The evening world., 1888-06-08
MEN WHO HAVE RISEN.
HAUFT

their majority their careers have been q
united and steady progress toward success.
They are big-bodied, big -hearted brothers
who have worked their way up to q hand
fSee competency from a start at zero.
xShn Burkard Hauft was born in SAKE.
CdAurg-G otha in 1882, in the town of Ro-
dauch, 80 he was a compatriot Of the future
Prince Consort whose death the Queen of
England mourns to this day. Burkard's
father was a butcher and his grandfather
was a schoolmaster, who must have found
teaching the young idea how to shoot a very
healthy occupation, as he lived to the ripe
age of eighty-four.
In 1884 Gustav Hauft was born, and a year
and a half later the father of the boys died,
leaving them at this tender age to the care Of
their widowed mother. They got eight years'
schooling, leaving the benches to go and
learn a trade when they attained their four
teenth year.
Burkard Hauft was apprenticed to o wheel
wright, and his brother Gustav was inden-
tured to a cooper. This is the regular course
| with young Germans of their sphere Of life.
The apprenticeship lasted for three Year,.
Burkard then spent q year ina papier-mach6
factory.
In 1851 he came to America, and the year
after his brother Gustav followed in his foot.
steps to the New World. The young
emigrants had two brothers in New York,
who had come over in 1s49. One of them
was a tailor, the other was a florist.
The day after each new conner landed In
New York he had started in business a.
a florist. It was in a very modest way. The
brother who was the florist gave each
a basket stocked with bouquets and
sent them down to Castle Garden to peddle
them.
Say to every one" he said to them in
German, these two words in English, 1.-Two
shillings."
Castle Garden and the Battery in those
days were not what they are now. Castle
Garden, instead of dark Italians, with bright
colored dresses and heavy gold earrings, was
thronged with fair American DANES, who wore
flashing diamonds and rustling silks, and who
poured into the round building with their
escorts to hear the delicious notes which the
Swedish Nightingale let loose from her peer
less throat. Jenny Lind was at the zenith Of
her glory and New York poured its shekels
into the pockets of the only Barnum, who
was then an impresario instead of q triple
ringmaster.
Thu Battery was still the place Of residence
of many swell families, and the young Ger
mans found a ready sale for their cut-flowers.
Two shillings," they said to everybody, and
the bouquet-buyers understood and dropped
the coin into their hands and walked off with
q bouquet.
The flower business at that time was some
what different from the extensive and luora-
tive one it is to-day.
There were hardly any roses then said
Mr.. Kard Hauft. There were only the
simple cottage roses. and not many Of those.
Bouquets SOLD for twenty-five ana fifty
cents, and the more expensive ones for one
dollar! A little difference from paying one
dollar to-day for a single Puritan" TheI
simpler garden-howers, which one hardly
sees nowadays except in village gardens,
were almost the only ones ever seen. Sweet
williams. phlox, verbenas and others Of that
kind we're the vogue.
The only change in an opposite direction
in the matter of price was with ~Japonicas-
Then a good ~japonica would bring '$2.5O.
while to-day jnponicas are very cheap.
One reason for this was that there was
very little dollhouse culture of flowers in
those days. After three or four years with
our brother, we went into business for our
selves, and we have been in it and together
ever since"
The two brothers were twisting red. white
and blue immortelles into little punches for
b~outonnieres for a Grand Army post. They
had hundreds of them to make.
when we started we hired Peter Henderi
sons place over in New Jersey. We paid,
yuS-.A H.
bouquets and bring them in to Washington
and Fulton markets and sell them there. Wei
charged 81 a dozen for these bouquets. On
Saturdays we would sell thirty or forty
dozen of them. That was the great day for
marketing, and people would like to get Q
pretty bunch of flowers to take home with
them.
I'VE did nearly all the work ourselves. We
put together all the bouquets. We could
make about a dozen an hour. On Sundays
we would go to Hoboken with some. Tn
opera-goers bought literally, too.
In the years $50, 81 and '58 we went down
to Newport in the summer and disposed Of
our flowers there. We sold a good many at
the hotels, which were more popular then
than they are now.
"A good many Southerners used to put in
the summer at Newport then. and they were
generous flower patrons, and the flowers used
to bring good prices. But S. for a good bou-
quet was considered a big thing at that
time"
The brothers stayed at Henderson's place
till 1856. Then they came to New York, and
started a place on Broadway, between
Bleecker and Amity street. In 1857 the
brothers got married. They moved after
wards to Amity street, and then up to Fourth
street, to the Waverley House. old Peter Gil
sey's property. They afterwards moved Up
L L-Ll- Ill n-...- nLu.ah and