The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-07-04

The New York flower market was in
stituted eight years ago. In 1891 the
city authorities passed a resolution al
lowing marketmen from all over the
country to visit Union Square early in
the morning The city erected small
stands, and allotted to each man place
along the curb and a stand upon which
to display his wares. Here the country
merchant could come in the morning,
and find himself in possession of a shop
right in the heart of the city, for which
he had to pay no rent
Owing to the crowded condition of
Union Square and its immense impor.
lance as a place of city traffic it being
the principal artery of New York City.
Ihe time of the sale was limited, and BY
e. etock IN the morning all the wagons
had to be cleared out.
The first morning of the Flower mar
ket, as 1t was Immediately called. was
peasant, and the square quickly filed
with wagons. There were all sorts of
FehIcles, from the handsome covered
ones OF the pretentious florists of the
suburbs 20 the farmers wagon. There
~ ~ was the farmers wife, IN her open
uSSy, with flower pots under the seat
anG flowers blossoming around her
Wh3teYer she sold would be lust Sc
Much in" and in this way she and the
prelentous florists alike felt the flower
market TO be great advantage.
oy o'clock the customers began to
arrive. There were nicely dressed ma
irons, who had risen half an hour ear
IIeF TO go TO the market and secure grow
ing plants, yet fresh with the country
| new There were old-fashioned women.
VINO wanted hardy shrubs for the back
yard. There were school children after
| posIes for the window sill, and there
| were men who came to see the sights,
and who ended by carrying a pot of
plants home
Flowers sold ridiculously cheap. You
| could get a hydrangea, covered with
great snowy punches, for so, cents, and
very fine pansy in a pot fer five cents.
| The next day showed the merchants
| there again, with crowd of buyers, and
| SO on, until fall put an end to the flower
market. 1t was sort of novelty, and
| the string of purchasers kept up until
cold weather.
The New York flower market has now
become feature of the metropolis. For
eigners are invited to pay it a visit. and
the most blase of city dwellers never
| fails to see the flower market at least
once during the summer. There are
! many living in the vicinity of Union
| Square who go every morning, and
never come away without a nickePs
| worth of posies.
1t is very odd to one seeing the mar
| ket for the first time to note the change
from the scene at 8 in the morning to
that of two hours later. At 8 O'Clock
| the borders of Union Square Park are
abloom with flowers in such variety that
there is only a mass Of color to be seen,
while pretty forms fit from wagon to
wagon and from curb to curb, select
! ing the plants. Two hours later the
same street, bustling with life and clang-
ing with the gongs of street cars, is
| filed with teamsters and the rough wag-
| ons of commerce. Women with worried
faces cross upon shopping missions, and
| men with fortunes to make and lose
| hurry across Union Square to the great
! buildings which line it on either side. All
| the poetry is gone out of it now, and is
! succeeded by the reality of the money
! making world.