other of my oldest friends who for upwards of twenty-seven years has extended me a welcoming hand. His immense trade in the cemetery section of Columbus has kept him confined to his place of business, seldom affording him opportunity to visit neighboring towns and florists. Of late he associated with himself his very able son, a graduate chemist. Although but twenty-four years of age, the young man has already proved a great help to his father. His success is a foregone conclusion.
Encountering Two "Sharpers" in Cincinnati
My first trip to Cincinnati will always remain a memorable event to me. It was in October, 1889, when I landed in that city. First of all, I looked around for a cheap hostelry in the Ohio metropolis. For I well remembered the injunction of my employer to practice economy and hard work. I certainly practised both. In a strange city, among strangers, it was by no means easy work to "get in." I called upon a few stores in the main street, with no results. Among those I called on was Mrs. Kresken, a fine motherly German woman, who was quite successful in her way, and whose business still continues at the old stand under the able management of her daughter, Miss Adeline Kresken. I tried my best to induce Mrs. Kresken to give me an order; I begged for it; I almost implored her to give me a trial. But unfortunately for me, she had already placed all her orders, and received the goods from older houses with whom she had been dealing for years. She wished me success and asked me to call again. I left her place, and proceeded farther in my quest for business. The first store I entered had a very respectable appearance, and looked quite prosperous. I almost uttered a prayer as I approached the proprietor, a man about fifty, six feet tall, well groomed, one who impressed you as a man who well understood his business. I handed him my card, taking at the same time the opportunity to tell him about the merit of my goods. His look was not quite reassuring at the moment, though he did not dismiss me there and then. After a moment's reflection, he told me to stop later in the afternoon, and while he did not promise me any orders, he would look at my samples. I thanked him for his courtesy, and left, promising to return.
Two blocks further, I landed in another prosperous looking store, and here I met with instantaneous success. The proprietor, after glancing at my photographs, grasses, and artificial flowers, proceeded to give me a large sized order, never as much as questioning my prices. "It's too good to be true," I thought to myself, but I dismissed the idea as something unworthy of a moment's consideration.
I returned to the other man, as I had promised, a little later in the day; and to my great delight he was ready to give me a hearing. I braced myself for the occasion, endeavoring to use the best methods at my command in order to impress him favorably with both my merchandise and prices. I succeeded. He gave me a large order, telling me that it was a trial, that if my goods proved entirely satisfactory I might expect much larger orders in the future. Else I would have no chance.
My delight knew no bounds, as I returned to my hotel, and transcribed my orders for transmission to Philadelphia. Later in the evening I took a stroll toward Mrs. Kresken's store.
"Well?" she queried, in her good-natured motherly tone. "Have you done any business today?"
"I certainly did," I replied, gleefully, "and quite a lot of it, too!"
"I am glad to hear it," she said. "And whom did you sell to, may I ask?"
I told her the names of the parties.
"Ach, mein lieber Gott!" she exclaimed. "Neither of them is good. You must take care—they'll beat you out of your money!"
A thunderbolt from a clear sky could not have struck me more forcibly than
