380  Albert  Plant.— An  Appreciation.      |Am-  Jour-  pharm- 
August,  1915. 
ALBERT  PLAUT. 
An  Apprfxiation. 
In  the  death  of  Mr.  Albert  Plaut,  which  occurred  on  Thursday 
night,  June  17,  at  the  Hotel  Ritz-Carlton,  New  York  City,  the  coun- 
try's commerce,  and  particularly  the  drug  business,  lost  a  rare  and 
powerful  personality,  a  good  and  loyal  friend,  and  a  bright  and 
alert  intellect. 
At  an  age  when  one  might  look  for  rest  and  ease  from  what 
was  practically  endless  achievement  he  has  fallen  a  victim  to  his 
activities.  The  anxieties  of  these  activities  slowly  ate  into  his  vital 
reserve  and  removed  from  the  manufacturing  and  wholesale  drug 
business  of  America  one  of  its  most  commanding  figures. 
Mr.  Plaut  was  born  in  1857,  in  Eschwege,  Germany,  and  came 
to  this  country  when  eleven  years  old.  After  attending  the  public 
schools,  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  the  New  York 
College  of  Pharmacy,  he  entered  the  drug  business  with  his  father 
in  1872.  About  five  years  later  he  became  associated  with  Lehn  & 
Fink,  which  was  then  an  infant  business,  and,  after  displaying  his 
ability  as  stock  clerk  for  a  time,  he  was  transferred  to  the  general 
business  office,  where  he  acquired  the  fundamentals  on  which  he 
was  later  to  build  the  superstructure  of  one  of  the  largest  drug 
houses  in  America.  In  1886  he  became  a  partner,  succeeding  Mr. 
Lehn.  Twelve  years  later  his  brother,  Joseph  Plaut,  succeeded  the 
remaining  original  partner,  Mr.  Fink. 
When,  in  19 10,  the  business  of  Lehn  &  Fink  was  incorporated, 
Albert  Plaut  was  made  president,  Joseph  Plaut  treasurer,  and  William 
J.  Gesell  secretary.  The  present  fine  structure  at  120  William  Street 
was  built  in  1901,  after  the  destruction  by 'fire  of  the  company's  old 
premises  at  128  William  Street.  The  general  laboratory  and  per- 
fumery and  pharmaceutical  plant  and  drug  mill  were  constructed 
in  Brooklyn  in  1906. 
Besides  his  task  as  guiding  member  of  the  firm  of  Lehn  &  Fink, 
Mr.  Plaut  generously  lent  his  aid  whenever  and  wherever  the  inter- 
ests of  the  drug  business  in  general  demanded  it. 
As  a  member  of  the  New  York  Wholesale  Druggists'  Association 
Mr.  Plaut  was  elected  its  president  in  Milwaukee  in  October,  1912, 
and  he  presided  at  the  convention  the  following  year  in  Jacksonville. 
