Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1905 — TALE OF A PARIS HAT [ARTICLE]

TALE OF A PARIS HAT

Flower Seeds Therefrom Take Root and Spring Up Into Plants. NO HATS GROW ON THE BUSH Harry New Said To Be Close to Some Official Lightning—Hoosier State News Notes. Frankfort, Ind.. Aug. 18. —Thirty years ago Samuel Summerfield, of this city, was a resident of Aurora, and was engaged in the millinery business. A hat was sold by him for a little girl, and after she had worn it a while she grew tired of it and tore it up. The hat was trimmed with what was supposed to be artificial flowers. She pulled tlie buds to pieces and from one of them dropped some tiny seeds. Should Have Some Paris Hats. The child’s mother remarked that the seeds looked to be genuine, and she planted them. In a short time the seeds sprouted and within a few years the bush began to bear, and the flowers, not unlike a pansy, were very beautiful. The family lost trace of Sommerfield, but learning that he resided in this city the Aurora family has sent him a box of the flowers and a letter telling him of the hat and how the flowers came to be grown. Hat Flower Is Abundant. The girl who wore the hat is now a married woman, but she lias grown the flowers for a number of years and calls the variety her “hat flower.” She has given the seed to a number of her friends at Aurora, and many of the dooryards of that city display the flower which had its origin in the seeds that were taken from the hat supposedly trimmed with artificial flowern. How the Matter Is Explained. The explanation of it all Is said to He in the fact that thirty years ago all of the artificial flowers came from France, and • inasmuch as they were very expensive, the flower makers of that country hit upon the plan of preserving native flowers, making use of their knowledge in preserving the flowers rather than to produce them by artificial means. Such a flower was on the hat sold by Sommerfield, and there is no telling how old the seed was befose being accidentally discovered and made to germinate on this side of the Atlantic. Sommerfield has made a request for some of the seed, and will grow the flower in the yard at his home in this city.