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^ The Florists^ Review 



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THE TRADE IN FLOOD AREA 

 GENERALLY HARD-HIT 



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Reports from Dayton and Vicinity Still Indefinite, but 

 Wind and Water Inflict Heavy Damages Elsewhere 



STORY of range demolition 



A and plant devastation, probably 

 unprecedented in the trade, 

 cornea from the Miami valley 

 and adjacent country, follow- 

 ing the floods that spelled such 

 disastrous aftermath of a promising 

 Easter season. It was a costly sequel of 

 the western cyclone that laid to waste 

 greenhouses and plants valued at upwards 

 of $100,000. When all of the flood re- 

 ports are received, it is not unlikely that 

 the losses in the trade will aggregate sev- 

 eral hundred thousand dollars. 



Out of Dayton and Columbus little en- 

 couraging news has been received and the 

 known losses among florists will require 

 a large financial consideration to replace. 

 At Fort Wayne, the firm of W. J. & M. S. 

 Vesey, alone, estimates its damage at 

 $70,000, and there were other ranges in 

 that vicinity that fell prey to the flood. 

 At Dayton several of the largest 

 ranges are known to have been inundated, 

 with tremendous loss to greenhouses and 

 plants, and from Hamilton, Troy, Colum- 

 bus and other points come advices of 

 similar destruction. At Toledo the wind 

 played the greatest havoc and broken 

 glass was the principal result. From all 

 over the stricken territory come reports 

 of varying losses, flhowing that the extent 

 of the damage to the trade was not con- 

 fined to the flood area. 



The Cleveland Florists' Club, which 

 has been investigating the extent of the 

 flood's work on the ranges in the valley, 

 announces that it finds a great amount of 

 distress among growers and offers to act 

 as ge-between for those who have plants 

 which they feel they can spare and are 

 willingr to donate to the affected trade. 



Additional details of the cyclone at 

 Omaha increase the first reports of dam- 

 age sustained in that section. 



First Miami Valley Reports. 



News of how florists fared in the 

 path of the flood in the great Miami 

 valley is only a matter of conjecture, 

 writes the Cincinnati correspondent of 

 The Review. Hamilton, O., is the only 

 city in the path of the rushing water 

 from which definite information has 

 been obtained. C. E. Critchell, who 

 went there March 27, said that the 

 range of J. Lodder & Sons was com- 

 pletely wiped out. Theodore Bock's 

 greenhouses were not badly damaged. 



It is probable, says the correspondent, 

 that Jos. R. Goldman's plant at Mid- 

 dletown, O., is safe because it stands 

 on higher ground. 



Probably the only greenhouse estab- 

 lishments in Dayton that are left are 

 those of John Boehmer, H. H. Ritter, 

 Horlacher and possibly J. B. Heiss Co., 



HELP THOSE IN NEED. 



The loss to florists throughout the 

 state of Ohio on account of the flood 

 must be heavy. Government, state 

 and city officials, as well as societies 

 and individuals, are doing their ut- 

 most at present to relieve suffering, 

 and their work probably will have 

 been accomplished by the time this 

 is in print. A plan to give growers 

 who have lost their entire stock by 

 the high water a chance to again 

 get on their feet should be put in 

 force at once. 



Reports from the flooded district 

 are coming in slowly. We have not 

 heard just how badly florists were 

 damaged, but there are bound* to be 

 many large losses, and growers who 

 went through the storms and floods 

 unscathed should lend a hand at once 

 to help their more unfortunate 

 brothers. 



The Cleveland Florists' Club 

 stands ready to do its share. We 

 would act as "go-between." Let 

 all growers who have lost their stock 

 send us their names; have your cor- 

 respondents in Ohio cities send us 

 the names of those needing help, 

 with a list of stock they grow. Then 

 let the growers who have stock to 

 give send their names with the stock 

 they have to donate. At this season 

 of the year, there are many grow- 

 ers who have supplies of geraniums, 

 roses, mums, carnations, etc., that 

 would be acceptable to those who 

 have lost their all. 



The list of those who can help in 

 this cause need not be limited to 

 the state of Ohio. There are grow- 

 ers all through this country who 

 would gladly respond with gifts of 

 stock if the need for such donation 

 was brought to their notice. 



The Cleveland Florists' Club, 

 By Frank A. Friedley, Sec'y. 



the correspondent writes. They all 

 stand on points higher than the city. 

 The chances are that the ranges of the 

 Miami Floral Co. and W. G. Matthews 

 were wrecked, if not completely de- 

 stroyed. Both stood on the banks of 

 the river and were probably directly in 

 the path of the current. When the 

 Miami river rose during former spring 

 freshets, the water has been known 

 to go up close to the doors of the 

 Miami Floral Co. 



The greenhouses of Henry Fleeter 

 and Edward Santo, in Cumminsville, 

 O., are inundated. It is said that they 



succeeded in getting nearly all of their 

 plants to safety ahead of the flood. 



Warren G. Matthews, one of Day- 

 ton's leaders in the trade, is reported 

 to be suffering a mental collapse ' and 

 to be conflned in a hospital as a result 

 of his experiences during the flood. He 

 is said to have suffered extreme hard- 

 ships in saving his life when he and 

 his son, Walter G. Matthews, who is 

 associated with him in business, were 

 ro^(•!o<l from a tree. Both were at 

 first reported to have been drowned. 

 Their stores at 16 West Third street 

 and 32 South Main street were both 

 in the flooded area. Advices about the 

 effect of the storm at the Matthews 

 greenhouses have not been received 

 yet. 



Losses at Coliunbus. 



The trade was hard hit by the flood 

 and business is completely at a stand- 

 still at Columbus, O., according to a 

 letter received April 2, which was the 

 first to come through from that city 

 giving anything like accurate details 

 of greenhouse and plant losses. 



Sherman Stephen had a heavy loss at 

 the east plant, as the water was in 

 the houses about five feet. Mud and 

 other filth washed in over the stock. 

 His yard was flooded, trees uprooted 

 and some even carried away. Several 

 bodies were found in the neighborhood 

 and a great many people were rescued 

 at that point. 



Bob Buehler was reported drowned, 

 but he showed up later. Charles Bueh- 

 ler was in the midst of the flooded 

 area and has lost about everything in 

 the way of stock and household goods. 



Wm. Brust also lost everything at 

 his store. Nothing was left of his place 

 but the foundation, and John Brust, 

 his father, also lost all of his stock and 

 goods. 



The Fifth Avenue Floral Co. had two 

 feet of water in the boiler shed, but 

 no damage was inflicted beyond wash- 

 ing out some beds of pansies, etc. 



The Riverside Floral Co. suffered con- 

 siderable damage. 



From Barberton, O., comes the re- 

 port that the big new range of O. C. 

 Barber was flooded. The amount of 

 damage has not been estimated, but it 

 is large. 



W. P. & L. C. McFarland, of Akron, 

 0., write that outside of boiler pits 

 being flooded no extensive damage was 

 done the florists there. They will have 

 to replant sweet peas, which are two 

 and one-half feet under water. 



No greenhouses at Zanesville, O., 

 were damaged, as they are all on high- 



