198 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



April 



held it i;p to the door of the stove, and put 

 hi the handful without the possibility of a 

 single fiber dropping. " J]esides," resumed 

 Tom, '■' yoii have put in about four times as 

 much as I do ; for I find it no light chore to 

 bring it from the sawmill." 



l)Ob next undertook to put in the coal; 

 but as the coal-pail was nearly two yards 

 from the stove-door he had to travel "back 

 and forth with each shovelful ; and before 

 he had the stove well filled, little bits of 

 coal had fallen off the sliovel, making the 

 fioor look quite imtidy. To make matters 

 worse, in walking back and forth he had 

 stepped on these little bits, and ground 

 them into powder and into the floor. lie al- 

 so, in putting in the last shovelful, bumped 

 it against the side of the stove-door, and 

 quite a lot of coal fell on the ledge of the 

 stove. The boys laughed, but Tom was get- 

 ting pretty nearly angry. 



"■ Why did you not carry the coal-pail up 

 to the stove-door, as I showed youV" said 

 he. 



" Why, that was the way you said you put 

 in kindling ; I"ll leave it to the rest, if you 

 said a word about putting in coal that way. 

 You needn't be so nice about your print- 

 ing-shop ; a little coal on the floor don't do 

 any hurt, any way." 



Just at this moment his eye rested on a 

 clean new little broom hanging up against 

 the wall, and beside it a pretty little dust- 

 pan. The broom had a ring screwed in the 

 top, and hung by it on a stout screw put in- 

 to the wall. ''Here; I can sweep it all up 

 for you in no time." He first swept the 

 floor ; and in so doing he scattered the bits 

 of coal further, and crunched more of them 

 under his boots. After this was done, he 

 noticed the coal on the stove-ledge ; and in 

 sweeping this off, he got it all over the floor 

 again, and mashed some more under his 

 feet. When he got done he put the dust-pan 

 in the sink, instead of hanging it on its nail, 

 and stood the broom up in a corner. Tlie 

 new white broomstick was also marred by 

 the sooty marks of his fingers. ]3y this time 

 he was ready to light the fire ; butin getting 

 a match out of the neat little match-safe he 

 knocked it down and spilled them all ; and 

 in picking them up he left three or four that 

 he did not happen to see. Back of the stove 

 was a clean place of whitewashed wall, and 

 on this he scratched his match, instead of 

 on the sanded surface on jjurpose, on the 

 match-safe. A long black streak was left 

 on the wall ; and as the phosphorus flew off 

 and didn't light the match, he threw it on 

 the floor and tried another. The fire was 

 finally lighted, and Bob turned to see what 

 the rest were all looking at. Tom, after 

 glancing at things, put the dust-pan and 

 broom into place, picked up the good and 

 bad matches, looked ruefully at his floor, 

 and then resumed his work with the presses. 

 My friend, are you sure you know how to 

 build a fire any better than Bob didV 



You may think I am needlessly particular 

 in going into all these little details ; but, my 

 friends, it is these little things that make the 

 difference between eternal life and eternal 

 ruin. A world of unhappy people are to- 

 day drifting about with nothing to do, or 



working at very small pay, just because 

 they started and went through life like poor 

 friend Bob. A hoy that will build a fire, 

 and put away every thing so carefully that 

 you would not know a " boy " had" been 

 about, I could easily afford to pay a dollar a 

 day, where I could not give over'oO cents to 

 one who goes to work at every thing as Bob 

 did. In fact, to tell the plain truth, if I had 

 no regard for the poor boy's future. I would 

 not have one like Bob in our establishment 

 at any price. We all like neat, clean, and 

 pleasant homes, and pleasant places of bus- 

 iness ; and it is right we should like them, 

 for no one can do nice work in a disorderly 

 place. You need not tell me children can 

 not be taught to be orderly and accurate, or 

 that they do not enjoy themselves better 

 when so taught, for I have had about as 

 much experience with them as anybody, and 

 I do not believe they think me a hard task- 

 master either. 



The matter of the fire being now nicely ar- 

 ranged, Tom was desired to print something, 

 just to show them how he did it. He had 

 only one job on hand, and this was some 

 cards for the superintendent of their Sunday- 

 school. John and one other boy were the 

 only ones of those present who were Sunday- 

 school scholars. This was what was to be on 

 the card : — 



Jesus, tejicli nie not to swear; 



This sliall be my earnest prayer; 

 All (lay long-, at work or play, 



Jesus, teach me what to say. 



TOM s PRT<SS 



As a printed copy was given him, Tom 

 had little trouble in setting it up, so it read 

 just like the original. After he had pro- 

 nounced it all right, the copy was given the 

 rest to read, until all agreed it was exactly 

 right. Here is the press he used. 



After the type 

 were fastened by 

 little blocks called 

 "furniture," ex- 

 actly in the middle 

 of the iron frame 

 called a " chase," 

 several sheets of 

 blaiik paper Avere 

 fastened over the 

 "tympan," or part 

 that moves up 

 against the type, and a \eiY little nik was 

 rolled over the face ot the type. The first 

 impression would, you see, be right on these 

 sheets of paper, and it was then easy to see 

 where to stick some pins, against which to 

 rest the cards, that they miglit be printed 

 exactly in the middle, and square. After 

 several times trying, the "register," as it is 

 called, was right. Now, it was found that 

 some of the letters were not as clear and 

 plain as others. This was adjusted by chang- 

 ing the impression a little, by means of the 

 proper screws, and then Tom took down 

 from a shelf a pretty little paper box, that, 

 when opened, was found to contain nice lit- 

 tle cards, put up in bundles of 50 each, with 

 a little paper band around each. Did you 

 never notice how nice and clean such goods 



