The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

When men of distinction In q score
Of different professions gathered at the
funeral Of the late William r. Smith.
the old Scotch superintendent of the Ma.
tional Botanic Garden, who died last
summer, a shabby. bent old man with
averted eyes and bowed head appeared
in their midst. Without a word to any
one he crept into a corner, and wept
with unmistakable suffering.
No one in that notable gathering nae
a better right to mourn the great florist.
for 1t was John Brady. the creator. OF
the famous American Beauty rose. He
is still living in Washington ana often
may be seen about the florists shops
where he picks up odd jobs for a living.
Gardener for George Bancroft.
The dreamer who works out a thing
of perfect beauty with infinite patience
and love, all too often loses his reward.
But there is no story OF this kind more
pathetic than that of John Brady, the
ga rdener of George Bancroft, the his
torian, who spent a lifetime in perfect
ing a rose. and in his old age has not
enough to buy one. The American
Beauty which is the very badge of lux
ury, and the type OF elegance, is the
invention Of beggar.
The rose was created" as the phrase
goes lu SSOTec AoAhoSS Col
den, by the historians erratic old Eng
lish gardener. John Brady; 1t was a leg
acy to Brady at Mr.. Bancrofts death.
in token of long and honorable service.
and of the fact that Brady had brought
IL to perfection only after years OF in
exhaustible patience and care: and It was
sold for a pittance, but that Is getting
ahead OF the story.
Once upon a time, In 1883, TO be pre-
ole panrrOff had n
ed from long diplomatic service In Ger
many, and had settled down 10 a tran
uuilizing old age in his home in WASH
ington, there grew up among the flower
enthusiasts OF England, America. and the
Continent, a jealous quest for red rose
which could be made to bloom In win
ter.
Mr.. Bancroft's ascendency as a rose
culturist IN this country had been be-
yond dispute for half a century. His
first faint STRINGS of Horticultural am
bition had come to birth in Goethe's rose
garden at Weimar, where happy chance
had taken him from his studies at Got
tingen.
Perfected Rose Garden.
Twenty years later. having at length
lived down the disquiet which attended
his New England homecoming. when he
hlsSSO PiSASoSOA va cON'
creeks and lost for a time the complete
approval of his home circle. he had per-
fected a rose garden at Northampton to
which all Massachusetts came TO dc
honor.
There followed his first diplomatic mis-
sion to England, at the end OF which
he spend much of his time in France,
cementing fast friendships with Rachel
Lamartine and Mime. Chataubriand. all
of whom indulged his fondness for horal
oddities with cuttings from their gar
dens.
Then came his long residence in New
York and Newport. when the fixity oi
his allegiance to roses became a matter
of international knowledge, and vher
one of the surest ways to obtain the
honor of a letter of introduction TO Mr.
Bancroft was to grow a new rose or
new japonica. He named his Newport
home "Roseclyffe," and he recruited the
specimens in his garden from every IA
nous rosebed in Europe.
Call from Mrs. Lincoln.
At the time of the Inauguration OF
Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln despair
ed of pleasing herself in the arrange
ment of the White House garden. so sh'
called on Mr.. Bancroft for help. Thi:
she received in such good and flowing
measure that, in acknowledgment oi
debt, she sent to the historian splendic
bouquet of japonicas. In reply he wrote
her that for magnifcence. the bouquet
was a counterpart OF Mr.. Lincoln
brains"
What of official recognition then wa:
still lacking for Mr. Bancroft's genius a;
a rose grower was supplied by Herr Bis
marck, who so admired the American
Minister to Berlin that he supplied him
with roses aad rose cuttings from the
great BismaTeE estates in Pomerania.
But all this while, despite the genia
international cooperation OF rose grow
ers. diplomats, and statesmen, the rec
rose refused ito grow in winter. lts
wintertime behavior was. in fact, exas
perating beyond all words. II. aftel
months of herculean work, a branch
could be made to put forth bud some
fine morning. it was a sickly purple pS
noon, and brown by sunset.
Little yellow roses had thriveo, Tune
out of mind, and these, with camel
lyias and japonicas, were the sole re-
las and japonicas, were the sole re-
ers for winter decoration.
Moved to Washington.
Matters were In this state when Mr..
Bancroft moved to Washington, bring
ing into his charming old house in La
fayette Square two trusted servants
Hermann, who came from Berlin, and
John Brady, the gardener. from Eng
land.
John Brady was installed in the
quaint L-shaped garden, which ran back
to Seventeenth Street, and he was in
structed, among other things, to reap
the glory OF creating a tractable red
rose.
The task was one which jumped with
his own desires. The Bancroft garden
was scarcely less a personal pride to
Brady than to Bancroft, and both
secretly believed that no praise Of it
could be really to eXtravagant. 1t be-
came a rendezvous for Washington's S
most distinguished persons; how much
so, one can guess from President Ar
thurs dictum that THE President is
permitted to accept the invitations of
members Of his Cabinet, Supreme Court
judges, and-Mr. George Bancroft"
Verge of Success.
Dozens Of times John Brady seemed on
the eve Of being able TO announce the
success of his red rose ventures. Once
u friend from France brought Mr.. Ban
croft a cutting OF a red rose called
Madame Ferdinand Jemain," which, al
though it had failed at home, was
thought to have possibilities in an Amer
ican climate. Brady nursed 1t along with
q fair degree of conscientiousness, none
too pleased, likely enough. that France
had been so premature in this honorable
business. But the little alien rosebush
sickened and died, and was thrown aside,
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