympathetic strike of Ward's 

 teamsters. After a short time the team- 

 sters abandoned the garment makers and 

 offered to go back to work. Ward's 

 wouldn't take them back. That was 

 rubbing it in, from the union viewpoint, 

 and unions and employers lined up for a 

 big fight. The trouble spread as fast as 

 teamsters were ordered to make deliveries 

 to Ward & Co. It is estimated that 

 3,500 drivers are now out. 



Strike'Notes. 



The first day of the trouble Poehlmann 

 Bros. Co. had a lot of boxes to go out on 

 the Illinois Central, the depot a mile and 

 a half from the store. They found an 

 expressman who said be would make the 

 trip if a police escort could be had. 

 Police headquarters were called up and a 

 request made for "a few policemen." In 

 a few minutes a sergeant and sixteen pa- 

 trolmen appeared. Needless to say, the 

 trip was made in safety. While police 

 protection was possible, as a rule the 

 wholesalers were vety reluctant to re- 

 sort to it, as it might have forced the 

 flower trade into the center of the fight. 

 It looks to be easier to do business out- 

 side the storm center. And after the 

 trouble is settled the wholesalers will 

 have use for the friendship of the ex- 

 press drivers. 



When the trouble is over the express 

 companies will be deluged with claims. 

 Probably forbearance in this matter will 

 be appreciated and a leading commission 

 man suggests that instead application be 

 made for release of charges on delayed 

 stock as more likely to profit the growers 

 and get good service in the future. 



The Benthey-Coatsworth Co. has had 

 as much trouble as anyone, as the bulk of 



